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Transparency International: Armenia should ban MPs and officials from business activities

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transparency-itlTransparency International has warned about lack of progress in fight of corruption in five Eastern Partnership countries.

In a new report the organization says corruption remains a major problem in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, threatening economic development and political stability as well as the credibility of governments.

While some progress has been made in adopting anti-corruption laws in all five countries, the capture of important institutions by powerful interests is seriously undermining the effective enforcement of these laws, Transparency International said.

The recommendations to Armenia say the government and parliament should ban members of parliament and senior public officials from engaging in business activities. Sanctions for such actions should be introduced, including for those who are aware of such practices but do not report them.

The judiciary should significantly speed up the prosecution rate of corruption offences, giving greater priority to prosecuting high-level officials in order to build trust among citizens in the judiciary’s commitment to fighting corruption.

In order to build the capacity and sustainability of civil society, the government should ease the tax regulations for CSOs so that they are not classified as for-profit organisations.

Transparency International Under Pressure In Azerbaijan

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By RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service

August 27, 2014

7D4C1C45-8CCA-4671-BAF9-96F2C5AAFE66_w640_r1_sTransparency International’s office in Baku says it is being forced to suspend some of its projects in Azerbaijan because of problems receiving funds through its bank in Baku.

Transparency Azerbaijan executive director Rana Safaraliyeva told RFE/RL on August 27 that her team has not been able to receive financial support in the form of bank transfers from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for two months.

She said the Baku branch of Unibank, the bank used by her nongovernmental anticorruption group, has been returning wire transfers of funds sent by USAID — citing technical problems.

Safaraliyeva’s remarks come less than two weeks after Human Rights Watch said Azerbaijan’s government was pressuring independent organizations that are involved in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an international coalition that promotes openness in the oil and natural-gas industries.

In its August 15 statement, Human Rights Watch said Baku’s pressure on groups involved in that anticorruption initiative included the freezing of bank accounts and was part of a broader crackdown that has been escalating since the 2013 presidential election.