Current Affairs - MAHAMAG Magazine beyond boundaries

Does the world need an International Criminal Court for prosecuting grand corruption?

An international Anti-corruption court still remains as a proposal put forward by Mark L.Wolf. This proposal is for the establishment of a court similar to the International Criminal Court or as part of it, for the criminal enforcement of laws prohibiting grand corruption.

The idea was put forward by Judge Mark L. Wolf at the 2012 St Petersburg International Legal forum and subsequently presented at the 2014 World Forum on Governance. The United States of America is the one who strongly opposed the establishment of such a court. Still the establishment of such a court has not done. Because our leaders know if such a court is there, then they will be the first one to be judged by the court.

There are a lot of incidents which proves why people fear such a court. And the incidents we listenevery dayare forcing us to think about such a court.

On 12^th July, the world listened an unpleasant news. The news was about the former President of Brazil, LuizInacio Lula da Silva. He was found guilty of corruption and money laundering and for the same, the government and the law jailed him for ten years. It was a stunning setback for the politician who has wielded enormous influence across Latin America.

His arrest and punishment was a warning for all the corrupted people around the globe. As corruption is a very common practice, every nation will definitely have this category of people. Only the depth of the cases will have a change.

What do we really mean when we talk about Corruption? The word encompasses a vast array of different kinds of activity, only some of which involve bribery. They range from highly sophisticated transnational networks linked to criminal gangs and drug trafficking involving billions of dollars to small scale abuses at a local place involving just a few people.

Corruption affects the poorest the most, in rich or poor nations, though all elements of society are affected in some way as corruption undermines political development, democracy, economic development, the environment, people’s health and more.

Earlier these corruptions were done for small benefits but today the focus has shifted. People do this “heroic act” to attain something big.

In Western countries, we often see corruption come to light as the result of whistleblowers or journalistic efforts. But in many other nations, corruption plays a major role in fostering staggering poverty and broken economic systems. Often this kneecaps a nation’s ability tofunction. The irony is that the civilians in those nations know that their leaders are corrupted but they never speak a word against them.

According to the Transparency International’s 2015 report, Somalia and North Korea are the most corrupted nations in the world. One thing to be noted here is that Somalia does not have a definite power structure; they are still in the process of building a federal parliamentary republic. So, those corrupted people need not have to fear any government. Until now, they are on the safe side. Right?

North Korea is under the dictatorship of Kim Jong Un. So people cannot question anyone. Those who rule North Korea can do anything that they wish to do. For them Corruption is like a ‘cake walk’.

In every nation, civilians are leading a normal life without bothering about these kinds of issues. We know that through corruptions, our leaders are looting us and doing injustice to us. But still we believe that the ‘leaders are always leaders’ we can’t question them. We think that corruption is an ‘inevitable factor’ in the life of those who holds power. So, we can’t say ‘no’ to them. We

must accept it and move on. Even the educated, intellectual ones are thinking so. That’s why; corruption still remains an unresolved problem.

Let’s have a look at some corruption scandals that took place in different countries that shook the world and caught the attention of people around the globe.

FIFA scandal is one among it. In 2015, Soccer’s world governing body has entangled in massive web of corruption that it’s hard to pinpoint where it begins or ends

or even just how much money is involved. The investigation was initially intended to figure out whether FIFA officials took bribes to allow Russia and Qatar to host upcoming World Cups. But as evidence mounted, the inquiries expanded into a much more expansive probe, revealing what prosecutors say are years of corrupt practices, including bribery and game selling, from officials in Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

India is a nation that actually loves Defense corruptions. Defense Corruptions scandals in India will never blows up and dominate media coverage and political intrigue for their own sake.

They do not develop because neither the defense ministry nor the armed forces want to get a better deal or see the real lawbreakers caught.

One such case was the Augusta Westland case. In the helicopter case, Indian names of possible recipients of bribes ranges from UPA President Sonia Gandhi and her son and heir apparent Rahul to Ahmed Patel, her influential secretary. The contract was for 12 VVIP helicopters, to replace aging Russian craft that transport the Prime Minister and other top leaders. The alleged bribe was about $40 million.

In India from time to time a new case of kickbacks in defense deals

come to light. Jeep Scam in 1948, Bofors Scam in 1987 implicating the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and several other members of the Indian and Swedish governments who were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB, a bank principally financed by the Wallenberg family for winning a bid to supply India’s 155mm field howitzer and the Barak Missile Scam in 2006, Coffin Scam in 1999, Tehelka Scam in 1999 etc. It’s like India is the mecca of defense corruptions

Don’t get mistaken, not just defense corruptions, India has been very much supportive to political corruptions too.2G Spectrum Scandal, Adarsh flat scandal, Corruptions by late politician Jayalalitha are just a few cases.

The world police, the United States of America are not an exception. Like in all the other, in corruption too they lead the rest of the nations. Starting from the Watergate Scandal that forced the then President Robert Nixon to resign from his post to the allegations during Trump’s election the corruption saga continues in the US.

The 2016 Presidential campaign saw long strings of stories showing scandals involving Trump, both large and small- from questionable business dealings to allegations of sexual assault. Trump has been linked to the mafia many times over the years, with varying degrees of closeness. The scandals related to Trump University, Undocumented Polish Workers in Trump Tower, Breaking of Casino Rules are some cases that made him even more popular.

L’Affaire Hamilton, The Whisky Ring, The Credit mobilizer scandal, The Milk Money Scandal are some corruption scandals that disgraced the US administration. It is like every nation has a story to tell us, in case of Corruption. Even though the stories are like thriller movies that thrills us in every second, one part of these thrillers is similar. That is the public. They don’t know what is happening around them.

The United Kingdom is also a big fish in terms of corruption. Even the anti-mafia expert Roberto Saviano said in 2016 that UK is the most corrupt place on earth.

The UK has always been a prime location for stashing away illicitly gained wealth, as anti-money laundering systems are weak and sectors such as UK property represent a safe investment as well as a place to hide corrupt money.

The recent case on corruption that is creating a buzz is the Panama gate Scandal in Pakistan which ended up in the Supreme Court verdict of removing the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from his office over corruption allegations. The case against the Sharif family took a turn in July

when forensic experts case doubt on documents central to the defense of the Prime Minister’s daughter, Mariam Nawaz Sharif, who claimed she was only a trustee of the companies that bought the London flat. The documents were dated to 2996 but appear to have used a font, Microsoft Calibri, which was available only from 2007, rising suspicious that they were forged.

The 10 year disqualification of Sharif cut short the third tenure of a man who has been a leading figure in Pakistani politics for nearly three decades since his first term from 1990 to 1993.

Our leaders are looting our wealth but we are relaxing and enjoying the small benefits they are giving us. We believe that they are doing a lot of things for our welfare. The fact is that they are doing a lot many things for their own welfare and doing these small things for us to mislead us. We, the so called “Intellectual Society” never realize that they are betraying us. Through defense corruption they are selling us-Civilians and the entire nation. When will we open our eyes? When will we raise our voice against these kinds of deeds?

Any of the nations does not have a system to monitor corruption. There is no strict law in any one of the country to control the rate of corruption. Those who are making the laws are also involved in corruption.

Unlike in the old days, fourth estate is not interested in unveiling the corruptions done by well- known people. Journalism too becomes a business. They need advertisements to survive. They will get ads only through these ‘well-known’ people. Then why should they sacrifice? This has become a supporting factor for those who are very much interested in doing corruptions. When nobody is there to question, they don’t have to worry about anything at all.

Democracy has become a mockery. Nobody is living in a democratic nation. No nation has a democratic government. No nation in this world offers supreme power to its people. Everywhere, those in powers give the orders and the civilians obey. If the one who rules commits any mistake, then we the civilians will believe that our thinking is wrong, since our belief is that the rulers will never commit a mistake, they are always right. Right??