Copyright: IHS Jane’s, 17th August, 2011

Portugal plans to abolish its law requiring offsets to be attached to defence procurement programmes. Until now Portugal has required offsets on programmes valued at 10 million Euro (USD14.2 million) or more. The European Commission's (EC's) defence procurement directive, intended to increase internal competition in the sector, is due to enter national law on 21 August.

Read full article: http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence-security-report.aspx?ID=1065930223

Copyright: MSN News, 12th August, 2011

A group of retired army officers led by BJP leader Lt Gen (retd) T P S Rawat has formed an anti-corruption forum in Uttarakhand- a move opposed by his ruling party in the state.
"Our basic aim is to fight corruption in Uttarakhand as well as in the country," said Rawat. The ''Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha'' has convened a meeting of nearly 1000 retired army officers at the Defence Colony to chalk out a strategy on issues related to corruption.

Read full article: http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5361540

Copyright: Bloomberg, 10th August, 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the country’s secret services to publish online disclosures to make their activities more transparent and accessible for citizens.
This new decree was signed by 19 government agencies including the Federal Guard Service, which protects top officials, the Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, and the ministries of interior.

Read full article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/medvedev-orders-online-disclosures-by-russian-secret-services.html

Copyright: BBC, 5th August, 2011

Nelson Jobim is said to have been angry that Ms Rousseff overruled him on a multi-billion dollar contract to buy fighter jets. In weeks before his dismissal he has been reported as making a series of critical remarks about fellow ministers.

Read full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14414760

Copyright: Niqash, 3rd August, 2011

Iraqis fear that fires in a number of Iraqi ministries, including most recently the security ministries, are not acts of arson or accident, but deliberate attempts to stymie the work of the Commission on Integrity (CoI). Official records are kept in paper form in Iraq, and the fires seem to have followed a disturbing pattern—they have occurred in buildings housing ministries under investigation by the CoI. Uthman al-Jahshi, of the CoI, told NIQASH: “burning any files that convict a corrupt official is a perfect solution […] we believe that senior officials and staff are involved in planning these fires, in order to hide evidence inside government departments.” Deliberate arson has not been confirmed.

Read full article: http://www.niqash.org/content.php?contentTypeID=75&id=2874&lang=0

Copyright: Environmental Investigation Agency, 28th July, 2011

A new report exposes the pivotal role played by the Vietnamese military in a multi-million dollar operation which is smuggling threatened timber over the border from the shrinking forests of neighbouring Laos. EIA’s investigations revealed that one of the biggest loggers in Laos is a company owned by the Vietnamese military.
Investigators first encountered the Vietnamese Company of Economic Cooperation (COECCO) in October 2010 during a visit to Qui Nhon port, documenting huge piles of logs bearing green paint marks and tagged with yellow labels bearing a Vietnamese name which translated into Company of Economic Cooperation – Ministry of Defence (or COECCO). A port worker said 95 per cent of the logs had come from Laos and most were owned by the Vietnamese military; specifically Military Zone 4.

Read full article: http://www.eia-international.org/vietnamese-army-named-as-timber-smuggler-2

Copyright: Copyright: Radio Sweden, 19th July, 2011

The Swedish Prosecution Authority has launched a preliminary bribery and corruption investigation against the Swedish Armed Forces after the military bought advertising worth US $46 million. The Armed Forces auditors' claimed that the procurement was made in such a way that only one company could win the contract. The auditors also found that several individuals in the Armed Forces information unit had close ties to Carat, the ad agency who won the contract, and that there may well have been a conflict of interests.

Read full article: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=4609092

Copyright: Providence Journal – 3 July 2011, 3rd July, 2011

Newport’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center is not the first of the fleet’s research and development commands to face a kickback scandal. In April of last year, with the imprisonment of the last of seven conspirators, the U.S. Attorney in San Diego wrapped up a Navy bribery case with striking parallels to the case that erupted this year inside Rhode Island’s submarine-contracting community.
In both cases, prosecutors described a powerful Navy program manager who allegedly manipulated a lax contracting system to skim payments from millions of dollars worth of contracts. Both schemes involved small-business programs that streamline the competitive bidding process in order to speed contract awards.

Read full article: http://www.projo.com/news/content/san_diego_scandal_07-03-11_DSOV60K_v9.3dc87.html

Copyright: Focus Taiwan, 30th June, 2011

Former President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan's first directly elected leader, was indicted last month on charges of embezzling approximately US $7.79 million in national security funds whilst in office. Lee’s close aid, Liu Tai-ying, founder of the Taiwan Research Institute was also charged. If convicted, Lee faces a 10-year prison sentence.

Read full article: http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aSOC&ID=201106300023

Copyright: Wall Street Journal, 30th June, 2011

Despite the fall of Mubarak and the disintegration of the hated State Security Agency, reform is not coming fast enough to Egypt. Up to 5,000 protestors clashed with the civilian police force in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, causing the military to intervene. There were 40 arrests. The former leader of the Ministry of the Interior Habib al-Adly has been found guilty of money laundering and profiteering, and will go on trial for the murder of innocent protestors. Despite internal reforms in the Ministry of the Interior, protestors (many of them families of those killed in this winter’s riots that overthrew Mubarak) feel that change has not come to the ministry, which oversees police, the Central Security Forces (paramilitary law-enforcement), and Homeland Security (the successor to the State Security Agency).

Read full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450604576415150417930250.html

Copyright: Task Force - Financial Integrity and Economic Development, 28th June, 2011

Over the last five year the international community has imposed increasingly strict economic sanctions on Iran in an attempt to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions. There is increasing evidence suggesting that the sanctions are creating economic conditions that have caused a huge growth in corruption with billions of dollars being subverted by the Revolutionary Guard. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps are using their huge network and influence to institute a no bid policy on a huge range of contracts including oil pipe lines, farming and telecoms. It is estimated that they may control up to a third of the Iranian economy.

Read full article: http://www.financialtaskforce.org/2011/06/28/revolutionary-iranian-corruption/

Copyright: Korea Herald, 27th June, 2011

The South Korean Ministry of National Defence will begin implementing a stringent new inspection system next month in an effort to tackle corruption and increase public confidence. This comes in the wake of some 120 officials from the ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defence Acquisition Program Administration and other military units attending a special session aimed at enhancing discipline in the defence sector. As part of the wide ranging reforms, the establishment also aims to apply the property registration rule to more military officials after a spate of stories in the local media implicating military officials in such scandals.

Read full article: http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110627000881

Copyright: Foreign Policy, 22nd June, 2011

When the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) releases its annual status report on the narcotics trade later this month, it will almost certainly show a decrease in the volume of cocaine traveling through Mexico into the United States. Last year's report did too -- a 40 percent drop in seizures between 2006 and 2008. Worldwide, the cocaine market today is worth about half as much as it was just 15 years ago -- $88 billion compared with $165 billion in 1995. This would be excellent news -- if it weren't for some alarming trends going in the other direction. As the cocaine trade through Mexico has fallen dramatically, the violence here has risen remarkably. Whereas 2006 saw just over 2,000 deaths attributed to drug violence, in 2010 there were an estimated 11,000 such killings, according to data from Stratfor and local press accounts.

Read full article: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/22/legalizing_drugs_wont_stop_mexicos_brutal_cartels

Copyright: US Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 21st June, 2011

President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have voiced their commitment to combating threats to citizens’ security in the Americas. With rising levels of crime and violence in many areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, insecurity has become the top concern of citizens. To address these concerns, the United States has implemented programs to strengthen partnerships with the nations of the Western Hemisphere to combat trafficking in arms.

Read full article: http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rls/fs/2011/166654.htm

Copyright: Dutch News, 17th June, 2011

The Defence Ministry of the Netherlands reported that reports of corruption, conflict of interest, fraud, and abuse rose from 113 to 168 from 2009 until 2010. Of the 156 investigated reports, 107 were verified. However, the defence spokesman attributed the rise to increase in reporting rather than misconduct.

Read full article: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/06/speed_controls_have_little_eff.php

Copyright: The Express Tribune, 14th June, 2011

A member of the Pakistani coalition government demanded that the military refrain from any commercial activities. Senator Haji Adeel, a member of the Awami National Party (ANP) urged the military establishment to concentrate on defending the country during an address to the Senate. He cited examples of military involvement in banking, construction and hospitality. Adeel further stated that whilst he and the Senate stand by the military in its fight against extremism, the military should reciprocate by presenting details of its expenditure.

Read full article: http://tribune.com.pk/story/188529/senate-proceedings-armed-forces-shouldnt-engage-in-commercial-ventures/

Copyright: ABS-CBC News, 14th June, 2011

A whistle-blower has rejected calls in the Philippines to remove himself from the government’s witness protection programme. George Rabusa, a military corruption whistle-blower, has argued that he was entitled to protection by the Department of Justice. The furore erupted after it became known that Rabusa was currently fighting a perjury case in the country.

Read full article: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/06/14/11/rabusa-rejects-call-leave-witness-protection-program

Copyright: BBC, 14th June, 2011

Ben Ali who was President of Tunisia for 23 year recently fled the country to Saudi Arabia in the wake of massive public protests. Interim Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi announced the date of Ben Ali’s trial as 20 June. As there has been no response from Saudi Arabia regarding the return of Ben Ali, Tunisian authorities are continuing with his trial in his absence. Tunisian authorities state that initial charges are connected to the discovery of cash, weapons and drugs in presidential palaces, In addition to existing charges investigations by authorities are ongoing into cases of murder, abuse of power, trafficking of archaeological artefacts and money laundering.

Read full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13752786

Copyright: Strategy Page, 13th June, 2011

The Russian government has been striving, for the last two decades, to reform the armed forces. This has been difficult, partly because so many Russians didn't realize how badly reform was needed. In the last few years, the government has gone public with details of its reform efforts, if only to put pressure on the parliament to keep the money coming, and to assure the public that efforts were being made to fix the problems that had long been whispered about. However according to this article the situation has further declined. The government believes that about a third of the military budget is lost to corruption. Bribery remains widespread in exchange for fulfilling basic functionalities such as the provision of food and fuel.

Read full article: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/20110613.aspx

Copyright: Stars & Stripes, 13th June, 2011

An investigation has concluded that the former head of the Defense Department’s school system, Shirley Miles, abused her power to secure jobs for relatives and friends, received pay and benefits to which she was not entitled and engaged in “unprofessional conduct and speech,” according to a letter from the Defense Department Inspector General’s office.

Read full article: http://www.stripes.com/news/investigation-finds-former-dodea-director-abused-her-authority-1.146532

Copyright: Wall Street Journal, 13th June, 2011

As the U.S. draws down forces in Iraq, Congress is set to shut down the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (Sigir). This agency investigates and prosecutes suspected cases of corruption in Iraq by both soldiers and civilians. Since it began work in 2004, it has recovered US $1.1 billion from corruption investigations, and received more than US $150 million in seizures or forfeiture orders, according to chief Stuart W. Bowen Jr. Though Sigir will be closed down in 2012, House Democrat John Tierney plans to introduce legislation to create a broader investigative body, the Special Inspector General of Overseas Contingency Operations, to cover all U.S. military operations abroad.

Read full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304778304576373793871521406.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Copyright: UPI, 10th June, 2011

The Saudi Arabian government is running an anti-corruption campaign in response to a growing defence scandal and uprisings throughout the region. The campaign is directed at the defence and interior ministries, which have a high corruption risk due to the contracts they regularly enter into with major defence and security companies. There are allegations that defence group EADS bribed Saudi Arabian officials with cars, jewellery, and cash in order to win a US $3.3 billion contract to supply the national guard with intranet and satellite communications. At least 12 officials, including at least one senior official, have been arrested.

Read full article: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/06/10/Saudis-mount-cleanup-amid-defense-scandal/UPI-73811307725474/

Copyright: Indian Express, 9th June, 2011

Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony praised the ‘transparency revolution’ in the country describing it as another phase of democracy in India. Antony argued that whilst there was strong resistance from those who maintain power, there was nothing which could derail India’s transition to a more open and transparent society.

Read full article: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/A-transparency-revolution-is-on--but-India-not-ready--says-Antony/801275/

Copyright: Insight Crime, 9th June, 2011

The Caribbean nations of Barbados, Grenada and St Lucia signed up to an Organization of American States security program aimed at combating arms trafficking in the region.
Representatives of the three countries signed “Promoting Firearms Marking in Latin America and the Caribbean” at the 41st session of the Organization of American States (OAS).
This agreement is an OAS initiative, financially backed by the United States, aimed at helping Latin American and Caribbean governments to trace arms trafficked through the region. Signatories to the agreement receive training and equipment to carry out the marking.

Read full article: http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1061-caribbean-nations-join-anti-arms-trafficking-project

Copyright: Strategy Page, 8th June, 2011

As part of their on-going efforts to stamp out corruption from the military establishment, the Chinese military high command recently issued a list of guidelines that soldiers should adhere to. Entitled the “70 Forbiddens”, the list represents an accepted cultural method of encouraging best practice. According to the military the list is designed to “strengthen and improve ideology among armed service men and to further standardize honest behavior within the military”.

Read full article: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20110608.aspx r_has.php

Copyright: The Shanghaiist, 8th June, 2011

As part of their on-going efforts to stamp out corruption from the military establishment, the Chinese military high command recently issued a list of guidelines that soldiers should adhere to. Entitled the “70 Forbiddens”, the list represents an accepted cultural method of encouraging best practice. According to the military the list is designed to “strengthen and improve ideology among armed service men and to further standardize honest behavior within the military”.

Read full article: http://shanghaiist.com/2011/06/03/and_the_ban_hammer_has.php

Copyright: The Guardian, 7th June, 2011

"The fact that there are those who are corrupt, criminal or abuse of their public office does not make a state criminal or corrupt. We should not extrapolate the actions of individuals as those of the state … Mexico is not Arizona."
So remarked Mexico's sub-secretary of Latin America and the Caribbean, Ambassador Ruben Beltran Guerrero, on 5 April, following the release of report by the government of El Salvador accusing Mexican authorities of human rights violations against 250 El Salvadorian immigrants in 2010.

Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/07/mexico-drugs-trade-corruption

Copyright: Bloomberg, 4th June, 2011

In the wake of US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, former Defence Secretary Robert Gates has urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government to step up its anti-corruption efforts. Gates highlighted the fight against corruption as an essential component of any winning strategy against the insurgents in the country.

Read full article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-04/gates-seeks-afghan-anti-corruption-steps-as-drawdown-begins.html

Copyright: Insight Crime, 2nd June, 2011

El Salvador has called for regional action to stop weapons being stolen and sold to Mexican drug traffickers. But as a look at recent incidents in Central America shows, these "robberies" of weapons often seem more like inside jobs carried out by corrupt elements in the military.

Read full article: http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1023-el-salvador-military-weapons-more-trafficked-than-stolen

Copyright: Gulf Times, 26th May, 2011

The European Union will make aid and market access for neighbouring countries more closely dependent on democratic reforms under an overhaul of its funding programmes presented yesterday. Under the new rules - if they are approved by EU governments and the European Parliament - the amount of cash available to the 16 countries participating in the programme will depend on how far and how fast reforms are implemented. Conditions for aid will include the quality of electoral processes, press freedom, independence of the judiciary, efforts to combat corruption and the extent of government control over armed and security forces. The move comes in response to critics who assert that there has been a tendency to support stability over change, helping autocratic leaders remain in power.

Read full article: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=436971&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21