Human Rights Impact of Corruption
Human Rights Impact of Corruption
CORRUPTION:
A HUMAN RIGHTS
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Angela Barkhouse, Hugo Hoyland and Marc Limon
May 2018
PREFACE
This report was authored by Angela Barkhouse and Marc Limon, with assistance from Hugo Hoyland of
Kroll, as part one of a wider project being undertaken jointly by Marc Limon of the Universal Rights Group
and Angela Barkhouse on 'Combatting and preventing corruption: the key to unlocking the full enjoyment
of human rights and the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.' The project has been funded by
the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, URG and Kroll, with additional support from the Government of
Argentina. Any communication, publication, disclosure, dissemination, or reproduction of this report or any
portion of its contents to third parties without the advance written consent of the authors is not permitted. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Neither the authors, nor the project funders, assume any direct, indirect, or consequential liability to any
third party or any other person who is not the intended addressee of this report, for the information contained
herein, its interpretation or application, or for omissions, or for reliance by any such third party or other
Introduction p. 2
person thereon. To the extent information provided in this report is based on a review of publicly-available
records, such information, as presented, relies upon the accuracy and completeness of those records, which
have not been corroborated by the authors. Unless specifically stated, the mention of any entity or individual Part I: Corruption and human rights p. 4
in this document or any attachments thereto, does not imply the violation of any law, statute or international
1.1 The theory of social harm p. 5
agreement, and should not be construed as such.
1.2 Violations of human rights p. 5
Appendices p. 32
_
1
Moreover, a cursory review of every single situation this was not available, and therefore 2013 data was
INTRODUCTION of serious human rights violations on the UN Human
Rights Council's agenda today, demonstrates that
used instead. Moreover, some (mostly smaller)
States were excluded from the analysis - by default
each and every one of those situations is the result, - because they are not covered by Transparency
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 1 and exploitation of entire systems for the benefits in large part, of corruption and related efforts International's corruption perception index (CPI).
incorporates 17 Sustainable Development Goals of private interests.' 4 This is also known as 'political of governing elites to safeguard their privileged
(SDGs), focused on social, economic, political, corruption.' It is directly related to an individual's positions - so that they can continue to be the When reviewing the results of the Barkhouse-Kroll-
cultural, and environmental development through official duties, and is done under the 'colour of principal beneficiaries of accumulated power and URG analysis, it is also important to recall that
good governance, the rule of law, access to justice, office:' i.e. it is conducted under the appearance of wealth. while we have used a single overarching index for
personal security, and the fight against inequality. authority, but involves actions that manifestly exceed corruption (Transparency International's CPI), in
such authority. It involves those, who through their It is with this type of corruption (political corruption reality not all corrupt acts have an equal impact on
The realisation of human rights, including, inter alia, abuse of positions of power or influence use State - rather than petty corruption) and its severe and human rights. Petty bribes cause social inequality,
the right to health, the right to an adequate standard institutions or policies to purloin, embezzle or enrich immediate impact on human rights - that this policy exacerbate poverty and undermine public health. 7
of living, the right to education, non-discrimination, themselves or their allies, or sustain political power, brief is specifically concerned. High-level nepotism and patronage, on the other
gender equality, and the right to development, is at the expense of the State's wealth and its citizens' hand, cause market inefficiencies and distort
an explicit objective of the SDGs, derived from the welfare. The main objective of the brief is to demonstrate, whole economies. 8 Furthermore, it is important
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the empirically and objectively, the immediate and to recognise that Transparency International's
core UN human rights treaties. The realisation and Yet despite the seriousness of the crime of corruption, serious impacts of corruption on internationally CPI index in based purely on public perceptions of
implementation of the SDGs are in turn dependent and despite the gravity of its consequences for protected human rights. The hope of the authors is corruption. It is not a detailed measure of actual
upon good governance, transparency, participation, universal human rights, and while States (including that this will help build a case for a serious push by levels of corruption and nor does it provide 'in-depth
and accountability - the cornerstones of anti- in the United Nations Human Rights Council) are the international community to combat and eliminate information about where corruption occurs or what
corruption policy. quick to condemn it; there is a significant disconnect corruption, as an essential prerequisite to the full types of corruption are predominant in a country.' 9
between such protestations and actual action to enjoyment of all human rights and the realisation of Notwithstanding, as of the time of writing, the CPI
The State holds the primary responsibility to promote confront corruption and to hold perpetrators to the SDGs 'leaving no one behind.' is recognised as the best available proxy for actual
and protect the human rights of citizens and other account. There have been notably few successful measurements of corruption 10 - as noted by the
individuals within its jurisdiction, yet when corruption prosecutions around the world, under either criminal In order to demonstrate and measure that impact, Global Institute for Peace and Economics, there is a
is prevalent, those in public positions often fail to or civil law, and - equally importantly - there are very the brief presents the conclusions of a one-year strong correlation between the CPI and World Bank
take decisions with the interests of society in mind, few cases where victims have been able to secure data analysis project, using Kroll's proprietary data Control of Corruption Index (r=0.998). 11
causing violations of the State's obligations under remedy and redress. analysis software, that compares and correlates
the core UN human rights treaties, especially the levels of corruption in 175 5 different UN member
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights There are a number of possible reasons for this. States (as measured by Transparency International's
(ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, One is that corruption is, in a sense, an 'invisible corruption perception index - CPI) with levels of
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Where crime,' compared to, for example, terrorism. the enjoyment of basic human rights - especially
corruption is systemic, it directly affects the poorest Another is the high cost of, and difficulties economic, social and cultural rights, and the right to
sections of the population, as a result of the diversion involved in, fighting corruption (domestically and development - in those same countries (as measured
and siphoning off of public expenditure budgets. In internationally) compared to, say, drug smuggling by applying and analysing multiple human rights
other words, corruption works in direct tension to, or human trafficking. Yet corruption is the common impact indicators, as defined by the UN Office of the
and contradiction with, the call made throughout the denominator in all these - and other - transnational High Commissioner for Human Rights - OHCHR).
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that'no- crimes, and its impacts are more 'visible' and The data for said indicators was in turn taken from
one [should be] left behind.' 2 immediate than is commonly perceived. relevant reports by international organisations
and UN agencies, including the World Health
Organisation (WHO), the UN International Children's
At the very least, corruption compromises a The victims of corruption are not as remote from
Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development
government's ability to deliver an array of public the wrongdoing as is often assumed. For example,
Program (UNDP), the International Monetary Fund
services, including health, education and welfare – where the diversion of public funds for the purchase
(IMF) and the World Bank. 6
all essential for the realisation of economic, social of child immunisation kits for preventable diseases
and cultural rights. In the worst cases, corruption ends up in private pockets, children may die as a
It is important to note that not all social indicator
compromises the rights to dignity, security of person, result; where money earmarked to build schools or
data was available for all States. For example, some
and even the right to life. pay teachers' salaries is instead paid into the private
States with poor human rights and/or development
bank accounts of public officials, children will not
records may desist from providing data to relevant
The generally accepted definition of corruption be able to enjoy their right to education; and where
international organisations: This may lead to an
(derived from the work of international organisations, kleptocrats tightly control the media, the police and
unfair selection bias. A further issue with social
international treaties and domestic legislation) the judiciary, individuals will be deprived of their
indicator data is the collection year. Where possible,
is: the abuse of public office for private gain. 3 rights to freedom of speech, liberty and family.
the authors used 2014 data; however in a few cases
Specifically, grand corruption 'involves the distortion
_ _
2 3
PART I
CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS
All UN member States are Party to one or more of the namely the obligations to respect, protect and fulfil
international human rights treaties and/or regional human rights. The obligation to respect is essentially a
human rights instruments (e.g. the African Charter on negative obligation to refrain from infringements. The
Human and People's Rights). obligation to protect primarily refers to protection from
dangers emanating from third parties. The obligation
States have different practices for incorporating those to fulfil requires positive action by the State. The UN
corruption as an economic 'crime' to be sanctioned As Professor Anne Peters of the Basel Institute on
treaties into their domestic legal structures. For Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
under criminal law, to a more expansive understanding Governance has noted, to-date, when relevant UN
example, in some countries, international or regional (the Treaty Body established by the ICESCR) in-turn
and approach designed to respect, protect and fulfil bodies and mechanisms (e.g. the Human Rights
human rights law automatically becomes part of divides this latter obligation (to fulfil) into the three
individual rights, and promote societal well-being. Council or Treaty Bodies) have considered the
national law. In others, international human rights subcategories of facilitate, provide and promote.12
relationship between corruption and human rights,
law must be transposed into the domestic law of the
Widening the focus of anti-corruption efforts in this they have not used the word 'violation,' opting instead
ratifying State (through transformation, adaptation or
way, to address the consequences of corruption to apply weaker language that talks, for example, of
adoption) before it takes effect. However, ultimately,
in all cases, the State is bound by its obligations as a
THE THEORY OF SOCIAL for individual people and for society, enables the the 'negative impacts' of corruption on human rights,
application of international law, with potentially far- or that claims that corruption 'undermines human
signatory to the treaties. In particular, States have a
HARM reaching consequences. rights.'
primary obligation to respect, protect and promote the
human rights of people living within their jurisdiction. Similarly, where domestic courts have considered the
Social harm 13 is a concept recognised in human The concept of social harm is reflected in the 2003 UN
rights law, for it encompasses the social, economic, Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The preamble consequences of corruption, they have tended to talk
Of the core UN human rights treaties, corruption psychological and environmental injury or damage of corrupt acts as 'undermining' human rights (e.g.
of UNCAC recognises 'the seriousness of problems and
is particularly relevant to the rights enunciated in inflicted on society by the acts of individuals, the Constitutional Court of South Africa). 16
threats posed by corruption to the stability and security
the two covenants: the International Covenant on organisations or governments (national or of societies, undermining the institutions and values
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and international). It has allowed an assessment of illegal Notwithstanding such timidity, there is, nonetheless,
of democracy, ethical values and justice,' and states
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and harmful acts beyond domestic criminal justice a clear movement to strengthen language and to
'a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach is
(ICCPR). systems, by providing a bridge to international human make the case that corruption, especially grand or
required to prevent and combat corruption effectively.'
rights law. political corruption, should be viewed as a human
Article 2 of the ICCPR stipulates that: 'Each State Party rights violation. For example, in the foreword to the
Similarly, a human rights-based approach to
to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to Edwin Sutherland's14 1949 study into corporate UNCAC, the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
anti-corruption policy-making may help to focus
ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject malpractice led to the recognition by criminologists of made clear that 'corruption is an insidious plague
international efforts on those who are most at risk,
to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present the need to move beyond prescriptive legal definitions that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies.
most marginalised and most vulnerable, or, to use
Covenant.' Article 2 of the ICESCR states that: 'Each of crime in order to include other more damaging 'It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads
the terminology of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take forms of injury or social harm, thereby creating to violations of human rights, distorts markets,
Development, those who are 'left furthest behind.'
steps, individually and through international assistance a more 'inclusive understanding of the causes of erodes the quality of life and allows organized crime,
and co-operation, especially economic and technical, human suffering than traditional studies of crime and terrorism, and other threats to human security to
to the maximum of its available resources, with a criminals.' Notwithstanding such advances, today flourish,' he concluded. Likewise, in a 2004 report to
view to achieving progressively the full realization of it remains the case that the predominant focus of VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights, the then
the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all anti-corruption policies and programmes has been Special Rapporteur on corruption, Christy Mbonu,
appropriate means.' to sanction the wrongdoing, rather than address the RIGHTS argued that: 'corruption, whether systemic, endemic
consequences for victims. or petty, violates citizens' enjoyment of all the rights
The human rights set out in the covenants, as well A crucial legal question when drawing a link between contained in all the international instruments.' 17
as the human rights contained in other international Applying the concept of social harm could help move corruption and human rights is whether corrupt Later, in a 2005 report, she focused on corruption
instruments, give rise to three kinds of obligations, anti-corruption policy away from a narrow focus on acts constitute an actual violation of human rights. as a violation of civil and political rights, stating: 'a
_ _
4 5
concern, indeed as a human rights violation, can be jurisdiction of the Court.'
seen by reference to an important case study: namely The case is highly significant in the context of wider
the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project efforts to reconceptualise the prosecution of corruption
(SERAP) vs. Nigeria case at the Economic Commission as a human rights violation - with individual victims,
of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice. rather than as an economic crime. By deciding in favour
of the justiciability of the right to education under the
SERAP vs. Nigeria has raised awareness about how ACHPR, and by deciding that concerned individuals
human rights laws and mechanisms can be used to and civil society groups have standing before the court
strengthen accountability in corruption cases. SERAP to bring public interest litigation cases (based on the
vs. Nigeria also set important new precedents in terms doctrine of action popularis), the ECOWAS Court set an
of drawing a causal (financial) link between corrupt important regional and international precedent.
acts and human rights impacts - extremely important
in order to argue that a violation of human rights has Notwithstanding these important legal advances, in the
occurred. end the Court decided that it could not be proved that
Nigeria had violated its obligations under the ACHPR
The claim was based on alleged violations of the rights because:
to education and human dignity, and the rights of
peoples to freely dispose of their natural wealth and 'In a vast country like Nigeria, with her
resources, caused by the plundering of State funds by massive resources, one can hardly say that
the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). an isolated act of corruption... will have such
devastating consequence as a denial of the
UBEC was established in 1999 by the Government of right to education.'
Nigeria to ensure access to quality basic education
fundamental right is violated if, due to poverty, vote- government) fail to respect, protect and fulfil the right throughout the country. It was given statutory authority The Court did acknowledge that the embezzlement of
buying by political parties denies the electorate from of individuals where the provision of healthcare has in 2004 with the Basic Education Act and Child's funds by UBEC necessarily had 'a negative impact on
voting for the best candidates.' been impacted or denied as a result of: Rights Act. However, instead of fulfilling this important education.' However, because it was not possible to
mandate, it was alleged that between 2006 and 2007 prove a direct causal link between the act or omission
In her detailed legal analysis of this question, Professor • The misappropriation of funds allocated to the alone, the UBEC embezzled US$351.54 million of public of the State (the corrupt acts of UNEC officials) and
Peters argues that corruption violates all three types health sector. funds.20 the denial of the right to education, it was not possible,
of obligations contained in the two international according to the Court, to find Nigeria in violation of its
• Accepting bribes.
human rights covenants (i.e. to respect, protect and In bringing the case to court, SERAP argued that such human rights obligations under the ACHPR.
fulfil human rights). She notes that: 'a corrupt act by • Embezzlement of funds from the health sector. grand corruption violated peoples' right to education. In
an individual official may, depending on the context • Abuse of positions of authority, including conflicts of Nigeria, over five million children do not have access to The Court also argued that it could not agree that Nigeria
and the human right in question, potentially violate interest in the provision of services to the health basic primary education. had failed to fulfil its obligations vis-à-vis the right to
each of these dimensions of obligation.' At a macro- sector. education, because the Government had put in place
level, she argues that 'the deficient implementation, Nigeria argued that the ECOWAS Court of Justice policies and institutions (including UBEC) designed to
• Collusion with criminal gangs for the distribution of
application and enforcement of effective anti- lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because it dealt facilitate, provide and promote that right. This would
counterfeit drugs and the diversion of genuine
corruption measures essentially constitutes an with domestic law and policy, and that SERAP lacked seem to suggest that the Court attributed responsibility
medicines.
omission by the State,' thereby potentially violating standing - as it was not directly affected by the laws in for the harm caused (lack of access to education) to
the State's obligation to fulfil (facilitate, provide and question. The Court disagreed, reasoning that because individual UBEC officials acting in a personal capacity,
In the case of child infant mortality, it could be
promote) human rights, and to protect human rights. the claim involved the right to education under the and not the State. However, somewhat confusingly, it
suggested that in instances where a child has been
On the latter point, Professor Peters notes that 'the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), also found that the State (represented by the Nigerian
denied access to immunisation programmes (due to
obligations to protect human rights are addressed to even if such a right was arguably non-justiciable in Government) did have an obligation to ensure that
insufficient availability of the necessary drugs) as
all three branches of government. They obligate the domestic constitutional or statutory law, it did have such funds were used properly, and that education is
a result of a corrupt act (e.g. the diversion of funds
legislative power to enact effective laws, the executive jurisdiction. Specifically, the Court noted that article 9 not undermined by corruption. This raises the obvious
allocated to buy such drugs), and where that denial
power to undertake effective administrative measures, (4) of the Supplementary Protocol to the ACHPR granted question: if the State has an obligation to ensure that
of access leads to illness of the death of a child, it
and the judicial power to engage in effective legal the Court jurisdiction to determine cases of violations public funds for education are used properly and to
represents a clear violation of the child's rights to
prosecution.' Where either or all of the branches of of human rights in member States of ECOWAS. It guard against corruption, and if UBEC officials are
health and to life.
government fail to do so, the State is therefore in furthermore drew an important distinction between agents or representatives of that State, then surely
violation of its human rights obligations. the provision of education in Nigeria's domestic legal the embezzlement of public funds is a violation of the
framework and the human right to education, which State's obligations?
Taking the relationship between corruption and the
right of everyone to the highest attainable standard
SERAP VS. NIGERIA Nigeria is bound to respect, protect and fulfil as a State
Party to the ACHPR. The Court concluded:
of physical and mental health (article 12, ICESCR) as
The potential practical value of securing a paradigm
an example, State violations of the right to health may 'The fact that these rights are domesticated in
shift from understanding corruption as a 'victimless'
occur if States (including their agents at all levels of the municipal law of Nigeria cannot oust the
economic crime, to addressing it as a human rights
_ _
6 7
PART II PART III
MEASURING THE HUMAN THE SOCIAL IMPACTS OF CORRUPTION
IMPACT OF CORRUPTION Comparative analysis of levels of corruption
The basic premise of the research project undertaken based on suggestions contained in OHCHR's indicator against selected social indicators
was to empirically quantify the impact of corruption framework, with final choices made according a
on internationally protected human rights - to move number of criteria including:
As noted above, to quantify the impacts of corruption Part IV of this policy brief will then 'group' or 'cluster'
beyond vague assertions that 'corruption undermines
on internationally protected human rights, Barkhouse, relevant social indicators under the relevant human
human rights,' to a more granular calculation of the • The indicator should be strongly linked to public Kroll, and the URG first selected (based predominantly rights, as defined and protected by the international
precise nature and extent of that impact. policies and public expenditure budgets. on guidance notes produced by OHCHR) a range of human rights treaties, thereby producing compound
indicators that allow for some level of measurement human rights indicators. This will allow for an
In order to do so, Barkhouse, Kroll, and the URG used • There should be a relatively complete dataset for the
of the enjoyment of those rights across selected assessment and determination of the impacts of
OHCHR's human rights indicator framework, which indicator(s), across all sample States.
countries. This section of the policy brief describes corruption on specific human rights.
suggests a range of social indicators to measure
some of those indicators in more detail, and explains
the on-the-ground enjoyment of the various human A final point of note is that some indicators were,
the results of the data analysis exercise, which
rights set down in the core UN human rights treaties where appropriate, used for more than one human
compared levels of corruption (as measured by the
(and, in the case of the right to development, in the right. For example, child immunisation rates were
CPI) with those indicators to provide evidence of
UN Declaration on the Right to Development). For used to measure (through inclusion in the respective
social impact.
example, for the right to health, OHCHR suggests compound scores) the enjoyment of both the right to
indicators including: child malnutrition, immunisation, health and the right to life.
life expectancy and maternal mortality.
FIGURE 1. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH
In the following two sections of this policy brief, the
The first step was to identify the sample States. authors present the results of the: 85
Singapore
As noted in part 1 of this report, that decision was Republic of Korea Chile Germany
80 Cuba Costa Rica
made on the basis of their inclusion in Transparency • Comparative analysis of levels of corruption (CPI) Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ecuador Bahrain
Cyprus
Uruguay
Islamic Republic of Iran Algeria
International's CPI and the availability of data for against selected social indicators.
75 Venezuela Paraguay Bulgaria Samoa Cabo Verde Saint Vincent and the Grenadine
Libya Bangladesh
those States from reports published by the IMF, UNDP 70 Iraq Kenya Kazakhstan Trinidad and Tobago Bhutan
India Sao Tome and Principe
and WHO. This process of selection highlighted a lack • Comparative analysis of levels of corruption (CPI) Turkmenistan
Cambodia
65 Uganda Ethiopia Morocco Botswana
against selected internationally recognised and Sudan Eritrea
of adequate data for many countries. For example, in Congo Djibouti Rwanda
Ghana
Afghanistan
the context of the 'right to life' impact calculations protected human rights (based on compound scores
60
Haiti Guinea Togo Mali Benin
45
The second step was to select a sample group of
human rights. Based on a presumption of which 40
70
the following seven rights: the right to health, the
65
25
60
55
right to life, the right to education, women's rights, 20
50
45
35
15 30
20
10 15
10
Denmark prevalence of maternal mortality in Nigeria. 24
1.0
Maternal mortality is important as a social indicator
2.5
for the purposes of this report because it is, in most
The WHO identifies Nigeria as having the world's
2.0
1.5
cases, preventable - where a birth is attended by skilled
second-highest number of maternal deaths, with
0.5
1.0
health professionals with proper equipment, drugs and
approximately 59,000 such deaths taking place
0.5
words (and notwithstanding some outliers, such as 700
200
South Sudan Burundi
to a large increase in insecurity (and a higher risk of Côte d’Ivoire
100
Whilst the average life expectancy is around 68.4 years 700 0
conflict). 21 Guinea
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85
_ _
10 11
risk of dying in childbirth or from pregnancy-related the time of childbirth and are readily preventable or FIGURE 4A. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON MORTALITY RATES OF CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS
causes during her lifetime. 26 treatable with proven, cost-effective interventions. 32
170
The WHO has also noted that, in the context of The Barkhouse-Kroll-URG comparative analysis 160
maternal mortality, Nigeria has the highest gap of child mortality against levels of corruption (see
170
160
150 150
between rich and poor of any country in the world. Figure 4A) shows that the average mortality rate in
140
130
120
The neo-maternal mortality rate amongst the richest highly corrupt countries (i.e. countries with a low CPI 140 110
130
80
70
whereas for the poorest quintile that figure rises to 59 to a rate of only 13.38 in countries with low levels of 120
Guinea-Bissau 60
50
Nigeria
(a gap of 156%). 27 corruption (i.e. countries in the top quintile of the CPI
40
30
20
110
ranking). 10
0
0 5 10 15 20
25
30
35 40 45 50
55 60
65 70
75
80
85
_ _
12 13
FIGURE 4B. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON CHILD MALNUTRITION STUNTING (MODERATE OR SEVERE) FIGURE 5. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON GROSS ENROLLMENT RATIO (PRIMARY SCHOOL)
160
60 Afghanistan
150
60
Burundi Sierra Leone Brazil
55 55
Kenya
50
140
Child Malnutrition Stunting (Moderate or Severe) 2008-2013% under 5
45
Argentina Benin Sao Tome and Principe
50 Eritrea 40
130 Lao People’s Democratic Republic
35
Nicaragua Algeria Namibia
30
Bangladesh Swaziland Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Yemen
Ecuador
20
Armenia Rwanda 50 140
Dominican Republic Senegal
130
Paraguay Peru Malaysia
120
110
Algeria Thailand 40
90
15 Sri Lanka Namibia 80
Kazakhstan Mexico Bahrain Mauritius Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 70
Oman 30 60
Romania Georgia 50
0
1 40
Bulgaria 20
Brazil Cuba Jordan
30
China 20
5
Costa Rica 10
Macedonia, FYR 10 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
_ _
14 15
FIGURE 6A. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON THE LITERACY RATE OF YOUNG FEMALES
MEAN YEARS OF
100 Ukraine Armenia CubaCroatia Georgia Latvia Poland Cyprus Estonia Chile
Islamic Republic of Iran Indonesia
Guyana
Tunisia South Africa
Swaziland
Malaysia Israel Botswana Uruguay
SCHOOLING
Lesotho
90
Burundi Nicaragua AlgeriaMorocco
Sudan Haiti Egypt Sao Tome and Principe With one exception (Bhutan, again, appears to be an
Ghana
Bangladesh Nepal outlier), there is a statistically significant relationship
Literacy Rate Female Youth 2005-2013 % ages 15-24
80
Uganda
Yemen Congo Cameroon between levels of corruption (CPI) and the average
Namibia
Togo United Republic of Tanzania number of years that young people spend at school,
70 Malawi
Bhutan (see Figures 7 and 8).
Gambia
Pakistan
60
Senegal Broken down by gender, it again appears that
Mozambique
Democratic Republic of the Congo Sierra Leone female schooling suffers more from corruption than
50
Mauritania does male schooling - with average years at school
Ethiopia
Chad dropping off more quickly the lower a country's CPI
score. In some countries, such as Niger, women, on
100
40
Côte d’Ivoire
Liberia 90
Burkina Faso
80
average, do not even receive one full year's worth of
30 Benin 70
schooling.
Central African Republic 60
50
20
40
30
Niger
FIGURE 7. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON MEAN YEARS OF MEN SCHOOLING
20
10
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
13
0
Israel
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
13
Georgia Estonia
12
12
SloveniaPoland
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Score
11
Qatar
10
CubaCroatia
Latvia
9
8
Serbia Oman
11
Armenia
7
Malta
6
Kyrgyzstan
El Salvador Bulgaria Samoa
5
4
Italy Malaysia
10 Chile
3
Argentina Spain
2 Peru
80
DRC Pakistan Kenya
Uganda United Republic of Tanzania Uganda Mozambique Bhutan
Gambia Malawi Senegal Lesotho 4 Sierra Leone
Sudan Yemen Gambia
70
Sierra Leone
Mauritania 3 Burundi
Ethiopia
60
Côte d’Ivoire 2
Chad
50 1
Central African Republic
0
100
40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
90
80
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Score
70
30 60
50
40
20 30
20
10
10 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Score
_ _
16 17
FIGURE 8. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON MEAN YEARS OF FEMALE SCHOOLING
13
Estonia
Israel
13
12 12
Georgia
11
Latvia Poland
0
Cuba Hungary Qatar
9
11 8
Armenia
7
Azerbaijan Sri Lanka Bulgaria Croatia
6
Oman Samoa Cyprus
0 5
Jamaica
Argentina El Salvador Greece Malta
em ipsum
4
Chile
3
Italy Malaysia Spain
2
9 1
Guyana Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
PART IV
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 Romania
Costa Rica
Mexico
8
Brazil Mauritius
Saudi Arabia
ParaguayLebanon Bolivia
Ecuador Swaziland Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Kuwait
7 Indonesia Uruguay
6
Nicaragua
Nepal Tunisia
Turkey Lesotho
Morocco South Africa THE HUMAN RIGHTS
Ghana
5
Haiti
Cameroon Guatemala Egypt
Bangladesh
Algeria IMPACTS OF CORRUPTION
4 Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Malawi
Uganda Sao Tome and Principe Building on the comparative analysis of the relationship (CRPD), which reaffirms that 'every human being has
3
Central African Republic between levels of corruption (as measured by the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary
Sudan Liberia
Kenya Mozambique
Burundi Transparency International's CPI index) and selected measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons
2 Gambia Bhutan
Yemen Ethiopia human rights indicators - as presented in the preceding with disabilities on an equal basis with others;' and
1 Chad section of this policy brief; Barkhouse, Kroll, and the article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Niger
URG next grouped or 'clustered' relevant indicators Rights, which states that 'every human being shall
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 under seven universal human rights (the right to be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Score life, the right to health, the right to education, the his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this
rights of women, freedom of expression and freedom right.'
of information, decision-making and justice rights,
and the right to development), to produce 'compound In order to provide a robust measurement of the
of President Victor Yanukovych, which stood accused indicators' for each of those rights. Barkhouse, Kroll, level of enjoyment of the right to life across the 126
of rampant corruption (during this period, Ukraine and the URG then conducted a comparative analysis countries sampled for this policy brief, Barkhouse,
TRUST IN GOVERNMENT slipped from 134 th in Transparency International's of those compound indicators as against levels of Kroll, and the URG selected social indicators based
corruption across the sample countries. primarily on the framework set out by OHCHR. 41 This
AND THE JUDICIARY ranking to 144 th - in only three years).
led to the identification of nine social indicators.
A lack of public trust in the judicial sector is not These were then combined into a single 'compound
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barkhouse-Kroll-URG's indicator.' The selected social indicators were:
research revealed a clear correlation between
only detrimental to general dispute resolution
and law enforcement, but also 'harms the broader
THE RIGHT TO LIFE
levels of corruption and levels of popular trust in
accountability function that the judiciary is entrusted
government and the judiciary. Econometric research The right to life is enshrined in article 3 of the
with - upholding citizens rights,' 40 which should be
has also found evidence of a significant relationship Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in article
guaranteed by law and by a State's international
between more press freedom and less corruption in a 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
human rights obligations.
large cross-section of countries. 39 Rights (ICCPR) which states that:
Interestingly, we did note that many Least Developed 'Every human being has the inherent right to
Countries (LDCs) showed a relatively high level of life. This right shall be protected by law. No
trust in government and the judiciary (compared to one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.'
other, richer, developing countries); and those same
countries also tended to have better CPI scores. This fundamental human right is further addressed
and elaborated in other international treaties
At the other end of the scale, Ukraine is notable as including: article 12 of the ICESCR, which calls on
a developed country where (during the period of this States to take steps to prevent infant mortality;
analysis, namely 2013-2014) the population had low article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
levels of trust in the government and judiciary (i.e. (CRC), which confirms that 'States Parties shall
rule of law), and a strong belief that corruption was ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival
highly prevalent (low CPI score). 2013-2014 was a and development of the child;' article 10 of the
time of popular dissatisfaction with the Government Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
_ _
18 19
1. Child malnutrition / stunting - moderate or score for the right to life has a positive (though not Article 12 furthermore calls upon States Parties, in
severe (percentage under 5, 2008-2013). strong) linear relationship (correlation coefficient order to achieve this right, to take steps necessary
2. Infants lacking immunisation for DTP 0.4944) with levels of corruption (as measured by for: the reduction of the stillbirth rate and of infant
(percentage of one-year-olds, 2013). the CPI score). In other words, the enjoyment of the mortality, and for the healthy development of the
3. Infants lacking immunisation for measles right to life is significantly better for people living in child; the improvement of all aspects of environmental
(percentage of one-year-olds, 2013). countries with low levels of corruption as compared and industrial hygiene; the prevention, treatment and
4. Life expectancy at birth (number of years, 2014). to those living within highly corrupt governance control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other
5. Maternal mortality ratio (deaths per 100,000 live systems. People living in countries with higher levels diseases; and the creation of conditions which would
of corruption are more likely to die early, and to die guarantee medical service and medical attention for
births, 2013).
from preventable diseases or complications at birth. all, in the event of sickness.
6. Infant mortality rates (deaths of children under
five-years-old per 1,000 live births, 2013).
As with all economic, social and cultural rights, States
7. Reported cases of arbitrary deprivation of life When considering these results, it is important to
parties to the ICESCR are obliged 'to take steps,
and death threats (e.g. as reported in the period again bear in mind that countries with the very lowest
individually and through international assistance
between 1 March 2013 and 29 February 2014). levels of the enjoyment of the right to life, for example
and co-operation, especially economic and technical,
8. Homicide rate (per 100,000 people, 2008-2012). Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan,
to the maximum of its available resources, with a
9. Prison population (per 100,000 people, 2002- are countries that have faced, or are still embroiled
view to achieving progressively the full realization
2013). in, armed conflicts. Such conflicts will clearly have
of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by
a significant influence on the compound right to life
all appropriate means, including particularly the
indicator. However, it is equally true - as explained
adoption of legislative measures.' 42
As discussed in the introduction and methodology in part III of this report - that corruption often plays
section of this report, whereas other indicators (as a significant contributory role in the emergence and The right to health is also asserted in other
proposed by OHCHR) could equally have been chosen, escalation of such conflicts. international human rights treaties. For example,
Barkhouse, Kroll, and the URG made the above article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the
selection based on the quality and availability of data. Likewise, it might be argued that the results of the Child (CRC) recognises 'the right of the child to
analysis should be weighted/adjusted for levels records in terms of promoting and protecting the the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
Barkhouse-Kroll-URG's analysis (see Figure 9) of development. For example, in almost all cases right to life. However, here again, there is an obvious health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and
shows that the compound human rights indicator Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have the worst counter-argument: that corruption is a major rehabilitation of health.' Article 24 further elaborates
block on sustainable socio-economic development that, in pursuit of the full implementation of this
(encompassing the realisation of the SDGs, and the right, States should take appropriate measures to,
promotion and protection of human rights). Indeed, inter alia: diminish infant and child mortality; ensure
FIGURE 9. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON THE RIGHT LIFE supporting and 'proving' this counter argument is the provision of necessary medical assistance and
one of the main objectives of the current project and health care to all children with an emphasis on
28 Republic of Korea Germany this policy brief: to demonstrate that a State's failure the development of primary health care; combat
Czech Republic Cyprus Uruguay
Albania Kuwait Singapore to respect, protect and fulfil civil and political rights disease and malnutrition, including within the
26 Oman Jordan (and thereby to establish a strong rule of law system
Libya Algeria Romania Mauritius Chile framework of primary healthcare, through, inter alia,
Lebanon
24
Uzbekistan Argentina
Turkey where corruption is confronted), makes it almost the application of readily available technology and
Saudi Arabia
22
Paraguay Bhutan impossible for that State to secure the full enjoyment through the provision of adequate nutritious foods
Brazil Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Azerbaijan of economic, social and cultural rights, and the right and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration
Bangladesh Mexico
10
to development, and to achieve the SDGs by 2030. the dangers and risks of environmental pollution;
Compound Right to Life Score
10 24
22
to ensure that women have access to 'appropriate
8
10
18
services in connection with pregnancy, confinement
South Sudan 16
14
'Right to the highest attainable standard and the post-natal period, granting free services
6 12
10
of physical and mental health' and the where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during
8
2
facilities, goods, services and conditions
2 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85
necessary for the realization of the Every UN member State has ratified at least one
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 highest attainable standard of health.' international human rights treaty recognising the
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Score right to health. 43
UNDP CATEGORY
Very high human development Medium human development
High human development Low human development
_ _
20 21
FIGURE 10. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON THE RIGHT TO HEALTH be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of 4. Pupil-teacher ratio - primary school, (number
capacity, by all appropriate means, and in particular of pupils per teacher, 2008-2014).
56
Republic of Korea by the progressive introduction of free education; and 5. Mean years of schooling - female, (2014).
Mongolia Brazil Cuba Samoa Costa Rica Cyprus UruguayGermany Singapore States shall develop a system of schools at all levels 6. Mean years of schooling - male, (2014).
54 Albania Chile
Turkey Mauritius and continuously improve the material conditions of
Ecuador
China
Armenia Oman Malaysia 7. Population with at least some secondary
Kyrgyzstan Namibia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
42
Azerbaijan Peru South Africa teaching staff. education - female, (2014).
Venezuela Lebanon Vietnam Cabo Verde
Egypt
Guyana 8. Population with at least some secondary
40 Turkmenistan Tajikistan Bolivia In addition, the right to education is also guaranteed
Adjusted Compound Right to Health Score
Bhutan
Bangladesh Indonesia Sao Tome and Principe education - male, (2014).
Cambodia Kenya
38 Uganda Morocco Senegal through article 28 of the CRC, and article 10 of CEDAW. 9. Literacy rate - female youth, (percentage of
Iraq Myanmar Gambia
Eritrea Ghana
26
Sudan
Yemen
Gabon ages 15-24, 2005-2013).
Djibouti India In order to develop a compound indicator for the right
Haiti Congo Nepal Malawi
Burkina Faso 10. Literacy rate - male youth (percentage of ages
Syrian Arab Republic Togo El Salvador to education, Barkhouse, Kroll, and the URG, guided
24
Cameroon 15-24, 2005-2013).
Burundi by OHCHR's indicator framework, identified and used
12 Afghanistan ten social indicators covering different core aspects
Barkhouse-Kroll-URG's analysis (see Figure 11)
56
of the right to education, as set down in article 13 of
10 54
shows that the compound human rights indicator
42
ICESCR, article 28 of CRC and article 10 of CEDAW.
40
score for the right to education has a positive linear
8 38
In making this determination, Barkhouse, Kroll,
26
relationship (correlation coefficient 0.4788) with
24
and the URG were, as with all compound indicators,
6 12
levels of corruption (as measured by the CPI score).
10
constrained by the availability and completeness of
8
4 6
data across all sample countries.
4 As with other human rights indicators analysed
for this study, the correlation between the right to
2
2 0
Slovenia
26
The Convention provides the basis for realising Spain
Portugal Estonia
equality between women and men through ensuring 24
Israel Qatar
women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in, 22
Kazakhstan Argentina Italy
political and public life - including the right to vote Croatia
Latvia
and to stand for election - as well as education, health 20
Azerbaijan Serbia
rights, Barkhouse, Kroll, and the URG identified and
26
8 Benin 22
the right to education. used ten social indicators covering education, health, 20
18
income equality and civil liberties. Unfortunately, Yemen Guinea
16
6
14
Mali
the number of sample countries with suitable
12
Comoros
From the analysis, it appears that this negative impact Afghanistan Côte d’Ivoire
10
4 8
on the right to education falls most heavily on women (disaggregated) data was only 106. 6
4
and girls. In countries with a corruption (CPI) score of 2 Central African Republic 2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
less than 40, literacy rates among women and girls The ten social indicators used that make up the
0
are, on average, 25% lower than among males. 'women's rights' compound indicator were: 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Score
UNDP CATEGORY
From research undertaken for this policy brief, it 1. Maternal mortality ratio, (deaths per 100,000 live Very high human development Medium human development
appears that the risks associated with corruption births, 2013). High human development Low human development
are particularly pronounced in the case of the right 2. Inequality in income, (2014).
to education because of the large amounts of money 3. Female life expectancy, (years, 2014).
involved (the education sector, alongside the health 4. Expected years of schooling - female, (years, 2014).
International, the United Nations Development
sector, is usually one of the two largest areas of 5. Mean years of schooling - female, (years, 2014).
Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and UNDP indicates that
expenditure in national budgets). 44 Moreover, it is 6. Estimated gross national income per capita - female corruption has a disproportionate negative effect on
important to note that by undermining the domestic (PPP $, 2011). women in three key areas: access to decision-making
enjoyment of the right to education, corruption will, 7. Share of seats in parliament, (percentage held by power, protection, and the advancement of rights and
by extension, have a long-term negative impact on a women, 2014). access to resources. 46 The review found such unequal
range of other human rights, as well on society as a 8. Labour force participation rate female (percentage, impacts are particularly pronounced for women and
whole. Research shows that educated populations are
2014). girls living in fragile situations/countries. Similarly,
better able to assert and enjoy all human rights, while
9. Literacy rate - female youth, (percentage of age a 2009 report by UNIFEM 47 noted that women are
society as a whole will be more stable, open, tolerant
15-24, 2005-2013). more vulnerable to the negative consequences of
and prosperous. 45
10. Perceptions of individual well-being - freedom corruption than men, particularly in the context of
of choice, female, (percentage answering yes, accessing public services. For example, as corruption
2014). increases, it is usually girls who are the first to drop
RIGHTS OF WOMEN out of primary and secondary education, and who fail
to complete their schooling; it is women and girls
The Barkhouse-Kroll-URG analysis (see Figure 12) who suffer because of poor or deteriorating maternal
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
shows that the compound human rights indicator care and health care; and it is women who suffer most
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in
financially - with work opportunities and wage levels
1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described score for the rights of women / discrimination against
dropping more quickly for women than for men.
as the international bill of rights for women. women has a positive linear relationship (correlation
coefficient 0.5345) with levels of corruption (as
Corruption also undermines a range of other life
The Convention defines discrimination against women measured by the CPI score).
opportunities for women and girls, and forms an
as: '...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made
important barrier to the realisation of the 2030 Agenda
on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose This is consistent with and supports wider literature
for Sustainable Development. Women are more deeply
of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment on the subject, which shows that corruption has
affected than men by poverty, food insecurity, water
or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital a disproportionately large impact on the lives and
scarcity, environmental degradation, and domestic
status, on a basis of equality of men and women, rights of women and girls. For example, a review
economic crises.
of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the of recent literature by U4 Helpdesk, Transparency
_ _
24 25
FIGURE 13. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
24
10
6 Libya Zimbabwe
2014). Gabon 18
Bahrain 16
10
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
4
2
25 or older, 2005-2013).
2
Sudan 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95
_ _
26 27
FIGURE 14. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON POLITICAL AND JUSTICE RIGHTS treaties, but which is recalled in the 2030 Agenda this determination, Barkhouse, Kroll, and the URG
16 for Sustainable Development, is further elaborated were, as with all compound indicators, constrained by
Norway in subsequent articles of the Declaration. Article 3 the availability and completeness of data across all
15
states that 'national development policies [should] sample countries.
Compound Access to Decision-Making and Access to Justice Score
Colombia 15
14
employment and the fair distribution of income. 6. Foreign direct investment (FDI) - net inflows,
Congo Belarus 13
4
Paraguay
12
11
7
that women have an active role in the development
Lebanon
6
should be carried out with a view to eradicating all 8. Estimated gross national income per capita
1
1 Yemen 0
-male, (PPP US $, 2011-2014).
social injustices.' Clearly, corruption, embezzlement,
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95
_ _
28 29
of State progress with the implementation of Overall then, our analysis demonstrates that States
their international human rights obligations and with higher levels of corruption generally do not
commitments (in cooperation with the Human Rights promote or protect the enjoyment of the right to
Council and its mechanisms, OHCHR and the Treaty development, and vice versa (i.e. States that do not
Bodies), it will impossible for States to achieve the promote and protect this right will generally, as a
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a manner direct consequence, suffer from corruption). However,
that 'leaves no one behind.' within that overall pattern there are some interesting
subtexts. For example, while many African countries
Seen another way, if one accepts the premise that score poorly on the CPI corruption index and on the
human rights permeate the 2030 Agenda, and that the right to development composition score, many of
UN's human rights and the sustainable development them do rather better on individual indicators such
agendas are interconnected, interdependent and as 'trust in government and the judiciary.' This may
mutually-reinforcing - representing, in the words of seem strange in countries with significant corruption
the UN Secretary-General 'two converging agendas' challenges. It perhaps reflects the fact that in many
- then unless States, supported by the international States, corruption is seen as an unavoidable part of
community, make significant progress in achieving life. Or perhaps these countries have less developed
SDG16 (to 'promote peaceful and inclusive societies media and civil society sectors, and thus corruption
for sustainable development, provide access to justice goes unreported; or less educated populations,
for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive meaning people are less able to read and assess
institutions at all levels,') including target 16.5 (to independent sources of information. For example, in
'substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all Ukraine (a developed country with a more educated
their forms,') then the realisation of all human rights, population and an active civil society and media) a
and especially economic, social and cultural rights, relatively high level of awareness of corruption is
and the right to development, will remain a distant matched by a low level of trust in government and
dream, as will the achievement of the 2030 Agenda the judiciary.
as a whole.
40
15 Afghanistan
35
30
25
10 20
15
10
5 5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Score
UNDP CATEGORY
Very high human development Medium human development
High human development Low human development
_ _
30 31
Thus, a number of social indicators were selected It is clear that there are a number of challenges to
which had the most complete data available, in line the current state of data quality, and collection, and
with the OHCHR human rights indicator framework, to in determining what social indicators should make up
assess the impact of human rights on specific human each compound score. However in principle we believe
rights. These were: that this may be a good mechanism for determining
geographically or sectorally where specific efforts
• The right to life; should be focused, e.g. transparency in child
• The right to health; immunisations, maternity health care, literacy rates
• The right to education; etc., and for creating a more impactful measurement
• The rights of women; of corruption. Discussions on how best to achieve this
• The right to development; may be required between both anti-corruption and
• Freedom and access rights; human rights groups.
• Decision-making and justice rights.
APPENDIX A
ENTITIES REMOVED FROM CALCULATIONS
The compound score is based on a series of numeric
values each representing one indicator. Each indicator A number of States were removed from the calculations
SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY has been standardised using the dataset's standard
deviation and numerical field's average. This is a
as they did not feature in the CPI, or alternatively could
not be assessed under human rights indicators due
common practice in statistical analysis and helps to insufficient or incomplete data. These are listed in
ensure that, overall, no involuntary weighting is Appendix C.
When initially undertaking this analysis, we undertook a State was a signatory or Party to such a treaty did ascribed to a given indicator. Further work may be
a broader view of the impact of corruption on the not necessarily mean that specific human rights are carried out to refine these calculations.
achievement of several key human rights objectives, protected in practice.
including the right to development. However, due
to practical and logical reasons, it became apparent As such, we looked to collating specific human rights
that the focus of the paper needed to be on the indicators, on the basis of OHCHR's human rights
impact of corruption on human rights which stem indicators framework that collectively would satisfy
from abuse of power in public office, that is the links the provisions enshrined within the core human rights
between violations of human rights to corruption by covenants. 53 In particular our analysis focused on
state officials where States have direct responsibility outcome indicators which as noted by the OHCHR, 'is
to ensure that the funds which it approves for not only a more direct measure of the realisation of a
public expenditure and the welfare of its citizens human right but... it is often a slow-moving indicator,
are distributed properly and accounted for. Private less sensitive to capturing momentary changes than
sector corruption, and the bribery of public officials a process indicator would be.' This seemed to the
for the obtaining of State awards has not been fully authors to be most equitable mechanism for the
appreciated within this project, due to the extensive analysis.
work required to complete a fuller analysis.
Nonetheless, even solely using outcome indicators,
The first step in analysing the impact of corruption on caused some difficulty in analysing countries that
human rights was to assess if there existed a correlation were included within the CPI. For example, in the
between the CPI and human rights as incorporated case of the human right to life, forty-six illustrative
into national legislation or constitutions following the indicators were proposed in OHCHR's indicators
adoption of the core UN human rights conventions framework, which could be considered to collectively
or treaties. The OHCHR adopted structural, process, assessed as a compound indicator for the right.
and outcome indicators in their framework assessing However immediately we were confronted with issues
the realisation of specific human rights. Structural of data quality and availability, the completeness of
indicators reflect the ratification and adoption of data gathered, and the issue of consolidating different
legal instruments and existence of basic institutional measurements into one scale to which the CPI could
mechanisms deemed necessary for facilitating be correlated.
realization of a human right. 52 However, whether a
State was a signatory to a covenant produced binary Therefore, we sought to exclude data, which was
conclusions, that is, a 'Yes' or 'No' response for which incomplete (i.e. it did not have sufficient data for
it was not possible to glean any conclusions about a number of States for which a sensible conclusion
the impact of corruption against human rights, or could be made), and to consider disaggregating data
whether corrupt States had refrained from becoming so that violations of human rights according to specific
State Parties to such conventions. Indeed the fact that social indicators could be properly assessed.
_ _
32 33
APPENDIX B APPENDIX C Entities Taken Out
East Asia & Pacific
East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)
LIST OF DATA USED DATA REMOVED East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)
• Freedom House, Freedom in the Press, (2014). • United Nations Development Programme, UNDP The lists below set out the countries Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)
Human Development Report, (2015). removed from calculations due to Europe & Central Asia (IDA & IBRD countries)
• Freedom House, Freedom in the World, (2014). incomplete or sufficient data. Europe and Central Asia
• United Nations Inter-agency and Expert Group on European Region
• Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, MDG Indicators, Millennium Development Goals European Union
Indicators, (2015).
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL'S
Voter Turnout Database, (2015). CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX Faroe Islands
Fragile and conflict affected situations
• Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights • World Bank, World Bank Open Statistical Data, Entities Taken Out French Polynesia
- Status of ratification interactive dashboard, (2015). Liechtenstein Gibraltar
(2015).
Brunei Darussalam Greenland
• World Health Organization, World Health Andorra Guam
• Reporters without borders, World Press Freedom Statistics, (2015). Antigua and Barbuda Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC)
Index, (2015).
Palau High human development
• WHO/UNICEF, Progress on Sanitation and Saint Kitts and Nevis High income
• The Institute for Economics and Peace, Global
Drinking Water, (2015). Grenada High income World Bank
Peace Index, (2014).
Saint Lucia IBRD only
Fiji IDA & IBRD total
Tonga IDA blend
Belize IDA only
Maldives IDA total
Palestine, State of Isle of Man
Micronesia (Federated States of) Late-demographic dividend
Vanuatu Latin America & Caribbean
Kiribati Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
Equatorial Guinea Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
Solomon Islands Latin America and the Caribbean
African Region Least developed countries
American Samoa Least developed countries: UN classification
Arab States Low & middle income
Aruba Low human development
Bermuda Low income
British Virgin Islands Low income World Bank
Caribbean small states Lower middle income
Cayman Islands Lower middle income World Bank
Central Europe and the Baltics Macao SAR, China
Channel Islands Marshall Islands
Cook Islands Maximum
Curacao Median
Developing countries Medium human development
Early-demographic dividend Middle East & North Africa
_ _
34 35
Entities Taken Out Countries Taken Out Countries Taken Out
Middle East & North Africa (excluding high income) RIGHT TO HEALTH Bahamas Germany
Middle East & North Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) The following were removed from calculations as a Barbados Denmark
Middle income result of a lack of available date: Colombia Austria
Minimum Countries Taken Out Korea (Democratic People's Rep. of) Hong Kong, China (SAR)
Monaco Puerto Rico Zimbabwe Sweden
Nauru Taiwan Somalia Ireland
New Caledonia Kosovo Czech Republic
Niue Lao People's Democratic Republic Slovakia
North America Panama RIGHT TO EDUCATION United Kingdom
Northern Mariana Islands Seychelles The following were removed from calculations as a Norway
Not classified Dominica result of a lack of available date: United States of America
OECD members Hong Kong, China (SAR) Japan
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop- Countries Taken Out Netherlands
Luxembourg
ment Korea (Democratic People's Rep. of) New Zealand
Iceland
Other small states Somalia Australia
Finland
Pacific island small states Bahamas China
Norway
Post-demographic dividend Dominica Korea (Republic of)
Japan
Pre-demographic dividend Rwanda Canada
Slovenia
Region of the Americas Gabon Switzerland
Sweden
San Marino Albania Barbados
Estonia
Sint Maarten (Dutch part) Vietnam Iceland
Denmark
Small island developing states Papua New Guinea Dominican Republic
Italy
Small states Myanmar Bahrain
Qatar
South Asia Guinea-Bissau Singapore
Portugal
South Asia (IDA & IBRD) Eritrea Zambia
Ireland
South-East Asia Region South Sudan United Arab Emirates
Austria
St. Martin (French part) Puerto Rico Zimbabwe
Israel
Sub-Saharan Africa Taiwan Iraq
Netherlands
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) Kosovo Afghanistan
Australia
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) Djibouti India
Spain
Sub-Saharan Africa World Bank Nigeria Thailand
Switzerland
Turks and Caicos Islands Guinea Mongolia
France
Tuvalu Madagascar Libya
Greece
Upper middle income Turkmenistan Portugal
Belgium
Very high human development Cambodia Venezuela
Croatia
Virgin Islands (U.S.) Uzbekistan Syrian Arab Republic
United Kingdom
West Bank and Gaza Comoros Montenegro
Lithuania
Western Pacific Region Timor-Leste Suriname
Poland
World Colombia Macedonia, FYR
New Zealand
Cabo Verde Trinidad and Tobago
Malta
Panama Jordan
Hungary
Angola Honduras
Canada
Seychelles
Slovakia
Belgium
United Arab Emirates
France
Latvia
Finland
Russian Federation
Luxembourg
_ _
36 37
Countries Taken Out Countries Taken Out Countries Taken Out
RIGHT TO LIFE Guinea-Bissau China Germany
The following were removed from calculations as a Eritrea Oman Netherlands
result of a lack of available date:
Korea (Democratic People's Rep. of) Syrian Arab Republic Spain
Somalia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Denmark
Countries Taken Out
Algeria Norway
Puerto Rico
Iran (Islamic Republic of) Iceland
Taiwan
Cabo Verde Belgium
Kosovo RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT Tajikistan Finland
Russian Federation The following were removed from calculations as a
Barbados Sweden
Panama result of a lack of available date:
Sudan Swaziland
Colombia
Qatar Lesotho
Lithuania Countries Taken Out
Bahamas
Latvia Puerto Rico
Cambodia
Hungary Taiwan
Bahamas Kosovo
Libya GLOBAL PEACE VS. CPI
Jordan The following countries were removed as they had
Barbados Central African Republic
South Sudan no Global Peace Index Rank/Score:
Slovakia Chad
Panama
Estonia Angola
Hong Kong, China (SAR) Countries Taken Out
United Arab Emirates Guinea-Bissau
Cyprus Luxembourg
Croatia Burundi
Hungary Hong Kong, China (SAR)
Poland Togo
Japan Barbados
Dominica Gambia
Malta Bahamas
Denmark Niger
Russian Federation Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Qatar Nepal
Korea (Republic of) Puerto Rico
Slovenia Djibouti
Latvia Dominica
Malta Congo
Slovakia Cabo Verde
United Kingdom Papua New Guinea
Czech Republic Malta
Finland Rwanda
United States of America Seychelles
Belgium Comoros
Estonia Samoa
Ireland Eritrea
Ireland Sao Tome and Principe
Portugal Turkmenistan
Bulgaria Suriname
Greece Myanmar
Greece Comoros
Austria Guyana
Poland
Norway Uzbekistan
Israel
Netherlands Uruguay
Lithuania
Luxembourg Dominica
United Kingdom
Canada Somalia
Singapore
New Zealand Korea (Democratic People's Rep. of)
France
Sweden Sao Tome and Principe
Slovenia
France Bahrain
New Zealand
Australia Lao People's Democratic Republic
Luxembourg
Israel Cuba
Switzerland
Iceland Kuwait
Italy
Spain Timor-Leste
Austria
Switzerland Seychelles
Australia
Italy United Arab Emirates
Portugal
Japan Saudi Arabia
Canada
Hong Kong, China (SAR) Samoa
_ _
38 39
at: [Link]
ENDNOTES Human_Rights20151.pdf
13 John Muncie and Eugene McLaughlin, The Problem of
1 General Assembly resolution 70/1, UN Doc. A/RES/70/1,
Crime, (2001).
(12 October 2015). Available at: [Link]
development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/
14 Sutherland 'is considered as one of the most influential
docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf
criminologists of the 20th century.' He is best known for
defining white-collar crime and differential association,
2 UN General Assembly, Transforming our world: the 2030
a general theory of crime and delinquency. For more
Agenda for Sustainable Development, (21 October 2015),A/
information see e.g. Pamela J. Schram and Stephen G.
RES/70/1, available at: [Link]
Tibbetts, Introduction to Criminology, (2013), p. 253-261.
[Link]?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E
NOTES appendices.
_ _
40 41
24 The Center for Reproductive Rights and Women Advocates 39 Aymo Brunetti and Beatrice Weder, A free press is bad 52 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for which follows the first round of voting held on 17 march, un
Research and Documentation Centre, Broken promises: news for corruption, Journal of Public Economics, 87: 7-8, Human Rights (OHCHR), Human Rights Indicators - A Guide photo/bernardino soares, n.d., License: CC BY- NC-ND 2.0.
human rights, accountability, and maternal death in Nigeria, (2003), pp. 1801-1824. to Measurement and Implementation, (2012). Available here:
(2008). Available here: [Link] [Link] 11. Right to development. Rice fields belonging to local hill
maternal/crr_broken_promises.pdf: 40 Siri Gloppen, Courts, corruption and judicial independence, rights_indicators_en.pdf tribes in sapa, viet nam, un photo/kibae park, n.d., License:
(2014). Available here: [Link] CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
25 Ibid. file/[Link] 53 Ibid.
32 Ibid. 45 Rory Truex, Corruption, Attitudes, and Education: Survey 4. Measuring the human impact of corruption. Election
Evidence from Nepal, World Development, 39: 7, (2011), pp. materials are delivered to port-au-prince ahead of haiti's
33 World Bank Data, mortality rate under-5 years old 1133-1142. second round of elections due to take place. Un photo/logan
(modelled estimate, per 1.000 live births), 1990-2015, (2015). abassi, january 29, 2017, license: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Available at: [Link] 46 Farzana Nawaz, Transparency International with UNIFEM
MORT and UNDP, State of Research on Gender and Corruption, 5. Child mortality or child malnutrition. A child washes
(2009). Available here: [Link] himself in kallyanpur, a slum in bangladesh's capital, dhaka.
34 World Food Programme, Food and Nutrition Handbook, of-research-on-gender-and-corruption As of 2006 figures, 1.1 Billion people in developing countries
(2000). have inadequate access to water, while 2.6 Billion lack basic
47 UNIFEM, Who Answers to Women? Gender and sanitation. Un photo/kibae, june 12, 2010. License: CC BY-
35 Luchuo Engelbert Bain, Paschal Kum Awah, Ngia Accountability, Progress of the World's Women Report, NC-ND 2.0)
Geraldine, Njem Peter Kindong, Yelena Sigal, Nsah Bernard, (2009).
and Ajime Tom Tanjeko, Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: 6. The impacts of corruption on internationally protected
burden, causes and prospects, The Pan African Medical 48 Magdy Martinez-Soliman, Women's empowerment human righs. Sessao impeachment, agência brasil
Journal, 15:120, (2013). and corruption prevention can go hand-in-hand, UNDP fotografias, august 31, 2016. License: CC BY 2.0
Perspectives Article, (2014). Available here: http://
36 OneWorld Asia, Poor governance, corruption driving [Link]/content/undp/en/home/ourperspective/ 7. Child mortality/right to life. A hmong woman and her
malnutrition and hunger in South Asia, (2011). Available ourperspectivearticles/2014/04/17/women-s- baby in the village of sin chai, viet nam. According to unicef,
at: [Link] empowerment-and-corruption-prevention-can-go-hand-in- the number of children who die before age five has fallen
corruption-driving-malnutrition-and-hunger-in-south- [Link] worldwide by more than half since 1960, un photo/kibae park,
asia#.WXhfgndh2u5 n.d., License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
49 UN General Assembly, Declaration on the Right to
37 Daniel Kaufmann, Aart Kraay, and Pablo Zoido-Lobaton, Development, (December 1986), A/RES/41/128, Article 1.1. 8. Right to education. Anti-corruption rally, delhi. Anna
Corruption and literacy in Ukraine, (1999). Available at: hazare, august 24 2011. License: C BY-NC-ND 2.0
[Link] 50 Where data for 2014 was unavailable, 2013 data from
level-affect-the-literacy-rate-and-life-expectancy-of-the- UNDP reports were used. 9. Rights of women. A mongolian family in tarialan soum,
population/ uvs aimag (province), who cultivate potatoes in their yard, un
51 Where data for 2014 was unavailable, 2013 data from photo/eskinder debebe, n.d., License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
38 Bhutan is noted as an outlier. UNDP reports were used.
10. Right to development. A woman holds up her stained
finger after voting in timor-leste's presidential run-off poll,
_ _
42 43
working together to protect universal human rights
ISBN: 978-2-940626-00-7