THE current NAB chief, a recently retired Lt. General after he took over early last year invited a group of Pakistan’s senior journalists for an exchange of views. Those were the sugar crisis days.
The NAB had already lost face by suddenly stopping its investigation into the crisis after having started it with a lot of fanfare. Since the Bureau had not given any convincing explanation for the abrupt curtailment of its inquiry into the then ongoing scandal, most of us were naturally looking forward to grill the general on the matter. But we found Lt. Gen. (retd.) Shahid Aziz to be too frank for his own good.
The discussion was off the record. But the impressions were not. And my impression was that Shahid Aziz had to stop the investigation on the orders of the top man whose government, Shahid Aziz seemingly was given to understand, would collapse if the NAB went for those sitting in the cabinet who had cartelised to push the sugar prices from Rs22 a kilo to Rs42 and more.
Later the entire scandal was pushed under the carpet of free market, free economy and free country where there was every freedom without any check and balance for every one to make a quick buck at the cost of general public and the exchequer. That is free enterprise, it was explained by the official economic managers. Even the Transparency International(TI) kept looking the other way as we went from the sugar cartel to cement cartel, then to oil cartel and finally to the stock market cartel.
However, the TI is not as indifferent in the case of the UK’s bribery scandal as it was in the price fixing cases of Pakistan. In mid-March TI submitted a follow-up letter to the Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) calling for specific action to be taken on the UK government’s decision to terminate the investigation of allegations of bribery by BAE Systems Plc (BAeS) in the UK-Saudi Arabia Al Yamamah defence contract. BAeS, Britain’s largest defence contractor, has throughout denied any wrongdoing.
The letter is the latest contribution by the TI secretariat and TI’s national chapter in the UK to efforts by a large coalition of civil society organisations to press the OECD to persuade the UK government to undo the damage caused by the termination of the investigation.
TI asks that the OECD urge the UK government to promptly undertake the following:
• reinstate the investigation and move ahead with prosecutions in foreign bribery cases where justified by evidence, without further delays.
• encourage BAeS to make a public statement making clear that it is following a strict anti-bribery policy, backed up by a rigorous compliance programme, consistent with the best practices of leading MNCs. Provision should be made for independent verification of BAeS compliance programme.
The letter goes on to say that TI believes that the UK government’s assertion that national security interests justify the termination of the Al Yamamah investigation violates Article 5 of the Convention. A recent brief from Yale University Law School indicates that a party to the OECD Convention cannot claim a national security exception simply by asserting that national security interests would be damaged by proceeding with a foreign bribery investigation or prosecution
Transparency International also added its support to a recent letter signed by a large coalition of civil society organisations, which was sent to the British Prime Minister asking him to re-open the investigation of the Al Yamamah case.
This letter reinforces earlier efforts by TI to keep pressure on the UK to take action. This includes a letter sent earlier by TI to the Secretary General of the OECD to press the organisation to persuade the British government to reinstate the investigation, as well as a press release issued last month by Transparency International’s national chapter in the UK.
The TI further said that action by the UK government on this issue is essential. Not only does its decision to halt the investigation undermine the progress made on combating foreign bribery through the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, it also threatens the implementation of the more recent United Nations Convention against Corruption, and damages the reputation of the UK as an international anti-corruption champion.
Earlier, on March 6 the TI had written a letter to the OECD recalling that it had written a letter on January 8, 2007, prior to the January meeting of the OECD Working Group on Bribery, to express TI’s concern regarding the UK’s decision to terminate the investigation of foreign bribery allegations in connection with the Al Yamamah project in Saudi Arabia.
“In our view, the most serious consequence of the Al Yamamah termination is that it undermines the basic understanding underlying the OECD Convention: the collective commitment by the major industrialised countries to stop competing on the basis of bribery. How this issue is resolved will send an important message to all the parties to the Convention, to the international business community and to civil society organisations committed to combating corruption.
“Stepping back from the particulars of the UK’s actions to gain a broader perspective, the essential aim should be to ensure that the OECD Convention will not unravel, and that all parties will undertake effective enforcement. Even before the Al Yamamah termination, there were widespread concerns about the UK government’s commitment to enforcing the prohibition against foreign bribery.
•No foreign bribery prosecutions have been brought six years after the Convention went into effect.
•Little or no action has been taken to correct deficiencies in UK law and procedures identified in OECD monitoring reviews in 1999, 2001 and 2005.
“Recently the UK government made encouraging statements about its determination to confront corruption in international business. Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, has been made responsible for the UK’s international anti-corruption efforts, and new resources have been allocated. However, the Al Yamamah termination confirmed pre-existing concerns and created a serious credibility problem, even among the UK’s friends and partners.
“TI believes that it is now essential for the UK government to take actions that demonstrate an unequivocal commitment to end foreign bribery. We ask that the OECD urge the UK to promptly undertake the following: (a) enact a new corruption law correcting the deficiencies identified by OECD, (b) bring cases, and (c) encourage BAE to make clear that its ongoing business practices effectively prevent foreign bribery.”
THE current NAB chief, a recently retired Lt. General after he took over early last year invited a group of Pakistan’s senior journalists for an exchange of views. Those were the sugar crisis days.
