Analysis: Reports Of Rampant Corruption In New Iraqi Institutions

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Analysis: Reports Of Rampant Corruption In New Iraqi Institutions
By Kathleen Ridolfo

Corruption is reportedly running rampant in the new Iraqi government, according to Judge Radi al-Radi, who heads the Commission on Public Integrity established by the Coalition Provisional Authority to monitor corruption. Al-Diyar television cited al-Radi on 13 October as saying that 14 administrative corruption cases have been investigated at Iraqi ministries. The cases were reportedly referred to the Iraqi courts. Al-Radi also said that hundreds of instances of administrative corruption and bribery have been uncovered. Those issues will be addressed by the commission in the coming days, he said.

The Al-Diyar report is just one of many to surface in the Iraqi press in recent weeks. "Al-Zaman" reported on 7 October that Environment Ministry Undersecretary Ali Hanush resigned from his post a week earlier after his complaints of corruption and cronyism were not addressed. "I was extremely disappointed at the way affairs were being conducted in the ministry," Hanush told "Al-Zaman" in a letter. He said that government offices were subject to what he called "administrative violence," adding that many civil servants were promoted, demoted, removed, and transferred without justification. Loyalty to political factions tied to the government outweighed a person's qualifications, he said. "Al-Zaman" reported that corruption is affecting several levels of the civil-service structure in Iraq, with officials openly seeking bribes to perform routine functions.

Baghdad's "Al-Shira" cited State Minister Wa'il Abd al-Latif in a 4 October report as saying that corruption is affecting border security as well. Abd al-Latif said that the problem stems from having border guards indigenous to the areas manning border stations. "When the police from Al-Basrah are deployed to protect the borders there, they sympathize with citizens of Al-Basrah, and the same is true when the police from Al-Anbar Governorate are deployed" at borders within the governorate.

Terrorists are entering the country from Syria without search or verification of passports by paying bribes, he contended. Thus, they are also able to smuggle in paraphernalia that could assist them in their objectives, he added.

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