TOGETHER WE ARE
Introduction
Corruption is defined as dishonest or illegal behaviour by power people. It can have severe consequences, and one major consequence is the violation and of basic human rights. Corruption can affect a wide range of human rights including economic, social, political, as well as the right to development. Corruption can easily undermine the ability of a country or government to respect and protect the human rights of its citizens.
Corruption can affect human rights in different ways. For instance, corruption in the justice system of the country can lead to violation of the right to a fair trial; mass arrests, brutality and inhuman treatment of suspects. The right to a fair trial is a fundamental human right that is essential for safeguarding the rule of law. Unfair sentences can lead to the violation of the right to life if the victim has been unfairly sentenced to death. Bribery of judiciary officials can also lead to human rights violations like mistreatment, loss of life, unfair imprisonment etc. Corruption decreases public trust in justice and weakens the capacity of judicial systems to guarantee the protection of human rights.
Corruption in the police and/or military can lead to violation of many human rights and would bring a rise in horrendous activities such as human trafficking, theft, extortion etc. Corruption in healthcare will lead to violation of the right to health through favouritism, fraud, and bribery. This is a very deadly form of corruption as it a threat to the right to life of the people. Extortion and non-consensual surgeries are some examples of corruption in healthcare.
BLOG
Corruption is something that has plagued the world since the dawn of mankind, and it has never been a larger issue than in the 21st Century. The OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation Development) has estimated that the cost of corruption each year is around 5% of the total global GDP. In a report by the UN, it is stated that developing countries face a cost of up to $1.26 trillion due to corruption every year. All countries and societies are victims of corruption, and they all have to face dreadful consequences.
Enough introduction, let’s just get on to our main topic of discussion for today: The corruption crisis in Pakistan. It is something that has been a part of this country since its creation in 1947, and it continues to stand as a great obstacle in the way of Pakistan’s development. In Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2019, Pakistan dropped to a ranking 120 out of 180 countries. It had previously been on 117 since 2016, during the previous PMLN government, which was accused by the current PM Imran Khan as being run by the corrupt Mafia’. Even though his government promised to eradicate corruption, it appears to be going in the complete opposite direction. It also shows the incompetence of the National Accountability Bureau, who’s performance has only worsened after the change in government. The Ex-Chief of NAB, Fasih Bokhari, stated in a press conference that corruption costs Pakistan Rs.10-12 billion every, single day.
In my opinion, the lack of accountability and the implementation of laws is the biggest cause of Pakistan’s corruption crisis. I believe that the only reason organizations like NAB and the FIA haven’t been able to perform efficiently is because of the control of political parties and the government over these institutions. Political leaders can easily get out of trouble if their party has enough influence. Pakistan’s justice system is filled to the brink with corruption because there is no implementation of laws. Bribery has become the norm of society and everyone knows that filling the pockets of a few policemen and judges would easily get you out of most cases of corruption such as tax evasion and money laundry. This completely ruins the credibility of our justice system and the failed implementation of anti-corruption reforms over Pakistan’s history undermine the credibility of NAB, FIA, and other anti-corruption organizations.
Those who are unable to pay the bribes face the consequences of their right to fair treatment being violated; they can lose their right to a fair trial; the right to an adequate standard of living, social security, healthy government, work, and several others are violated with the high level of corruption in countries like Pakistan. I believe that the severe corruption has given way to other horrendous crimes to take place, such as human trafficking, terrorism, and smuggling because it has become trivially easy for people to get away with them.
No government has ever introduced truly efficient and long-lasting solutions to the issue of corruption and no government have ever tried to enforce its laws on the people and try to improve the broken, corrupt justice system. Only time will tell if Pakistan will ever see the day when corruption would be the talk of the past.
Written by:- ABDULLAH YASIR
SURVEY
We conducted a survey about corruption with the aim of finding out what people knew about corruption and reasons behind widespread corruption, and whether they themselves became a victim of corruption.
The results
A whole variety of people responded to our survey, mainly people of age 15-20 and the least who were 50 and above of age. Our survey did not have an age limit and was aimed at everyone. 52.7% of people were male who responded to our survey and 46.4% of the respondents were female and a small percentage did not reveal their gender. 45.5% of the people did not know about the 3 basic human rights and 32.1% of the respondents knew about them and the remaining people weren’t sure if they knew or not. The majority of the people were sure that they would know if their human rights would be violated in any situation. 88.4% of the respondents thought that corruption is a major issue in their country.
Many people thought that political instability and incompetence of government officials are the main reasons behind the widespread of corruption. A good amount of responses also pointed out that bribe is one of the main reasons as well as that the people don’t raise voice against corrupt leaders. Unemployment was also used as an answer. Dishonesty and Disloyalty were also stated as the root causes of corruption.
Results showed that about 60% of the people think that the right to safety of life, education, clean environment, equality, and fair trial is threatened by corruption. Others thought that the right to life is affected by corruption. It was not surprising that 46%of the people had been a victim of corruption and 44% of the respondents had never been a victim and the remaining ones were not sure.
According to the results, 45.5% of the respondents think that their government has taken anti-corruption measures to reduce the effect of corruption and the other 33% think that the government failed in doing so and the remaining 21.4% of the people weren’t sure about it. The majority of the people (93.8%) thought corruption can lead to the rise of other crimes which may lead to further human rights violations and the rest either thought that it doesn’t or weren’t sure.
