May 19, 2008

The Khmer Chronicles / Issue Nr 9: About ethics and corruption rankings

John Vink

There was a time when Cambodia was not even listed on Transparency International's Corruption Perception index.

But Cambodia is more and more part of the world... In 2007 it was listed nr 162 out of 179 (the last position being shared by Somalia and Myanmar). In 2006 it was in 151st place with 163 countries listed (Haiti was last). In 2005 Cambodia was 130th out of 158 countries. In 2004 it wasn't listed (which doesn't mean there was no corruption). So I guess one can say that the situation is not really brilliant on the corruption front in Faraway Kingdom.

One of the first things a cambodian child learns at school is corruption: every day the kids have to give 500 or 1000 Riel (0,25$) to their teacher to attend class (in a school system where education officially is for free), and supplementary private lessons are mandatory to pass examinations at the end of the year. But a teacher's salary is between 40 and 60 dollars a month. This could explain that. Should it?

If there is corruption at the lowest level there must be higher up? Sure, but the higher you go the more difficult and risky it gets to prove. And if as a journalist you find something juicy, does the amount of press freedom available allow you to expose the scheme? Well not necessarily, and that's the trouble with countries where corruption is institutionalised: usually press freedom can be bought as well. If silence can't be bought with some, thugs can be bought to put physical pressure on the journalist. If the journalist escapes the thugs (although 9 journalists died since 1993) there are ways to bring him to court. Etc.. That beast eats you from within... It's all over the place: journalists get a free meal and an envelope with "compensation money" at press conferences or have to pay money to get an interview. Or journalists blackmail people they have sensitive information about.

LICADHO (a Human Rights organisation) published a report on press freedom in Cambodia. It is an interesting read.

The only way for a journalist to escape all this is ethics. Very strong ethics (and decent salaries). All the journalists at Ka-set are signatories of a charter giving guarantees to its readers they will be provided with independent and corruption-free informations. I must say that it is easier for foreign journalists not to get involved with corruption. Because usually (not always mind you) they have higher salaries than their cambodian colleagues, and after all a big chunk of the annual budget of the country comes from the countries these journalists come from. A certain facade of press freedom to keep the money flowing in has to be maintained, and foreign correspondents are usually put under less pressure than the cambodian reporters. Does that make Cambodia a dangerous place to work in? No not necesarily. A more difficult one when sensitive areas have to be unraveled? Yes definitely: navigation between all those rocks is tricky...

Cambodia. Phnom Penh. 22/04/2008: PDP team asking people to sign a petition against corruption at Wat Phnom. The goal is to submit 1 million thumbprints to the government on April 30th. © John Vink/Magnum Photos

Ethical journalism alone will not solve the corruption problem of course. Civil Society is also putting pressure on the government. Last friday a petition with over 1 million thumbprints will be handed over to the MP's at the National Assembly. Finally it's the MP's and the government who have the power to tackle corruption, and they are working (since several years) on a law about corruption. But did I write somewhere that the beast eats you from within and that it's all over the place? I think I did...

Published on the Magnum Blog on May 19, 2008

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