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	Corruption uncovered in the local authorities governing natural resources by China Daily, agencies   Sept 2014   How do we look at the fight against corruption if a government department turns out to be a den of corruption with the majority of its members being found to be involved in abusing their powers?   In the latest case, 158 officials in the water conservancy bureau of Jiujiang municipal government of East China"s Jiangxi province were found to be involved in rent-seeking, and the money in bribes and kickbacks uncovered amounts to 76 million yuan ($12 million). Seventeen officials have been arrested.   In the most sensational case, five members of the standing committee of the Shanxi provincial Party committee were placed under investigation for abuse of power, more than one-third of its total key members.   This latest incident in the anti-corruption campaign points to the political biosphere of officialdom, where corruption breeds easily and in abundance. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee said the situation is severe for the building of a clean government and for the fight against corruption.   It is not surprising that corrupt elements will try and put up resistance to the anti-graft campaign. They will do whatever they can to cover up what they have done in taking bribes and embezzling public money.   Those who are willing to continue to get illegal gains from their positions will certainly complain that the fight has gone too far and hope that it can be brought to an abrupt halt without the political biosphere being transformed.   But for anyone who hopes for China"s sustainable development, prosperity and national renewal, they expect the central authorities to continue the campaign with zero-tolerance to corruption until clean government is achieved.   They want the political biosphere of officialdom to be transformed so it is not possible for those in power to wield power at their own will.   Anti-graft chief Wang Qishan, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said the campaign is trying to squeeze the space available for officials to seek personal gain by abusing their power.   Electricity, crude oil, irrigation... one after another, corruption has been discovered in the local authorities governing natural resources. Such corruption is often hidden under the cover of higher threshold and technology qualities, calling for stricter supervision. Insiders say that a whole chain of corruption formed in Jiujiang, with professional agents purchasing project permits from officials and selling them to construction corporations. Dare anybody trust the quality of irrigation projects constructed this way? - Beijing Times, Sept 15   China has the second-largest GDP in the world, which brings large quantities of public investment. However, large quantities of corruption are also hidden in the investment, which has caused tragedies such as bridges that survive only one year. China needs to clean its GDP of corruption and make economic growth truly benefit the people. - Ye Qing, deputy director of Hubei provincial bureau of statistics, Beijing News, Sept 16   Whenever a corruption case is reported, local governments always claim "only a small percentage" of officials are involved. Now it has been proved it is a very high percentage. Altogether 158 officials of water conservancy-related departments in Jiujiang have been found to be involved in corruption, of which 125 are Party members. Seventeen will be prosecuted. - Cao Lin from China Youth Daily in a micro blog, Sept 16   Such widely entrenched corruption at the local level is even more of a problem than corrupt senior officials. It"s no use cutting off the branch of a tree if the roots are diseased, and corruption at the local level is so deeply rooted. Big and painful structural changes will be required to meet the public"s expectations. - Zhang Ming, professor of political science at Renmin University of China, nanzao.com, Sept 15   Organized corruption involving more than 100 officials has been rampant for six years in the city. What were the supervisors doing during all the years? If they did take any action, the tigers would have been punished before they could grow so big and attract so many flies. The local supervising departments should also be investigated and held responsible for their failure of duty. - Workers Daily, Sept 16   28 Dec 2013 (Reuters)   More than 500 lawmakers in a Chinese city have resigned after being implicated in a bribery scandal, while another 56 provincial legislators have been sacked as the government steps up its war on graft.   The official Xinhua news agency said the 512 lawmakers in Hengyang city in the poor, landlocked southern province of Hunan resigned after they took bribes from 56 members of the provincial assembly.   The total amount of the bribes was more than 110 million yuan ($20 million) and the money was used to swing the results of elections, Xinhua said, citing a Hunan government statement.   China does not have fully democratic one-man, one-vote elections but has experimented with a selection process at the grassroots for local legislatures, even if most candidates are Communist Party members and there is rarely more than a single candidate for each position available.   "The number of people involved in the Hengyang election case are many, the amount of money large, the substance serious, the effect pernicious; this is a serious challenge to our People"s Congresses system," Xinhua said.   Provinces, cities, counties and other administrative districts all have their own People"s Congresses, and they all generally act as a rubber stamp for party decisions rather than providing a forum for debate or making policies.   The competition to become lawmakers in some places has opened the door to corruption, as membership of such bodies brings opportunities to influence decisions about things such as business contracts and promotions.   Xinhua said that those found to have broken the law in this bribery scandal would be handed over to judicial authorities for prosecution.   President Xi Jinping has launched a crackdown on corruption since taking power, pursuing high-flying "tigers" as well as lowly "flies", warning the problem is so severe it could threaten the Government"s survival.   Still, the party has shown no sign of wanting to set up an independent body outside party control to fight corruption, which many experts say is the only way China can really deal with it.   * There are reported to be over 25,000 cases of official corruption currently under review.   http://www.trust.org/spotlight/Corruption-in-China Visit the related web page
	Few perpetrators of mass violations face justice by Pablo de Greiff UN Special Rapporteur on transitional justice   12 September 2014   UN Special Rapporteur on transitional justice Pablo de Greiff on Friday warned that “despite clear international obligations, only a fraction of perpetrators of massive violations are ever investigated and prosecuted”. He stressed that it is crucial for States to adopt effective prosecutorial strategies to bring to justice the perpetrators of such atrocities and to prevent a recurrence of violence.   In a report presented to the Human Rights Council, the expert asserted that by strategically sequencing criminal prosecutions, States can maximize accountability in the aftermath of conflicts or during the transition away from authoritarian regimes.   “The aim of such strategies should be to dismantle the structures that enabled the atrocities in the first place,” de Greiff said. “Strategic prosecutions can contribute to the prevention of new violations.”   “Many countries in transition have been, and remain, greatly tempted to adopt amnesties, including blanket amnesties for even the worst violations. However, amnesties risk entrenching a culture of impunity and contribute to creating vicious cycles of violence,” he added.   The Special Rapporteur stressed the importance of victims’ participation in the design of prosecution strategies and in their implementation. “Participation empowers victims and catalyses demands for justice,” he said.   De Greiff emphasized that criminal prosecutions must not be one-sided or amount to victors’ justice as this would delegitimize transitional justice efforts. He added that the independence of prosecutors is a key safeguard in preventing criminal justice from becoming an instrument of the powerful.   “States must not take measures amounting to reprisals against prosecutors for their impartial efforts to bring perpetrators of mass violations to justice,” he stressed.   De Greiff also expressed concern about recent regression in the application of universal jurisdiction.   “I call on States with universal jurisdiction not to backtrack on their accomplishments and on others to adopt relevant legislation expeditiously,” he said.   * For the full report, see link below. Visit the related web page
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