UNIT 1
UNIT 2
UNIT1
CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS
WARM - UP
Look at the main title.
1. What information do you expect from the text?
2. How is corruption defined?
3. What countries are mostly corrupt?
4. Is there corruption in Russia?
If "Yes", what do you think the main reasons are?
5. What governmental and non-governmental organisations fight against corruption? Have you
ever heard or read about TI (Transparency International)? If not, this text is for you to
read.
READING 1 The following words all appear in the text.
Match each one with a definition on the right.
1.
corruption
2. transparency
3. accountability
4. covenant
5. petty corruption
6. grand corruption
7. a bribe
8. beneficiary
9. a backhander |
a) an agreement, a
contract
b) the condition of being transparent
c) responsibility
d) use of corrupt practices, especially bribery or fraud
e) small scale corruption
f) a person who receives benefits, especially under a
trust, will, or life insurance policy
g) money or services offered in the process of bribing
h) accumulation of very large sums from backhanders
related to big projects
i) a bribe (slang) |
2. Read
the text and choose the most suitable heading from the list below for each numbered part
of the text.
A. Forms of Corruption.
B. What Is the Reality?
C. Transparency International.
D. Corruption and Human Rights: a Crucial Link.
E. Which Human Rights?
(---1---)
Respect for human dignity and personality and a belief in justice are rooted deep in the
religious and cultural traditions of the world. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity
and Islam all stress the inviolability of the essential attributes of the human being. The
right for human rights and the fight against corruption share a great deal of common
ground. A corrupt government which rejects both transparency and accountability is not
likely to be a respecter of human rights. Therefore, the campaign to contain corruption
and the movement for the promotion and protection of human rights are not disparate
processes. They are inextricably linked and interdependent. The elimination of corruption
and the strengthening of human rights both require a strong integrity system. Indeed,
there is a remarkable similarity between the two. The experience of the international
human rights movement suggests that, as in promoting and protecting human rights, the
primary responsibility for strengthening the national integrity system rests with civil
society. An empowered people is surely the most powerful segment in a democratic society.
(---2---)
The three documents which make up the United Nations International Bill of Human Rights
represent the world's best efforts to date to define these rights - the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, and the two
covenants adopted in 1966: on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It appears to be a tribute to the drafters that each of
these documents has been signed to date by over 130 (out of a possible 209) countries -
about 40 per cent of those signatures have been collected in the last eight years, which
confirms their topicality.
(---3---)
For several decades, the principal focus was the liberty of the individual and his
physical, moral and legal integrity. The emphasis then shifted to economic, social and
cultural rights. Today, increasingly, attention is being paid to the individual as a
member of a group. Group rights, whether of women, children or of minorities, whether
ethnic, religious, linguistic, sexual, or the disabled, are now the predominant focus of
attention. The question naturally arises whether corruption, by no means a new phenomenon
but one which is both pervasive and entrenched in many contemporary communities, and which
systematically corrodes the mechanisms of governance, particularly in developing and
emerging economies, is a violation of human rights and ought to be perceived and dealt
with as such.
(---4---)
Corruption is commonly defined as "the misuse of public power for private
profit". In that sense, it involves behaviour on the part of officials
in the public sector, whether politicians or civil servants, whether policy-makers or
administrators, through which they improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves, or those
close to them, by the misuse of the public power entrusted to them. Acts involving
corruption fall broadly into two categories. Conventional bribery, or "petty
corruption", occurs when a public official demands, or expects, "speed
money" or "grease payments" for doing an act which he or she is ordinarily
required by law to do, or when a bribe is paid to obtain services which the official is
prohibited from providing. "Grand corruption" occurs when a person in a high
position who formulates government policy or is able to influence government
decision-making, seeks, as a quid pro quo, payment, usually off-shore and in foreign
currency, for exercising the extensive arbitrary powers vested in him or her. Moody-Stuart
has identified five main categories of supply to government in respect of which grand
corruption plays a significant role. In descending order of pecuniary value, they are:
§ the purchase of aircraft, ships and military supplies, including
telecommunications;
§ the purchase of capital goods required for major industrial and
agro-industrial projects;
§ major civil engineering contracts, such as in respect of dams,
bridges, highways, airports and hospitals;
§ the on-going purchase of bulk supplies, such as oil, fertilisers and
cement, where distribution is through a parastatal company, or where there is a need for
standardization, such as repeat orders for pharmaceuticals and school textbooks.
§ consultancy fees, the usual beneficiary being the public official
whose sole responsibility is to select the consultants.
(__5__)
In establishing Transparency International we sought to learn a good deal from Amnesty
International. The fact that Transparency International operates through a National
Chapter system is undoubtedly one of those key lessons, though as matters have evolved
those chapters are organised very differently to those of Amnesty. However, the principle,
proven par excellence by Amnesty and other human rights organisations, that civil society
can make a difference to outcomes, is central to the hypothesis on which Transparency was
launched. Events since that launch in 1994 have confirmed that it is possible to influence
governments and international organisations on corruption related issues, as on human
rights issues. An empowered people is surely the most powerful segment in a democratic
society. That is precisely what Transparency International seeks to do: to mobilize and
empower civil society to establish coalitions to promote and strengthen international and
national integrity systems.
3. Read the text again and give the answers to the following:
a) What documents have been signed to define human rights?
b) What rights is now the predominant focus of attention?
c) What question arises as far as corruption is concerned?
d) How is corruption commonly defined?
e) What are the forms of corruption?
f) Are there any organisations fighting against corruption and for human rights? What are
they?
g) What does Transparency International seek to do?
VOCABULARY
1. Divide into three groups. A, B and C. Each group should check that they know
the meaning and pronunciation of the words in the appropriate box. Use a dictionary where
necessary.
A
to corrupt, a corrupter, corruptible, corruptibility, corruptive, corruptly.
B
a bribetaker, bribery, bribable, a briber, bribeless.
C
transparency, accountability, a covenant, a backhander, to empower, violation,
beneficiary
2. Now work in groups of three, one student from Group A, one student from Group B
and one from Group C. Explain the meaning of the words to the other students in English.
3. Choose the best alternative to fill the gaps in the following sentences:
1. TI exists to ..... civil society to participate in efforts to fight corruption.
A. develop B. empower C. reject
2. There are lots of ideas as to how systems can be made more ......
A. transparent and accountable B. systematic C. corruptive
3. Patients are forced to offer ..... at hospitals in order to be treated, X-rayed, etc.
A. documents B. bribes C. taxes
4. The demand for recurrent ..... by soldiers policing Nigeria's highways is accepted as a
norm.
A. petty bribes B. reports C. weather forecast
5. The fight against corruption is not always synonymous with the fight for......
A. religion B. human rights C. pollution
6. Governments in some countries are ..... .
A. corruptive B. numerous C. independent
7. Last month another ..... on corruption was signed.
A. treaty B. covenant C. negotiations
GRAMMAR
1. Study the following ways of linking two positive or negative points about something.
Use a dictionary where necessary.
a)* As well as being corrupt, this government lies to us repeatedly.
* Corruption is demanded and given during the registration of children in schools.
Furthermore / moreover, teachers give bribes in order to be promoted.
* Not only are bribes associated with money, they are often associated with goods and
services.
b)* What is to be done in the transition period?
Firstly, we need reforms of the civil service.
Secondly, macroeconomic reforms should be speeded up.
Finally, faster privatization should be encouraged.
c)* A corrupt government which rejects both transparency and accountability is not likely
to be a respecter of human rights. Therefore, the campaign to contain corruption and the
movement for the promotion and protection of human rights are not disparate processes.
d)* All those institutions actually function on the premise - the user pays. However, he
or she pays not to the state or to an agency but to an individual functionary.
* In spite of / Despite the fight against petty corruption in China, it does play an
importance in the lives of very many people.
e)* In 1997 Singapore was considered to be the ninth least corrupt country. On the other
hand it is hardly known for its progressive position on human rights.
2. Look through the text to find sentences with linking words and phrases. Read
these sentences aloud and translate them into Russian.
TALKING POINT
Work in small groups and discuss these questions:
a What kinds of corruption are there in your country? Is there any statistics on the issue
under discussion?
b What initiatives would you contribute to improve the situation if you were a member of
TI?
WRITING
Here is Balzac's saying:"Behind every great fortune is a crime."
What do you think the great French writer meant?
Write about 250 words commenting on the phrase. Think of the anti-corruption initiatives
in your country (in the world) to change our lives for the better.
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