I

ndonesia remains a country that has a '€œhigh risk'€ of corruption and its defense and military sector are the areas most prone to graft, according to a survey conducted by UK-based antigraft watchdog Transparency International (TI).

TI announced on Thursday that the country'€™s defense and military sector scored a D, which indicates high risk, in 2015, slightly better than 2014'€™s score of E, which indicates a very high risk.

Scores for the index, which assesses 135 countries across the globe, range from A, for very low risk, to F, for very critical risk.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and the Phillipines scored the same risk level as Indonesia, while Cambodia and Myanmar received an F.

The only country that received an A in the region was New Zealand. Japan, Singapore and South Korea were all given a B.

TI researcher Tehmina Abbas suggested that the high corruption risk in Indonesia'€™s defense sector was due to the long-standing secrecy surrounding procurement in military projects, in which leaders are not transparent about spending and block any attempted scrutiny from the public.

'€œCorruption in the defense sector can diminish the public'€™s trust in the government and armed forces, which in turn can lead to instability and insecurity in the country. Transparency and accountability in the sector, therefore, matters so much,'€ Abbas said, adding that in many parts of the world, defense was considered the most corrupt sector.

Abbas said that TI had looked at several indicators to determine countries'€™ scores, including defense budgets and military operations.

Abbas said Indonesia also lacked laws that ensured effective monitoring, particularly of procurement. '€œThe government should publish all procurement contracts and conduct regular audits,'€ she said.

TI credited Indonesia'€™s improved performance in 2015 to the Corruption Eradication Commission'€™s (KPK) continued prosecution of graft cases and to the corruption-free zone declared by then Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Moeldoko in August 2014.

The zone, which was established in response to TI'€™s 2013 index, regulates all military officials to regularly publish their wealth reports.

Human rights watchdog Imparsial executive director Al Araf said the defense sector'€™s dismal score was due to a lack of transparency and oversight in trade and procurement of defense systems.

'€œWe still have a big problem with transparency and accountability in weapons procurement because we still depend on brokers. Conducting these transactions using a third party has the potential to open the door to corruption,'€ Al Araf said.

Al Araf said that the KPK did in fact have the authority to investigate suspected corruption in military institutions as stipulated by Law No. 31/1999 in reference to Law No. 21/2001 on corruption eradication, but the agency continued to claim that prosecuting military officials was outside its jurisdiction.

KPK commissioner Saut Situmorang reiterated the antigraft body'€™s previous stance.

'€œWe are still trying to find solutions. I also think that we have to do more than only review their wealth reports,'€ Saut said.

He suggested that the House of Representatives amend the Corruption Law and the military tribunal laws, to allow the KPK to handle graft cases involving the military.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said that he had taken steps to ensure that all weapons procurement went through the proper procedures.

'€œI said to those [third-party] brokers that they should not play around with me. So if people still hate me, I am alright with that,'€ Ryamizard told reporters.

Meanwhile, Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Jundan Eko Bintoro said that the ministry had been trying to stamp out corruption and promised to do more in the future.

'€œWe have already implemented the corruption-free zone and for our next initiative we will try to upgrade our official website so that the public can easily make complaints and access information about our budget,'€ Jundan said.
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