PERU Country Profile

Private Anti-Corruption Initiatives

  • Media: Freedom of press is provided by the constitution and it is generally respected according US Department of State 2008. Privately-run broadcasters and newspapers dominate the media scene, with the state-run media having relatively small audiences. According to Freedom House 2010, low pay leaves reporters susceptible to bribery. Cases of journalists accepting bribes in exchange for reporting negative or favourable coverage are not unusual and this has contributed to a general lack of credibility of the media in Peru. Although murders of journalists are reportedly rare today, Human Rights Watch 2008 and Reporters Without Borders 2010 support claims by Freedom House 2010, stating that journalists reporting negative coverage are commonly subject to intimidation and assault by private actors, civil servants, police officers, union representatives or even elected officials. In the past, such crimes often went unpunished. However, the Peruvian courts made some progress in 2005-2006 towards solving past injustices against journalists. Corruption, drug-trafficking and the activities of the Shining Path guerrillas are perceived to be among the 'most dangerous' subjects for journalists. In the Reporters Without Borders 2010 Peru is ranked 85th out of 175 countries. In the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009, the media in Peru are also perceived to be highly affected by corruption as citizens give the media a score of 3.3 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt'), which places the Peruvian media among the most affected by corruption in Latin America. Freedom House 2009 ranks Peru 92nd out of 195 countries and describes its press environment as 'partly free'.

  • Civil Society: The constitution provides for the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of association and according to the US Department of State 2008 those freedom are generally respected. The current administration of President García has criticised NGOs for hindering economic development and for a perceived lack of transparency. In this regard, Congress passed legislation on NGOs in November 2006. However, in September 2007, after massive local and international NGOs protesting, the Constitutional Court struck down sections of the law's more controversial clauses.

  • Proética (in Spanish) is the local Peruvian chapter of Transparency International. It was established in 2001 and consists of four civil society organisations: the Comisión Andina de Juristas (CAJ, in Spanish), the Asociación Civil Transparencia (in Spanish), the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (Ipys, in Spanish) and the Asociación de Exportadores (ADEX), arranged in a consortium aimed to contain and prevent corruption in the country. Proética promotes citizen participation, public sector transparency and integrity, policy dialogue and business ethics. It focuses on five strategic areas: oversight of the use of public resources (including procurement), prevention and awareness, quantitative and qualitative measurement of corruption, dissemination and documentation, and working with local and regional governments. With support from the Swedish aid agency SIDA, Proética is working on designing anti-corruption plans for three regions in cooperation with local and regional activists. Eventually, Proética hopes to exert influence on the formation and implementation of the national anti-corruption policy. See the section on public procurement under 'Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives' in the Initiatives section for more information about the work of Proética or visit their website.

  • Ciudadanos al Día (CAD, in Spanish): CAD is a Peruvian non-profit organisation that works to improve the citizen-state relationship at all levels of government office by introducing interventions which lead to a state that is more transparent, efficient and equitable, and to a citizenry that is more informed, demanding and engaged. CAD specialises in the use of competition to generate positive social outcomes such as better governance, improved compliance with the rule of law, and reduced corruption.