PERU Country Profile

Snapshot

General Information

Corruption Levels

Initiatives

Resources

Information Network

Sources

Show All

Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives

• Legislation: Peru ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2004 and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption in 1997. Peru has a strong legal framework for fighting corruption, but most observers agree that enforcing the legislation is a major problem. Corruption is criminalised through Decree No. 635 of the Peruvian Penal Code (in Spanish), which covers attempted corruption, extortion, passive and active bribery and money laundering. In response to the serious incidents of corruption in its recent past, Peru has enacted a Law on the Public Service Code of Ethics (in Spanish). The law, applicable to all areas of the public administration, governs the behaviour of public officials in accordance with ethical principles to guide public service. To promote transparency, Peru's domestic legislation requires public officials in senior positions to provide asset declarations. In 2006, harsh penalties were introduced for public officials found guilty of corruption, and a clear punitive difference has been established between those who propose and those who extort a corrupt transaction. Those found guilty of carrying out a corrupt act now face sentences that are 2-4 years longer than under the previous sanctions regime. Sentences for illicit enrichment have also been increased to 8-18 years for senior public officials. Access the Lexadin World Law Guide for a collection of legislation in Peru.

• Government Strategies: The collapse of the Fujimori administration amidst major corruption scandals raised awareness about the need for a long-term anti-corruption strategy. However, national anti-corruption efforts have been characterised by a high degree of inconsistency and a lack of a national anti-corruption policy. Furthermore, several observers, including Global Integrity 2007, claim that the existing agencies lack the autonomy needed to effectively monitor the activities of the government and its administration. An attempt to remedy this situation came as Peru entered - together with other three countries - the G8 Anti-Corruption and Transparency Initiative as pilot country. The initiative has helped the Peruvian government develop an action plan that includes activities in several areas: a) citizen information/internet connectivity; b) improving central government fiscal transparency; c) development of public procurement systems; d) improving regional/local government transparency and management; e) improvement of transparency of extractive industry revenues; and f) development of asset forfeiture systems and legislation. More recently, the Government of Peru participated in a pilot programme to test methodologies for UNCAC implementation review. The corresponding 2010 country report is the outcome of a peer review process and assesses the implementation of selected UNCAC articles. Participation in the programme and publication of the report was purely voluntary. A Peruvian Customs Service Programme was implemented in the early 1990s and consequently the performance of the Peruvian customs service has improved significantly. Prior to the reform, the Peruvian customs service was infamous for its corrupt practices and incompetent procedures. During the reform, Peruvian customs dismissed a large number of corrupt employees, introduced a qualifying examination, trained the remaining staff, hired new, well-qualified personnel, laid down standard customs clearance times, simplified customs tariffs, and lowered the charge rates. This led to a doubling of import volume and a 353% increase in customs revenues, while charge rates were lowered and customs provisions remained otherwise the same. Staff numbers were reduced by about 30%, while the scope of tasks performed remained constant.

• Anti-Corruption Agencies: In 2000, the transition government created the Iniciativa Nacional Anticorrupción (INA) charged with studying the causes of corruption in Peru, preparing guidelines and developing an anti-corruption strategy. Based on INA recommendations, the Comisión Nacional Anticorrupción was established in November 2001 with the objective of proposing a national policy for preventing and fighting corruption, and promoting ethics and transparency in public management. Among the initiatives put in place were an 'anti-corruption tsar', the establishment of a special anti-corruption police division, and the introduction of an anti-nepotism law for the public service. However, after attempting to investigate accusations of corruption in the Toledo administration, the 'tsar' had to resign in December 2004, and the Comisión was informally deactivated. According to many observers, the failure to develop and implement a national action plan in the past has been the main factor behind the failure of the previous anti-corruption agencies. After Alan García came to office, the Ministry of Justice created an anti-corruption council, the Consejo Nacional Anticorrupción, whose purpose was to continue the work of the Commission. However, the new anti-corruption council only served as a ghost-agency, as people were not aware of its existence and information about its goals and activities were kept in the dark. In October 2007, the executive branch decided to create the Oficina Nacional Anticorrupción (ONA), headed by attorney at law Carolina Lizárraga. The existence of the ONA was shortlived, however, and in 2008 it was formally deactivated. All of its functions have now been transferred to the Comptroller General's Office (see below).

• Comptroller General's Office: The Contraloría General de la República (CGR, in Spanish) is appointed by the President for a seven-year term and must be approved by Congress. The CGR is the primary independent auditor in Peru's National Control System that oversees government funds. During the Fujimori era, the CGR reportedly functioned as a supporting mechanism for organised crime, instead of being a controlling entity. A majority of CGR's investigations were focused on those public officials who did not wish to take part in the underhanded objectives of the regime. Today, it is still in the process of re-establishing itself after the rampant corruption of the Fujimori years, and recent initiatives show a willingness to strengthen the CGR as an effective organ. In late 2004, the CGR obtained a USD 12 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank in order to strengthen its competence, decentralise the National Control System and improve technology and training of staff. However, the CGR is still said to lack sanctioning power and full autonomy from the executive branch, and poor availability of data from Peru's approximately 1,500 public entities makes annual auditing difficult. The CGR has been active in addressing corruption by launching the Estrategia Preventiva Anticorrupción (EPA), which is a strategy that aims at preventing corruption between public and private actors and institutions. The EPA consists of two programmes: 1) the Programa de Difusión Para la Prevención de la Corrupción, which seeks to integrate information of anti-corruption in secondary education, and 2) the Programa Juega Limpio, intended to promote inter-institutional cooperation and prevent corruption in the interaction between public and private institutions. However, there are no reports available that assess the impact and effectiveness of these programmes.

• Ombudsman: The Defensoría del Pueblo (in Spanish) is in charge of supervising the fulfilment of the obligations of the state administration. It is a legally independent institution, protected from political interference and this is mostly upheld in practice as well. The Defensoria del Pueblo has a full-time staff, composed mostly of well-educated people. In compliance with the Law No. 27806 on Transparency and Access to Information, the Defensoria del Pueblo publishes annual reports; however, the government is not obliged to follow its recommendations. According to Global Integrity 2007, the government generally acts on the ombudsman recommendations.

• Dirección Contra la Corrupción (DIRCOCOR, in Spanish): The DIRCOCOR is a special unit created in 2002 under the National Police Force of Peru (PNP, in Spanish). The main objective of the DIRCOCOR is to support the judiciary, the Comptroller General's Office and other state organisms with technical police investigations of suspected corruption by public officials. The DIRCOCOR has carried out several investigations since its foundation, but there are no reports on its efficiency or effectiveness.

• Fondo Especial de Administración del Dinero Obtenido Ilicitamente en Perjuicio del Estado (FEDADOI): The FEDADOI is a fund that was established in 2001 with the purpose of administering returned assets that had been misappropriated during Fujimori's years in office. The fund supports public anti-corruption initiatives in Peru.

• Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI, in Spanish): The government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines, has subscribed to the EITI and appointed an EITI coordinator. EITI is an international strategic alliance between governments, private companies, civil society groups and international organisations with the objective of publicising and accounting for revenues and expenses that come from extractive industries, such as oil, mining and other natural resource industries. Additionally, EITI implementation in Peru involves local government and regional projects aimed at accounting for revenue management in the provinces of Cusco and Cajamarca, which are the main regions that produce natural gas and host mining activities.

• Public Procurement: The Supervisory Organism for State Contracting (OSCE, in Spanish) is the supervisory and problem-solving institution for public procurement and contracting in Peru. Public contracting is in principle an open process, and includes the obligation of public entities to publish and communicate their annual contracting plans. The Peruvian government has adopted electronic government contracting and created an Electronic System of Procurement and Contracting for Peru (SEACE, in Spanish) through a modification of Law No. 26850 on State Procurement and Contracting. The new law specifies those bodies that fall under its jurisdiction, broadens the list of grounds for disqualification from state contracts, and clarifies which supply contracts qualify as 'urgent' and can therefore bypass the formal tender procedure. A private investment agency, ProInversion, is in charge of granting public works concessions in infrastructure and public services. Under the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information (in Spanish), contract drafts with specifications of requirements are published on the ProInversion website. Companies who wish to be suppliers to the state can sign up at the Registro Nacional de Proveedores (in Spanish). The anti-corruption organisation, Proética, has conducted a successful campaign to monitor a public procurement tender for police uniforms. The project was complex, but the monitoring resulted in savings of over USD 3 million to the Peruvian government. The results of the monitoring were widely disseminated, and the success helped Proética expand this type of activity into other government agencies, and to local and regional levels.

• Whistle-Blowing: The Peruvian legal framework does not provide any clear legislation on either the responsibility to denounce corruption or the protection of public servants who report corruption. Supreme Decree No. 033-2005-PCM of the Law on the Public Service Code of Ethics states that public entities are responsible for designing, applying and releasing incentives for public servants to report corruption as well as for establishing protection mechanisms. However, according to Global Integrity 2007, there is little evidence of implementation of such mechanisms throughout the public administration. The Comptroller General's office has a complaint mechanism, on its website where citizens can report corruption committed by public officials. The Inspector General under the National Police Force (PNP) also has a complaint mechanism (in Spanish) to which citizens can report criminal offences and corruption committed by the police. However, this complaint channel is seldom used because of lack of confidence in the Inspector General's ability to investigate and sanction the crimes committed within the police. Law No. 27785 of the Lay Orgánica del Sistema Nacional de Control y de la Contraloría General de la República states that private sector employees who report corruption should be protected. However, there is not much evidence of the effectiveness of this protection in practice.

• General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: Both the Toledo and García governments stated the fight against corruption to be a priority; however, in practice, anti-corruption initiatives have focused on crimes committed during Fujimori's presidency. Prosecution of high-level members of the political elite, high-ranking military commanders, businesspeople and media owners, like those now being prosecuted for crimes committed under the Fujimori regime, is unprecedented in Peru.