The Atlas of Impunity is a new global index that scores from 0 to 5: higher scores mean greater impunity
“The impunity it is the exercise of power without accountability that becomes, in its crudest form, the commission of crimes without punishment… Impunity is the idea that ‘the law is for fools,’” he affirms in his first harsh introduction World Atlas of Impunitydays ago during the Munich Security Conference.
Made by him Eurasian group and the Chicago Council on Global Affairsresearch is a index exhausting that haunted abuse of powerR in five dimensions key social: Unaccountable governance, human rights abuses, conflict, economic exploitation and environmental degradation.
The Atlas defines impunity as “the exercise of power without checks and balances” and is based on 67 statistical indicators from 29 validated sources. A total of 197 countries and territories received a score from 0 to 5 in each of these five areas of impunity: higher scores mean greater impunity and lower scores mean greater accountability. Of the countries included, 163 countries have sufficient data to be compared and ranked, while the remaining 34 receive indicative scores based on available data.
Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen top this year’s list with the highest impunity scoreswhile Finland, Denmark and Sweden with the lowest impunity scores. Worst-performing in the region is Venezuela, which ranks 11th in the world.
“The Atlas of Impunity provides, for the first time, independent, credible and verifiable data on five dimensions of impunity. Democracy versus autocracy and other popular paradigms do not suffice to explain the widespread abuse of power, even within powerful democracies,” he said. David Miliband, former British Foreign Secretary and co-chair of the Atlas Advisory Council. He added: “The prism of impunity and accountability captures the multidimensional nature of global challenges and the avoidance of public accountability. Impunity thrives in the dark; This atlas is a tool to shed light on abuses of power and stimulate debate on what to do about it.”
Nicolas Maduro (Portal)
Conflict and violence indicators increase impunity in many countries in the region.
Venezuela -warns the Atlas- is a country particularly affected by impunity. occupies the rank 11 in the Atlas, reflecting a higher level of impunity than that of Haiti (15th) and Nicaragua (38th)largely as a result of the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro, who has intensified repression even if we take a more pragmatic approach to economics.
In fact, the Maduro regime is among the five worst performing countries on the unaccountable governance dimension – behind only North Korea and ahead of Myanmar., “something unlikely to change in the near future,” the Atlas warns. And he adds: “It is unlikely that Maduro will accept a competitive presidential election in 2024, given the very high personal exit costs associated with losing power. This includes the prospect of international prosecution in response to the regime’s abuses.”
The Central American countries also occupy the top positions in the atlas, with the notable exceptions of Costa Rica And Panama, whose much lower impunity puts them 131st and 114th respectively. The countries of the Northern Triangle are particularly vulnerable to presidential or elite influence on institutions, including the courts, while Costa Rican society is characterized as strongly democratic, although it tends to suffer from political deadlock. Additionally, Costa Rica has not seen violent conflict since the end of its civil war in 1948, after which it eliminated its armed forces and redirected its defense spending to educational and social programs.
In the meantime, Brazil -which has the largest population and economy in the region- 70th place in the atlas, with a level of impunity slightly below average. “Brazil performs fairly well on the dimensions of economic exploitation and environmental degradation (104th and 128th, respectively), but the country’s overall ranking suffers from two main issues. Systematic corruption and white-collar crime are rife on the socio-economic front, while severe inequality continues to hamper improvement elsewhere.
In terms of environmental policies, Brazil has tried to promote sustainable agricultural systems but suffers from high levels of deforestation and has a resulting carbon footprint. However, given the outcome of the 2022 presidential election, the country’s policy on deforestation could change significantly.
Brazil has a lower level of impunity than Brazil Colombia And Mexico, occupying positions 53 and 45respectively, but all three perform poorly on conflict and violence, mainly due to high crime rates and drug-related conflict.
Mexico is the fifth country in the world with the highest impunity rate in this dimension, while Brazil ranks ninth and Colombia twelfth. Brazil, Mexico and Colombia also perform poorly in the dimension of human rights violations, ranking 64th, 33rd and 52nd. “These negative results are due to the systemic lack of legal equality and high levels of discrimination. Mexico and Colombia also score poorly on the indicator of politically motivated disappearances.”
For their part, Chile and Argentina occupy positions 124 and 120 in the Atlas. Argentina performs better on the environmental degradation dimension, but has a relatively high level of security problems. For its part, Chile scores well on the dimensions of economic exploitation and unaccountable governance, despite high levels of inequality.
Uruguay is a success story in terms of accountability for South American countries. lying at position 136 of the atlas, It is the best performing country in Latin America, outperforming several countries with higher GDP per capita such as Italy, South Korea, Greece, Israel and the United States. “This is largely due to the country’s stable democratic regime, which has enacted a strong set of public policies and institutions to protect human rights, economic justice and accountability.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, Russia, February 23, 2023 (Portal)
With an Atlas rating of 27, Russia has the highest impunity in its regionthe result of low scores for conflict and violence, human rights abuses and a lack of accountability in governance.
A good 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its successor states are at a turning point. The Russian invasion of Ukraine On February 24, 2022, he plunged the region into a military, diplomatic and economic crisis and spurred many neighboring countries to reduce their economic or even security dependency on Russia. Over time, this shift will raise the profile of other geopolitical actors in the region, most notably China, which is unlikely to push its partners towards domestic policy or institutional reforms. Still, many of these states are wondering whether stepping out of Russia’s shadow can improve the rule of law or other key Atlas parameters such as environmental justice.
Russia is no longer sticking to the last nuclear deal signed with the United States
As stated in the report, Russia has entered a dangerous and uncertain period. Vladimir putin He’s trying to consolidate what he and much of Russian national security see as their rightful sphere of influence. However, the poor performance of the Russian military, combined with high Ukrainian morale and military support from Western governments, plunges Russia into a long-term conflict. The efforts are also dragging the Russian economy into recession. This is largely because the EU, US and their allies have imposed on Russia the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a G20 economy, making their withdrawal contingent on a peace deal acceptable to Ukraine.
In the present circumstances, Russian public opinion is faced with one political oppression and at economic costs not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
During Putin’s tenure, the government offered promises of political and economic stability in exchange for consent to authoritarian control of nominally democratic institutions. This stability has given way to stagnation and the system has become dependent on one man at the top. Now the Russians are threatening conscription, the first wave of which lasted from September to October 2022 while online media faces the toughest censorship controls yet in modern Russia. This includes penalties of up to 15 years in prison for disseminating what the authorities consider false information about the armed forces.
The inquiry denounces that the space for protests is smaller than ever and the opposition leader Alexei Navalny He remains in a maximum-security prison and is serving a nine-year sentence after being convicted of suspect charges in March 2022.
High energy prices help the government increase its budget and avoid the worst economic scenarios. But given the slim near-term prospects of sweeping economic sanctions being lifted and Russia’s key customers in Europe reducing their reliance on nuclear power, there are few prospects for human-capital-intensive industries to grow and reduce reliance on nuclear power from oil, gas and minerals. And given Russia’s increasing dependence on commodity exports, any previous plans to cut carbon emissions or boost environmental protection are unlikely to make significant headway.
China is in 48th place in the ranking it ranks in the upper midfield of the global distribution of impunity values. It has the second-highest level of impunity among East Asian countries, after North Korea, and the highest among rated nations in the region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China, 23 October 2022 (Portal)
On all five dimensions, China ranks at the bottom for conflict and violence (rank 112) and nearly half the list for economic exploitation (rank 72) and environmental degradation (rank 70). However, it performs poorly on irresponsible governance (48th place) and human rights violations (10th place).
China has not fought a civil war or external conflict for more than forty years, contributing to its low score for conflict and violence. “But if he decided to invade Taiwan in the future, his score would drop significantly,” the study said.
The relatively low score on Economic Exploitation shows that China’s rapid economic growth between 1990 and 2010 dramatically reduced poverty and hunger. However, the country’s economy faces several challenges that could raise the score if left unaddressed: “Growth will be constrained by the aftermath of the now-defunct company “Zero COVID” policy, a struggling real estate sector, high income inequality, overcapacity and falling productivity levels.”
China’s poor performance in the dimension of unaccountable governance reflect an authoritarian political system and widespread corruption. “Xi has consolidated power in his hands since 2012, controlling key elements in domestic and foreign policy decision-making. His anti-corruption campaigns have raised some legitimate government issues for the public while sidelined his political rivals.” Even after the 20th Party Congress, Xi will dominate the highest Party organs. “Given these trends, China’s assessment of bad governance is likely to continue to deteriorate,” say the specialists.
The low environmental degradation score reflects China’s status as the world’s largest carbon emitter and its continued reliance on coal and other conventional energy sources. The country suffers from frequent natural disasters such as floods and severe droughts and suffers from severe air pollution. Amid the Ukraine war and China’s deteriorating relationship with the West, Beijing is prioritizing near-term energy security over its long-term goals of carbon neutrality, hurting its score.
According to the measurements of the Atlas of Impunity, China ranks 10th in the world for the worst human rights. “The Chinese state is devoting immense resources to its internal security. It condones torture, the death penalty, arbitrary detention, censorship, mass surveillance and offers little protection to women, children and minorities.”
In addition, he adds that it is likely that the current Mass Arrest of Uyghurs and other Turkish Muslims in xinjiang lead to a further deterioration of the human rights situation in China. “The Chinese state is one of the most repressive regimes in the world, but it is able to hide the full extent of its impunity from world public opinion,” the Atlas states.
Ethnic Uighur demonstrators protest against China in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, November 30, 2022. (Portal)
on Top 10 most unpunished in the world Is Afghanistanyou follow Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Central African Republic, Sudan, Iraq, Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa and Chad.
The 11th highest impunity on the planet is Venezuela, the only one in the region so poorly qualified.
And the country with the lowest impunity in the world is Finland at 163rd place. You follow him, with very good grades, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.
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The Atlas of Impunity Advisory Board is co-chaired by David Milliband, Head of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and former British Foreign Secretary; And Monica Pinto, Argentine law professor, former UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of lawyers and judges. Also, they integrate it Schirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer and activist; awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003; Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Nigeria and co-founder of Transparency International; maina kiai, Kenyan Attorney, Alliances and Partnerships Director at Human Rights Watch, former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association; deray mckessonAmerican activist and podcaster, co-founder of the Zero Campaign to end police brutality and supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement; Ivo Dalder, President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, former US Permanent Representative to NATO; and by two anonymous experts (for security reasons) in Asia and the Middle East.
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