At this time of world financial, economic and social crises, when experts and citizens are drawing attention to the profound moral causes, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops wants to raise its voice in protest against the tolerance of corruption and the conspiracy of silence regarding this great evil that is destroying the Croatian society, its internal bonds of trust, and civil reciprocity. This is because everything that is of importance for the individual person and for the nation begins with trust, from the family, economy and state to the society, and in relations in the world.

1. Legacies and Responsibility. The plague of corruption that is devastating Croatia is not only a phenomenon of this time. It is a legacy from the past regime, wartime conditions and transition. It did not start under the current political and economic conditions because its roots reach back into the past, and especially the last two decades of the communist regime. Nonetheless, the particularity and seriousness of this great evil of our society are attributed to the fact that not a small number of our fellow citizens took advantage of the state of war and postwar, transformation and privatization, so that unjust laws were passed which established the foundations for the structure of sin and the spiral of great injustices, which can be compared to the devastation of the country by a war of aggression. It is not necessary to be surprised when an evaluation by two large international financial institutions showed in 2000 that among the countries in transition Croatia has a very unfavorable state capture index, while “minor corruption” (bribery) is less than in other countries in transition. From the other side, already from those times and particularly today, under conditions of peace and relative progress, many of our fellow citizens consider themselves to be above the law and above their fellow citizens, so that in a criminal manner or without waiting their turn they achieve all sorts of things to which they are not entitled. They achieve all of this to the detriment of others who do not condone failing to wait one’s turn but insist that public rights and services should be distributed in turn to those who are entitled to them. Corruption was also contributed to by transition, which brought a large number of people into public works who were frequently unskilled in law and democracy, of whom some quickly succumbed to greed, selfishness and lawlessness. Corruption was also contributed to by pressure from neoliberal ideology that was readily accepted by numerous “resourceful persons,” frequently those who until yesterday had still supported collectivism and “self-management.”

2. Bribery and Extortion. Corruption is not a phenomenon and practice that is from the exclusively public sphere, but also from the private sphere, in our country and the world. It has engulfed sports, arts, media, commerce, economy and finance. Nonetheless, “private” corruption, however damaging it is, nonetheless does not engulf all the citizens, although it justifiably provokes their dissatisfaction and anger. Public corruption, i.e. the abuse of public office with the goal of personal benefits, affects and afflicts everyone. It is not limited merely to bribery and money but also various benefits that suborners offer corruptible public officials. In our country, unfortunately, it is increasingly not as bribery but as extortion by public officials, which is far more dangerous and ethically worse (” this will cost you so much …”). It assumes a variety of forms, including classical bribery, barter and exchange of influence (“today I’ll do this for you, tomorrow you do that for me”), and private benefits from conflict of interests. What is crucial is that corruption literally destroys the fundamental relationship upon which are based all free and responsible social institutions, i.e., trust: the trust of citizens in the law and respect for the law, trust in institutions, particularly legislative, and in public services – educational healthcare, judicial, local self-management, as well as in the media as an intermediary for providing information… trust in the police, lawyers, judges, teachers, physicians, inspectors, officials, representatives and ministers…

Corruption in public works, i.e. where in democracy all citizens must be equal and respected in their human dignity and civil equality, is today a cancer that is metastasizing and destroying our cohesion and desire to live together, i.e. – the Croatian society and state. It retards Croatian development and destroys the reputation and credibility of the Croatian state in Europe and the world. Corruption is a negation of the creation of the state, because neither a state nor a society can be built upon the inequality of citizens and distrust of institutions. Thus, public corruption is a subject of justifiable public bitterness and protest, which deprives citizens of their basic rights to education, basic healthcare and equality before the law, but also to rapid, prompt action in various areas of public administration. Analysts and observers rightfully ask whether there would be less disobedience of the law in Croatia and “helping oneself,” i.e. taking “justice” into ones own hands/the use of force by citizens, if the public authorities acted according to the law and more quickly, and were not, perhaps, waiting for a bribe?

3. Assessment of Corruption. Regarding the widespread nature of the evil of corruption in individual areas, it is not possible to draw a conclusion on the basis of the few enforceable court decisions, because this evil is practiced in the dark and under the table. Moreover, if institutions for maintaining public order and the judiciary do not prosecute corruption, because it is practiced by many holders of public office and their friends, then it is still more difficult to know the extent of the corruption of a specific group. In many countries, including Croatia, a genuine desire by the authorities and judiciary to prosecute and root out corruption is not displayed. When in our country scandalous assertions are heard from the mouths of politicians about how corruption should be reduced to “an acceptable measure,” then it should be known that they either do not know or forget that in a democracy every form of corruption is irreconcilable with the very natural relationship between trust and equality. Since it is not enough to draw conclusions about the extent of corruption exclusively on the basis of institutions, authorities and citizens who tolerate or practice corruption, it is worthwhile to use estimates of corruption performed by international nongovernment organizations and scholarly institutions. In their estimation, Croatia is not in the best state, although in the past seven years the situation has, nonetheless, showed a trend toward improvement. Today Croatia is at the bottom of the first third of 180 countries studied around the world, and it is of no comfort to us that the neighboring countries, with the exception of Slovenia, are assessed as even worse.

4. Corruption and Development. Croatia is in a similar position in terms of business risk and business conditions in general. Therefore, it is worthwhile to recall here that today not only companies are in the position of constant competitors but so are countries, and few will want to invest and do business in a country with a high degree of corruption. Such a country will fail to develop not because foreigners will not want to invest in it but because corruption is expensive, and the one which incurs more expenses than necessary is therefore less successful and competitive than the one that does business in an orderly society. It will fail to develop because corrupt public officials will approve irrational projects and import obsolete or dirty industries. The country will fail to develop because unreasonable or excessive spending of public money will drive it into indentured servitude. It will fail to develop because corruption is the highest in public works and construction, in energetics, i.e. in the vital sectors of the economy, but also in procurements for defense and physical planning. When it is seen which countries suffer the most from corruption, it is established that these are the poorest countries in the world. Therefore, it is worthwhile to observe critically what the Croatian public authorities are doing and to what extent they respect not only Croatian laws and national programs for the war on corruption but also international contracts, such as the Group of States against Corruption(GRECO) and the Criminal Law Convention of the Council of Europe.

5. The War on Corruption. We are aware of the fact, which we have previously mentioned, that certain data on corruption are impossible to obtain. Likewise, we cannot believe that citizens are deceiving themselves when they estimate that there is a high percentage of corruption in the Croatian society. Moreover, we are fully aware that rumors about corruption can influence corruption. What they are certainly not deceiving themselves about is the lack of an effective war against corruption. We are sorry that the European Union must push and force Croatia in the war on corruption. Croatia must do this not for the sake of entry into the European Union but for the sake of its own citizens.

6. Silence about Corruption. What must concern us the most and what all of us can work on is our own tendency to participate in this great evil, not to denounce it and not to report it to the authorities in charge of the war on corruption. In brief, we remain silent and thereby participate in the general conspiracy of silence. Likewise, we should be worried that in our families, schools, churches, media and public assemblies, we neither inform our children nor unmask this pestilence before our fellow citizens, we do not speak out about the extent of social damage and the moral and material evil that it produces. We actually do the opposite. Many of adjust to this evil, some in order to be able to take advantage of it, when “necessary.”

7. The Justifiability of Hope. If corruption were an inevitable evil for which there were no remedy, then our appeal to Christians, our fellow citizens and the public authorities would be as senseless as all the public protests by numerous civil societies and moral authorities in the world and in our country. However, we know that it is possible to fight corruption successfully. This is not only shown by the fact that there are countries, particularly in Europe, in which there is nearly no corruption (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland etc.), and if it exists, then it is prosecuted, but also by the fact that some countries, about which according to our stereotypes we would not think that they could succeed in this war, have proved the opposite in their actions and results. This is not only a matter of the astute selection of public officials and suitable remuneration of all those upon whom the honesty of citizens depends, their education, healthcare and all other rights, especially those that come from the discretionary authorities of public officials. It is also necessary to introduce more rigid verification of the absence of conflicts of public and private interests among officials and functionaries, the “four-eyes principle,” and the systematic rotation of officials who distribute rights, especially those of a discretionary nature, which refer solely to legal rights for which the law could not anticipate all instances. Similarly, it is necessary for laws to be just, i.e. individual parties, regional or general interest groups cannot “get their mitts” on laws and deflect them for their own benefit, and against public interest and the common good. At the end, it is necessary to introduce the internal and external financial and legal supervision of all public companies and ministries, as well as all places where public money is collected or spent, public rights are distributed or private rights are recorded – not because this is sought by the European Commission.

Everything, however, cannot be left to state, local self-management and public officials. Nothing will succeed if the moral chain that begins with the family, continues with the school, workplace, public opinion and ends with the state is broken. If parents, educators, spiritual communities and the media fail, not even the police or administrators of justice, i.e. the entire state can succeed. The war on corruption begins with the conviction and convincing others that this concerns a moral evil, a grave public sin against our neighbor and the community.

We are addressing our statement not only to our fellow believers but also to our fellow citizens as a sign of our protest to national representatives and the Croatian Government as our demand and expression of dissatisfaction with their failure to act and lack of respect for the equality of citizens, the public interest and the common good, because citizens have the right to a just state, good public administration and a good life. We are issuing it on December 9, on the day that the world commemorates International Anti-Corruption Day, as an expression of our solidarity not only with the most vulnerable and unprotected Croatian citizens but also as a sign of our solidarity with all those who suffer injury from the evil of corruption and misfortune in their own countries. We are issuing it on the eve of December 10, i.e. the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, and after numerous Christians throughout Europe and also in Croatia, at the urging of civil organizations, signed a petition on December 7 by world and European institutions to rise in defense of universal, natural rights and protection of life, the family and the rights of parents to educate their children in freedom.

In conclusion, we maintain that this is a time of profound crisis, through which the world is passing and we have still not seen the bottom of the abyss. Its roots are actually in the rejection of moral values and human rights. This is a unique opportunity for fundamental reexamination and courageous reforms. Therefore, we urge the Croatian public, spiritual authorities and civil organizations to exert the necessary pressure on the public authorities. Thus, the next local elections can be a little test to determine what is being done at the local level in the war on corruption.

In Zagreb, December 9, 2008

Msgr. Vlado Košić, Ph.D.
President of the Justice and Peace Commission The Croatian Conference of Bishops