Romania: Corruption and organized crime in the ranks of police and government; measures taken by the government and protection available to individuals who file complaints against the police (2001)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 14 December 2001 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ROM38140.E |
| Reference | 5 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Romania: Corruption and organized crime in the ranks of police and government; measures taken by the government and protection available to individuals who file complaints against the police (2001), 14 December 2001, ROM38140.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be9d10.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Corruption
In its 2001 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Transparency International (TI) ranked Romania in 69th place (out of 91) with a 2.8 per cent CPI score (15 Oct. 2001, 235). The 2001 CPI score ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).(ibid., 236). In the section on Central Europe, Southeast Europe and the Baltic States of the report, TI noted that the defeat of former President Emil Constantinescu in the November 2000 presidential elections could be partly explained by his failure to fight corruption during his term (ibid., 125). Regarding the newly-elected president Ion Iliescu, the report stated that his will to fight corruption has yet to be demonstrated (ibid., 126).
According to AP, senior state officials accused of corruption are seldom punished owing to a lack of political will as well as the corruption existing in Romania's justice system (22 Jan. 2001). In this regard, after examining a 2000 report by the Romanian Justice Ministry, President Ion Iliescu concluded that the justice system was "corrupt" (RFE/RL 1 Mar. 2001).
On 12 October 2001, Rompres reported that the Romanian government had formulated the National Program for Prevention of Corruption and the National Action Plan Against Corruption. A copy of these documents is available on the Website of the Romanian government at
In April 2001, the government adopted an ordinance defining procedures for public procurement and a right to appeal the award of public contracts (The European Commission 13 Nov. 2001, 22). The European Commission hailed this ordinance as "a positive development regarding the fight against corruption" (ibid.).
On 5 March 2001, the Interior Ministry ordered an investigation into allegations of corruption published on an Internet site against several high-ranking police officers (AFP 5 Mar. 2001). These allegations concerned 12 officers, including 6 colonels and Constanta Police Chief Colonel Ion Balanuta (ibid.). Balanuta was accused of covering up a number of "affairs" in exchange for money (ibid.). Vasile Ionescu, another of the 12 suspected police chiefs, was allegedly involved in cigarette smuggling (ibid.). According to AFP, since the appointment of the new left-wing government in November 2000, several regional police chiefs have been dismissed following allegations of corruption (ibid.).
As part of its anti-corruption strategy regarding Border Police, the Ministry of Interior launched the General Internal Protection Directorate in January 2001 whose mandate includes inspections of Border Police structures (ibid., 85).
For further anti-corruption measures taken by the government between September 2000 and June 2001, please see the attached section on "Anti-Corruption Measures" of the Report on the Progress in Preparing the Accession to the European Union by the Government of Romania.
As of November 2001, Romania had not ratified either the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime or the Council of Europe's Criminal and Civil Law Conventions on Corruption (The European Commission 13 Nov. 2001, 22). Romania signed the Council of Europe agreement "Group of States Against Corruption" (GRECO) (ibid.). Romania participates in the Stability Pact Anti-Corruption Initiative which receives support from the Secretariat of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (ibid.) and applied for full membership of the OECD Working Group for Combating Corruption in International Commercial Transactions (ibid., 88).
In its 2001 Regular Report in Romania's Progress Towards Accession, the European Commission stated that although the Romanian government had acknowledged the seriousness of corruption in Romania, levels of corruption remained unchanged and anti-corruption measures proved to be "limited" (13 Nov. 2001, 21). For example, a section for anti-corruption and related organized crime within the General Prosecutor's Office created in October 2000 pursuant to the anti-corruption law, has not started its operations as staffing has not been completed, equipment is lacking and laws specifying institutional arrangements have yet to be adopted (ibid.). The Commission also identified a lack of co-ordination between state bodies involved in anti-corruption and anti-organized crime measures (ibid.).
For information on corruption in Romania prior to 2001, please see the attached sections from the Regular Reports on Romania's Progress Towards Accession published in 1999 and 2000 by the European Commission.
For statistics on corruption in Romania prior to 2001, please see the 2000 report by the World Bank, Anticorruption in Transition. A Contribution to the Policy Debate available at
Organized Crime
A 2001 report produced by the Interior Ministry's General Directorate for Intelligence and Internal Protection revealed that there were attempts by organized crime groups to infiltrate the highest levels of state power (Ziua 30 July 2001). The report also made reference to officials with state control agencies, in particular the Border Police and the Customs, involved in smuggling schemes during the first six months of 2001 (ibid.).
During a press conference held on 16 June 2001 in Bucharest, the Rapporteur of the European Parliament for Romania claimed that senior state officials were involved with organized crime concerning the international adoption (Rompres 16 June 2001).
The Evenimentul Zilei, a privately-owned daily described by the US Department of Commerce as "known for investigative journalism and criticism of the political establishment without regard to political orientation," reported on statements made by Romanian officials that a number of groups of organized crime carry out their activities "right under the nose of the authorities" and sometimes "with their knowledge" and that there exists a lack of trust among Romanian law-enforcement agencies fighting organized crime (29 Mar. 2001).
On 6 April 2001, an operation conducted in Timisoara (western Romania) by the Romanian police led to the arrest of Pasquale Avagliano, an Italian national who had fled a sentence of life imprisonment for "mafia-like activities" in Italy (AFP 6 Apr. 2001).
Commenting on the process of property restitution, Prime Minister Adrian Nastase stated that pieces of real estate had been given to illegitimate owners, members of organized crime groups "under the justice system's tolerant eyes" (RFE/RL 1 Mar. 2001).
In early February 2001, Interior Minister Ioan Rus dismissed all senior officers managing the anti-organized crime unit of the police department after he questioned their ability to seriously fulfil their tasks (AFP 12 Feb. 2001; Romanian Radio 5 Feb. 2001). Romanian Radio makes a reference to a report by the Interior Ministry's Inspectorate pointing to management errors and inability to combat organized crime, in particular drug trafficking (ibid.).
On 15 February 2001, the presidents of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey agreed to establish a centre for fighting organized crime in Plovdiv (southern Bulgaria) (Turkish Daily News 16 Feb. 2001). Referring to the same trilateral meeting, PARI Daily mentioned that there was already a similar centre in Bucharest (16 Feb. 2001).
For further measures taken by the government between September 2000 and June 2001 to fight organized crime, please see the attached sections respectively entitled "Police Cooperation and Fight Against Organised Crime", and "Drugs and Money Laundering" from the Report on the Progress in Preparing the Accession to the European Union by the Government of Romania.
No information on the protection available to individuals who file complaints against the police could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, according to the managing director of the daily Observator in Arad (western Romania), one of his journalists was badly beaten by unknown assailants after he wrote several articles alleging links between local police officers and criminals (AP 20 Nov. 2001). The journalist had also reportedly been threatened by a police officer (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Associated Press (AP). 20 November 2001. "Reporter Badly Beaten in Western Romania." (NEXIS)
_____. 22 January 2001. "Judges Arrested in Corruption Case." (NEXIS)
Agence France Presse (AFP). 6 April 2001. "Arrestation d'un mafieux italien condamné à perpétuité dans son pays." ([email protected])
_____. 5 March 2001. "Haro sur les ripoux roumains."
_____. 12 February 2001. "Bucharest Police Chief Sacked Over Violence Surge." (NEXIS)
The European Commission. 13 November 2001. 2001 Regular Report on Romania's Progress Towards Accession.
[Accessed 12 Dec. 2001]
Evenimentul Zilei [Bucharest, in Romanian]. 29 March 2001. "Romanian Police, Secret Services Criticized on Handling of Organized Crime." (FBIS-WEU-2001-0329 29 Mar. 2001/WNC)
PARI Daily. 16 February 2001. "Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania Crucial for Crackdown on Crime." (Financial Times Information/NEXIS)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 1 March 2001. "Romanian President Accuses Judges of Corruption."
Romanian Radio [Bucharest, in Romanian. 5 February 2001. "Romania: Senior Police Chiefs Sacked for Failing to Curb Organized Crime." (BBC Monitoring 5 Feb. 2001/NEXIS).
Rompres [Bucharest, in English]. 12 October 2001. "Romanian Government Draws up Anticorruption Strategy." (BBC Monitoring 12 Oct. 2001/NEXIS)
_____. 16 June 2001. "EU Official Alters Report on Situation of Romanian Children." (BBC Monitoring 16 June 2001/NEXIS)
Transparency International (TI). 15 October 2001. Robin Hodess, Jessie Banfield and Toby Wolfe (eds). Global Corruption Report 2001.
[Accessed 12 Dec. 2001]
Turkish Daily News. 16 February 2001. "Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania to Set up a Center for Combatting Organized Crime." (Financial Times/ NEXIS)
Ziua [Bucharest, in Romanian]. 30 July 2001. Radu Tudor. "Romanian Interior Ministry Report Details Trends, Increase in Organized Crime." (FBIS-EEU-2001-0730 30 July 2001/WNC)
Attachments
The European Commission. 8 November 2000. "Anti-Corruption Measures." 2000 Regular Report on Romania's Progress Towards Accession, pp. 18-19.
_____. 13 October 1999. "Anti-Corruption Measures." 1999 Regular Report on Romania's Progress Towards Accession, pp. 13-14.
Romania. June 2001. "Anti-Corruption Measures." Report on the Progress in Preparing the Accession to the European Union September 2000 - June 2001, pp. 24-26.
_____. June 2001. "Police Cooperation and Fight Against Organised Crime", "Drugs and Money Laundering." Report on the Progress in Preparing the Accession to the European Union September 2000 - June 2001, pp. 209-217.
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
Internet sites including:
The Anti-Corruption Gateway for Europe and Eurasia
Anti-Corruption Ring Online (ANCORR)
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Central and Eastern Europe Business Information Center (CEEBIC)
Interpol
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Anti-Corruption Division
Transparency International Romania
The United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (UNCJIN)
The United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP)
The World Bank Group
World News Connection (WNC)
Search engines including:
Fast Search