U.N. graft meeting puts Indonesia in the spotlight

By Ed Davies

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - As host of a U.N. anti-corruption conference this week, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono can expect his own track record to come under scrutiny, particularly his handling of former strongman Suharto.

Yudhoyono, Indonesia's first directly elected president, took office in 2004 on a pledge to tackle endemic corruption.

But in the decade since Suharto stepped down, the former president fended off all attempts to seize his family's fortune, which Transparency International put at $15-$35 billion.

Suharto died on Sunday after a long illness. He was 86.

Before his death, Indonesians vigorously debated whether he should be pardoned or brought to justice for graft and human rights abuses.

This week's United Nations conference in Bali brings together more than 100 countries to discuss how best to recover billions of dollars of assets stolen by former leaders.

A list of former leaders accused of robbing their own people, compiled by Transparency International, also includes Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, who amassed up to $10 billion, Mobutu Sese Seko of the former Zaire, and Sani Abacha of Nigeria, who each took up to $5 billion.

"In Bali, I urge member states to demonstrate that they are living up to their commitment to fight corruption, and to identify what more needs to be done," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which oversees a convention on corruption.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption, ratified by 107 nations, came into force three years ago and requires members to make corruption a criminal offence, as well as binding them to cooperate with each other over graft and to return stolen assets.

The task appears daunting. Global flows from criminal activities, corruption and tax evasion are estimated at between $1 trillion to $1.6 trillion a year, according to a United Nations and World Bank report.

Bribes received by public officials from less developed countries are put at $20 billion to $40 billion per year, or between 20 to 40 percent of official development assistance.

Last September, the World Bank and the United Nations launched the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, which aims to help poorer nations get back assets spirited away to richer countries.

POOR RANKING

Experts consistently rate Indonesia as among the world's most corrupt nations. It ranked 143rd out of 179 nations in 2007 with a corruption index of 2.3, dropping from 2.4 in 2006, according to Transparency International. A lower index signals worse corruption, with 0 being the most corrupt and 10 very clean.

True, Indonesia has made some progress.