No space for impunity in a progressive society
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A culture of impunity is when something goes wrong in this country’s institutions and internal inquiries remain indeed ‘concealed’ - with no results ever published
A progressive society needs to be founded on principles. The capitalist mood that is sweeping us off our feet is seeing our collective morals eroding rapidly.
Prof Andrew Azzopardi Dean Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta & Broadcaster – Għandi xi Ngħid www.andrewazzopardi.org
A society cannot simply be governed by laws, not that respectable legislation is not important, however, we know that this is not good enough. A democracy should be founded on ethical behavior.
Admittedly, the more time passes the more difficult it is to recognize that we have problems in our society and unfortunately, we seem to get used to the situations around us and worse still we justify them. It appears that people in positions of power believe that they will never be held to account.
Let me try to mention a few. A culture of impunity is generated when our institutions, whether it is the Church, the Law Courts, the Government, the Opposition, political parties, mass media, civil society do not stand up to what is wrong. Yes, unfortunately our institutions habitually stand passively in the shadows even when the issues are in ‘our’ face. The establishment should represent what is good and stand up for it.
A culture of impunity is created when somebody is appointed as CEO at Malta Enterprise and his wage packet is not clear to one and all. I have no misgivings that people are paid well, I will be the first to disapprove our glum salary scales especially when people with colossal responsibilities are paid peanuts. But for goodness sake, if someone is placed in a key Government position without even a proper call in the first place then citizens should be provided with the necessary information (nevertheless, I understand that this role requires an ally to the Government’s policy). The Prime Minster, Mr
Kurt Farrugia himself, the agency he is working with, need to cut the chase and provide all the information journalists are asking for. This is not being finicky; this is being a tax payer. There is no other way to say this, but public officials from top to bottom are obliged to answer the questions thrown at them, it’s called accountability!
A culture of impunity is when we leave migrants stranded on a rescue ship for weeks on end and justify the political chess.
A culture of impunity is when we allow hate speech to become part and parcel of our lexis. Shame on all who pronounce themselves fearful that our culture and identity are ‘under threat’ when they are the same ones to speak venom on people who have no other option but to run away from death and torture. Having a committee discussing this issue and coming up with pretty initiatives is not good enough. We want a culture change, or don’t we?
A culture of impunity is generated when a journalist is massacred and we get on with life as if nothing happened, waiting endlessly for the perpetrator of such a crime to be caught, knowing well-enough that the longer this takes the more difficult it becomes. Impunity might mean that ‘today’ it’s Daphne ‘tomorrow’ it’s someone else, because dispatchers might feel they can get away with it.
A culture of impunity is generated when political parties, known for their affairs with the business community, sell their souls and still want citizens to take them seriously. Political parties have found strength in their dicey bonds with this ‘community’ but lost their métier in the process.
A culture of impunity is when we talk about 90,000 people who are at risk of poverty and another 15,000 who are actually poor and we just expect the
State to deal with it and the community feels absolved. The Government and its agencies are definitely responsible but so are NGOs, community and religious leaders and private citizens.
A culture of impunity is when our teachers, youth workers, social workers and the caring professionals in general, the front liners in other words, are left with wages that are nowhere close to good enough. How can we expect people to take on the challenges that come with such risky professions with wages that are ludicrous and unbalanced with the responsibilities these jobs carry?
A culture of impunity is created when our journalists sit on the fence and don’t go to the ‘story’ but simply sit and wait to see who is going to offer them a sponsor before they chose to kick hard and firm.
A culture of impunity is when politicians do wrong and retain their places as Ministers and party officials whilst the common citizen is shown the brunt of the State for much less.
We’ve had too many politicians who simply disappear in the horizon when the tide starts turning.
A culture of impunity is when we read about alleged stories of people being, bunched in containers-cum-porta cabins, mass showered, bundled in prison and cooped up. What the hell are we doing? It feels like we’re going back a hundred years.
A culture of impunity is when it is ok that solitary confinement is part of the castigation regime because it is the law, notwithstanding the long standing arguments that people are inherently damaged and torn apart when placed in solitary. Yet we still have it, and practice it profusely.
A culture of impunity is when something goes wrong in this country’s institutions and internal inquiries remain indeed ‘concealed’ – with no results ever published.
A culture of impunity is when we know that many civil servants and others working with government agencies take the mickey of their senior staff and when reported for wrong doing manage to wriggle their way out, because they know him, her and many others - għax Malta lil min taf jgħodd!
A culture of impunity is when the religious, political and social leaders stand indifferent to the tragedies that are happening in our communities.
A culture of impunity is when NGO CEOs get massive packages, some even better that the Prime Minister and others that chose to be selective in their public statements fearful that their funding will be stopped by Government. If NGOs do not stand up for us, who will?
A culture of impunity is when we all know, and most much better than myself, that our economy thrives on the black economy, on people not paying their taxes, on companies not giving their dues –elementary my dear Watson!
A culture of impunity is when access by the private sector to power is as easy as having a dinner date and all will be solved whether it is the distribution of land resources or other, notwithstanding our systems should be governed by our civil service because much as it is bureaucratic it should also ensure the right checks and balances.
A culture of impunity is when so many women get abused, so many children face the brunt of violence, so many people feel alone and not enough is being done by all of us to change things around.
A culture of impunity is when we chose the easy way out and place in institutions all those who in our eyes are not good enough; whether it is the elderly, children and disabled persons, to mention but a few. The peace of mind that a society seems to have is when we deem that problems are solved when people are shepherded in residential homes and where eyes don’t see, ears that don’t hear. When this gives us serenity it becomes the worse form of impunity of them all.
We want accountability of the true sort which prevails above everything else – this is a modern progressive democracy!
Money, power and individualism should not buy us out of our wrong doings.
The greatest incitement to guilt is the hope of sinning with impunity.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero (Roman statesman, orator and lawyer in the Roman Empire, 63 BC)