EXECUTIVE SUMMARY regain its independence and survive the terrorist onslaught, will win the battle to reform and modernise the state and society. It is true that even talking of a pluralist democracy and liberal and governance reform is already a victory in itself, given the country‟s recent history. Is the debate on the implementation of reform and modernisation of society not a message of hope and confidence in the future, announcing the “awakening of a giant of Africa”? 3.5.2 Corruption and money laundering 3.67 The CRM observed that very few studies have been carried out on corruption in Algeria and that it is therefore particularly difficult to obtain reliable, documented data. Statistics on the incidence of corruption reported in the framework of the CSAR relate to one of the rare studies commissioned by an international institution in 2005. 3.68 The opinion survey conducted by the CSAR gives a cross-sectional view of the opinions of stakeholders, whose views and recommendations can be summarised as follows. Corruption is becoming an evil from which no sector is immune, not even schools. The survey revealed that, of the respondents, 20 per cent consider the level of corruption to be very high or high, whereas 41.1 per cent rate it only moderately high; i.e. over 61 per cent of those surveyed believe that corruption levels in Algeria are high. Some 37.2 per cent consider the incidence to be low. A general feeling of impunity prevails and those guilty of corruption have no fear of being caught by the authorities. 3.69 Under the single-party system, corruption was underground, often out of sight and unobtrusive. Today, it is visible and open, and its ways and mechanisms are well known. The Minister, wali and citizens all acknowledge that it exists. Algeria scored 2.8 out of 10 on Transparency International‟s corruption index in 2005, compared with 2.6 in 2003 and 2.7 in 2004, placing it among the most corrupt countries. As the highest score is 4 over 10, Algeria ranks 97th out of 159 countries. The scandal involving the El Khalifa Group is an example of mismanagement and corruption. Documents circulated by the French courts report that the group illegally transferred 689 million euros out of the country. 3.70 Even though the battle against corruption has become a priority in Algeria, resources for this purpose are limited because of the particularly complex nature of the phenomenon. The authorities have adopted a series of anticorruption measures ranging from adherence to conventions and other appropriate international instruments, to internal legal and administrative measures (United Nations Convention against Corruption, African Convention against Corruption; Act 06-01 on the Prevention of Corruption). 3.71 The desire to prevent and combat corruption is also evident in the adoption of Presidential Decree 02.250 of 24 July 2002. It regulates public procurement and sets out mandatory rules calling for open public tenders for amounts in excess of DA4 million. The decree also lays down the clauses to be included in the contracts, as well as the content of some contracts. 21