07 October 2009
Crucial Moment for U.N. Anti-Corruption Convention
Groups, businesses, U.S. officials fear delay will damage effort
Washington — Failure by signatories of an international anti-corruption convention to agree soon on an effective implementation-review mechanism will damage the credibility of the pact, according to U.S. officials, businesses and nongovernmental groups.
Countries that have ratified the U.N. Convention against Corruption have been working on such a mechanism since the document entered into force in 2005. Similar review processes for other anti-corruption conventions have been key factors in helping countries share good practices, identify gaps in enforcement and define their needs for technical assistance.
The 2003 convention, which has become the world standard for anti-corruption efforts, calls on nations to undertake measures aimed at preventing, criminalizing, investigating and prosecuting corruption worldwide. The convention also seeks to improve international cooperation on recovering assets stolen by corrupt officials.
“We’ve come a long way since the first conference of state parties in 2006,” said John Brandolino, alternate head of the U.S. delegation to the Third Conference of State Parties to the Convention Against Corruption, which will be held November 9–13 in Doha, Qatar.
Brandolino said peer review has been accepted as the principal characteristic of the review process. But other essential features have yet to be agreed on.
A vast majority of signatories and parties support country visits by experts from other nations as a basis for the review mechanism, availability of a broad range of information sources (including from both the private sector and civil society) during the review process and the publication of country reports, according to Brandolino.
But “a small group of countries which are against those features is keeping us from moving forward,” he said.
In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the chief executives of 24 large international companies, such as General Electric Company, Royal Dutch Shell Group, and Tata Motors, with headquarters in developed and emerging-market countries, say that “further delay would damage the credibility of the convention and its ability to build momentum in overcoming corruption.”
They also write that the economic crisis will lead to “an erosion of ethical [business] standards that will be hard to reverse” unless an effective review mechanism is in place soon.
A statement signed by more than 100 nongovernmental groups (NGOs) warns the convention will be a “dead letter” without “rigorous” country progress reports.
PASSING THE TORCH
The U.N. conference will be preceded by the November 7–8 Sixth Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity, which has “mobilized the international community over the years to prevent and combat corruption around the world,” according to David Luna, director for anti-crime programs at the U.S. State Department.
The forum, which brings together government officials and experts from around the world, was launched in Washington in 1999. Subsequently held in all major regions, it gave impetus to the negotiation of the U.N. convention. The forum also has helped strengthen global partnerships committed to shared responsibility for development and prosperity around the world, Luna said.
Rob Leventhal, State Department director for anti-corruption initiatives, said that, with the convention ratified by 140 nations, the forum is ready to pass the torch to the Conference of State Parties to that convention and other meetings. The focus is shifting to the implementation of the convention, he said.
The forum will include six workshops on topics ranging from deterrence to creating a culture of integrity. But issues related to public-private partnerships and the effect of the global financial crisis, such as government procurement standards and due diligence in the financial sector, will provide a backdrop to all discussions, Leventhal said.
The U.S. delegation, headed by Attorney General Eric Holder, will come to Doha with a record of successful investigations and prosecutions of corporate bribery as well as cooperative international efforts on the recovery of corruption proceeds. Holder will carry a message of responsible governance, which includes prosecuting high-level corruption, denying safe havens to corrupt officials, and enhancing transparency. He also will emphasize the importance of international partnerships in fighting corruption and transnational bribery, a message that President Obama has made a priority of his foreign policy, the two officials said.
The text of the letter of business executives (PDF, 146KB) is available on the Web site of the U.N. Global Compact, and the text of the NGOs’ statement on the Web site of the U.N. Convention against Corruption Coalition. See also the official Web site of the Sixth Global Forum.
