GUATEMALA RECEIVES ON-SITE VISIT OF THE OAS ANTICORRUPTION MECHANISM (MESICIC)

From April 16-18, 2013, Guatemala received, with its consent, a visit by a team from the OAS Anticorruption Mechanism (Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption – MESICIC), as part of the review process of that Mechanism, carried out in accordance with the Methodology adopted by consensus by its Member States.

The team included Ms. Rolinne Gravenbeek, Public Prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General of Suriname, and Mr. O’Neil Simpson, Crown Counsel in the Saint Kitts and Nevis Attorney General’s Ministry, and who were supported by the OAS General Secretariat during the visit, through its Department of Legal Cooperation, of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs. 

During the visit, the team gathered information on the implementation in Guatemala of the provision of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption regarding oversight bodies, specifically the Presidential Commission for Transparency and Electronic Government (COPRET), the Public Ministry, the Comptroller General of Accounts, and the Judicial Branch. It also obtained information on the implementation of the recommendations that were formulated ​​by the MESICIC to Guatemala in the First Round, pertaining, among others, to the preservation of public resources, the reporting of acts of corruption, the system financial disclosure, civil society participation and access to public information. 

During the three days of work, the members of the team met, among others, with high-level authorities of the oversight bodies mentioned above, as well as with representatives of civil society organizations, the private sector, and members of academia, in order to gather full and objective information about these bodies and learn of any difficulties in implementing the recommendations referred to above. 

The results of this visit forms part of the review process that is currently being carried out by the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC, and which will conclude with the adoption of the Guatemala country report by the Committee at its next plenary meeting to be held in September 2013, at OAS Headquarters in Washington DC.

The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between States, with the participation of civil society organizations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal/institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption as well as the objective results achieved therein. The incorporation of on-site visits as a stage and integral part of the MESICIC review process represents an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the OAS, especially for a peer review mechanism and the importance of the issues it addresses.

For more information on the MESICIC, please visit the Anti-Corruption Portal of the Americas