Secretary General Insulza Highlighted
Region’s Massive Support to the Convention against Corruption at the
Opening of the Experts Committee’s Meeting held at OAS Headquarters
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, today underscored the great strength and massive support
behind the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, during the
opening of the 24th Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the follow-up
on this international agreement held at the hemispheric institution’s
headquarters in Washington, DC.
Secretary General Insulza said that the common interest in democratic
governance and transparency, the desire to strengthen the rule of law in
the region, the need for citizens to trust their governments and
economies to thrive with clear rules led member countries to sign the
Convention in 1996.
"The fact that to date, the Convention has been ratified by 33 of the 34
active OAS member states, which makes it the legal instrument most
widely ratified in the Hemisphere after the Charter of the Organization,
is another unequivocal indication of its importance for our countries,"
he added.
The OAS Secretary General said that the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the
Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption
(MESICIC) has also been strengthened through the support of new
countries. "Suffice it to recall that when I took over the General
Secretariat of the Organization in May 2005, this mechanism was made up
of 28 states parties and today, with the integration of Haiti, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda in 2012, the number has risen
to 31," he asserted.
Since its inception, the Mechanism has been implemented in three rounds
of review and the fourth is still in process. "During these rounds,
important issues, such as the prevention of conflicts of interest; the
obligation for public officials to report acts of corruption and for
companies to establish internal controls to prevent bribery at the
national and international levels; the participation of civil society
and access to public information; public procurement processes; the
criminalization of acts of corruption; and within the fourth round, the
structure and functioning of oversight bodies responsible for the
detection, investigation, prosecution and sanction of acts, were
analyzed,” he recalled while noting that thus far the Committee of
Experts has adopted 94 country reports.
Secretary General Insulza said that during his nine years as head of the
OAS General Secretariat, states parties have benefited from plans of
action to implement the recommendations made by the Committee and from
two model laws adopted by the General Assembly of the Organization that
served as the basis for the adoption of legislation in several countries
in the region: the Model Law on the declaration of interests, income,
assets and liabilities for those who perform public duties and the Model
Law to facilitate and encourage the reporting of acts of corruption and
to protect complainants and witnesses.
The MESICIC meeting, which will be held through Friday, September 12,
plans to adopt the reports on Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Grenada, Suriname, Belize and Haiti (for the first time). Secretary
General Insulza underscored that “during this fourth round, on-site
visits to states parties were conducted for the first time, and I
commend once more the seriousness with which they have been received,”
he added.
At another point in his speech, Secretary General Insulza expressed
appreciation for the fact that the meeting of the Committee of Experts
will continue the debate on the “collective interest regarding the
responsibility of the private sector in preventing and combating
corruption.” During the session on Thursday, 11, which will be Webcast
here, presentations will be made by various institutions, among which
the Center for Responsible Enterprise and Trade, the Fairfax Group, and
the International Bar Association. Likewise, the distinguished
delegation of Brazil will make a presentation on the “International
Cooperation on Non-Criminal Matters in the Fight against Corruption,”
and the World Bank will present “the Anti-Corruption Authorities (ACAs)
Initiative.”
Secretary General Insulza reiterated the commitment of the OAS in the
fight against corruption in the region and stressed that the
Organization will continue to provide cooperation through its MESICIC’s
Technical Secretariat. In addition, he called for the member states’
delegations to “take the necessary steps for their governments to make
contributions” of a financial nature to MESICIC. He also thanked Canada
and the United States for their contributions to the Mechanism from its
inception, as well as other countries that have recently supported it,
such as Brazil, Guatemala, Panama and Venezuela.
The 24th meeting of the MESICIC is chaired by Ecuador and, at the end of
the session, it will elect its new authorities and adopt the reports on
six Caribbean countries studied during this round of review.
The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between states, with wide
participation of civil society organizations, established within the
framework of the OAS, in which the legal and 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, with the approval of the
country host, as a stage and integral part of the review process
represents an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the
OAS, which, with the support of its Technical Secretariat, has further
strengthened this reciprocal review mechanism among states.
A gallery of photos of the event is available
here.
Source:
OAS Press and Communications Department
For more information,
please visit the Anti-corruption
Portal of the Americas .
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Edition N° 184 - September 2014
The Mechanism For Follow-up on the
Implementation of the Inter-American
Convention against Corruption, known as MESICIC for its Spanish acronym, is a tool to
support the development of the Inter-American
Convention against Corruption through
cooperation between States Parties.
Read more
here…
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