IACHR

Press Release

IACHR Launches Questionnaire on Corruption and Human Rights to Draft Thematic Report

March 1, 2019

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Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is working on a thematic report on corruption and human rights in the Americas. The report stems from Resolution 1/18, issued by the Commission in March 2018, and is set to take a broad look at the relationship between human rights and the corruption that affects the region.

The IACHR calls on States, civil society, experts, academics and any interested individuals and organizations to respond to an inquiry form it has prepared. Responses will be used as inputs while drafting the report. The deadline to submit the form is March 20, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. (time in Washington, D.C.).

This is the IACHR’s first report on corruption and human rights. It will seek to elaborate on several conceptual issues in order to establish an approach to corruption (as a phenomenon) that is relevant for human rights. In particular, the report will address the various levels on which corruption impacts the effective enjoyment and exercise of human rights. It will also examine topics of special relevance and look at any groups that are particularly affected by corruption in terms of their enjoyment of their own rights, while paying special attention to how a human rights perspective in the analysis of corruption can boost the fight against that problem in the region.

“In light of the regional context characterized by complaints of serious corruption in the region, and of the need to effectively combat this scourge, this thematic report will become a milestone to develop this topic in the inter-American human rights system, since it is set to shed light on basic conceptual issues, establish a human rights perspective to fight corruption and put forward concrete measures—at the national and international levels—to fight this problem with a human rights perspective,” said the IACHR’s President, Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño.

If this report is to meet that goal, it must be based on the reality of corruption and its effects in the region. It will therefore examine national experiences with a view to identifying actions that have proved effective in the fight against corruption with a human rights perspective.

“A thematic report such as this one enables us to address a relevant topic with a regional scope, and to put forward a roadmap for States and a tool that is useful for the work of civil society. This is an opportunity that we need to make the most of,” said IACHR Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 054/19