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SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS RATIFIES CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

  August 26, 2004

Saint Kitts and Nevis today ratified the Inter-American Convention against Corruption becoming the 32nd member country of the Organization of American States (OAS) to join this OAS treaty.

Ambassador Izben C. Williams, Permanent Representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the OAS, today presented the instruments of ratification to Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi, in a brief ceremony at OAS headquarters.

“The government of Saint Kitts and Nevis recognizes the importance of this convention and its profound implications for such imperatives as good governance including public and private accountability, for orderly development and empowerment of a civil society bolstered by the rule of law, and for cooperation for the member states in its broader sense,” he said.

For his part, the Assistant Secretary General praised Saint Kitts and Nevis for ratifying the anti-corruption treaty, noting that the essential principle is “that by harmonizing and coordinating our laws, our individual member states, no matter what their size or their strength or their power, can in fact take the lead in preserving their sovereignty and independence while also working within a framework of law that enables coordination with other states.”

The Inter-American Convention against Corruption was adopted in Caracas, Venezuela, in March 1996 and entered into force a year later.


Reference: E-135/04