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Press Release


OAS CONVENES NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION
CONFERENCE IN BELIZE

  August 8, 2003

A National Conference on “The Inter-American Convention against Corruption and its Implementation in Belize” will take place in Belize City on August 26.

The conference is part of a hemispheric initiative by the Organization of American States (OAS), stemming from Summit of the Americas and OAS General Assembly mandates to promote the incorporation of the anti-corruption treaty’s provisions into national criminal legislation and to facilitate the convention’s application and implementation.

The conference is being organized by the OAS Secretariat for Legal Cooperation. Participants will examine a report prepared specifically for the meeting and review draft legislation that will serve as a foundation for the discussions.

The Prime Minister of Belize, Said Musa, will preside at the opening ceremony where he will also deliver the keynote address. Belize Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Godfrey Smith, is scheduled to make a brief presentation on his country’s efforts to implement the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

Adopted in Caracas, Venezuela, in March 1996, the treaty entered into force a year later. So far, 29 OAS member states have ratified it.

Reference: E-149/03