Integrating Human Rights in the Anti-Corruption Agenda - The ICHRP

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Box 1. The Birth of a Diverse Anti-Corruption Movement Several factors influenced the emergence of an anti-corruption movement during the 1990s. Changes in geopolitical conditions after the cold war redirected the lending policies of international financial institutions, American companies pressed for global action on corruption following adoption of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and leading international aid organisations turned their attention to institutional governance and integrated anti-corruption programmes in their new “good governance” agendas. Today, the international anti-corruption movement includes the UN and other multilateral agencies, bilateral development agencies, independent foundations, NGOs, private sector associations, think tanks and academic institutions. Official and non-governmental anti-corruption organisations have also appeared in many countries – ranging from the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong (a precursor of many newer institutions) and the National Anti-Corruption Council in Honduras to Yemeni Journalists Against Corruption and the Ocasa Youth against Corruption organisation in Colombia, among hundreds of others. In civil society, Transparency International (TI) is one of the most influential global anti-corruption actors. Founded in 1993 by former executives of the World Bank and prominent figures from across the political spectrum, TI raises awareness of the social, economic, political and environmental harm that corruption causes and looks beyond state institutions for the main causes and solutions of the problem. TI promotes an international framework against corruption while its national chapter network in more than 90 countries engages in bottom-up action sustained by wide-ranging coalitions that include governments, the private sector and civil society. Since TI was formed, a number of major NGOs have emerged dedicated to fighting corruption. Global Integrity, for example, which has experts based in more than 92 countries, provides information on corruption and governance trends at country level; Global Witness investigates and campaigns to prevent natural resourcerelated conflict and corruption; and Oxfam America campaigns to persuade oil, gas, and mining companies to operate transparently and respect the rights of communities who live in resource-rich areas. This self-defined anti-corruption movement employs many different concepts and approaches. Some organisations address the issue from a technical perspective; others look at underlying power relations or systematically incorporate vulnerability and discrimination into their strategies. Integrating Human Rights in the Anti-Corruption Agenda: Challenges, Possibilities and Opportunities
I. Renewing Anti-Corruption Principles via Human Rights This chapter looks at three principles that are central to both anti-corruption and human rights policies: (1) participation, (2) transparency and access to information and (3) accountability. Although these principles are common to both, anti-corruption and human rights disciplines conceptualise and operationalise them differently. In this chapter, the differences of approach are identified, and it is suggested that anti-corruption programmes would gain traction if they were to incorporate elements of human rights practice. In addition to the three common principles discussed, non-discrimination also runs through this analysis. Fundamental to human rights (see Box 2), it does not play a prominent role in the anti-corruption agenda, although corruption is in fact closely associated with discrimination. Firstly, this is because corruption distorts the allocation of public resources, which causes the administration of public services to become discriminatory and arbitrary. Individuals or groups of people are left without access to a service, for example, because they cannot or refuse to pay a bribe or do not belong to a given client network. Second, corruption is often associated with discrimination based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, national or social origin or sexual orientation. In Europe, for example, it appears that Roma people are disproportionately asked to pay bribes when they seek access to health and education services. Corruption has a disproportionate impact on people who are victims of discrimination. Under a human rights framework, the principle of non-discrimination requires states to take affirmative action to ensure that disempowered groups and those suffering from structural discrimination such as indigenous peoples, migrant workers, persons with disabilities, persons with HIV/AIDS, refugees, prisoners, the poor, women and children have fair access to services and resources. Finally, those who commit corrupt acts will attempt to protect themselves from detection and seek to maintain their positions of power. In doing so, they tend to destroy the integrity of institutions that are fundamental to the rule of law, including electoral and judicial processes and the objectivity of administrative decisions. So corrupt officials who extract money from migrant workers lacking a residence permit in the knowledge that they cannot complain, judges who take bribes, corrupt surveyors and planning officers not only disadvantage the individuals who suffer as a direct result of their decisions but also undermine the authority and credibility of the institutions they represent. At all these levels, For example, see the analysis of the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2006/67/Add.2, para. 47. Integrating Human Rights in the Anti-Corruption Agenda: Challenges, Possibilities and Opportunities
Page 1 and 2: Integrating Human Rights in the Ant
Page 7 and 8: Contents Acknowledgements Foreword
Page 9 and 10: Acronyms ACHPR ACHR AIL ALAC CAT CC
Page 11 and 12: Acknowledgements The International
Page 13 and 14: Foreword Corruption seriously disto
Page 15 and 16: Background In 2007, the ICHRP set o
Page 17 and 18: Introduction Power, Corruption and
Page 19: (primarily government officials and
Page 23 and 24: Box 2. The Principle of Non-Discrim
Page 25 and 26: of several key rights. To participa
Page 27 and 28: corruption have direct, indirect or
Page 29 and 30: Criteria for evaluating the depth o
Page 31 and 32: Power and Participation In practice
Page 33 and 34: Recommendations ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Page 35 and 36: Box 4. Useful Guidelines on Public
Page 37 and 38: a justification when, for any reaso
Page 39 and 40: Between 1946 and 2009, more than 80
Page 41 and 42: accessible provision of information
Page 43 and 44: Box 6. Enhancing Upward Accountabil
Page 45 and 46: Recommendations ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Par
Page 47 and 48: human rights, resources and account
Page 49 and 50: Social Accountability: New Forms of
Page 51 and 52: Box 9. Collective Action for the Ri
Page 53 and 54: Each of these cases combines formal
Page 55 and 56: esponsibility to protect the rights
Page 57 and 58: to prepare and make effective use o
Page 59 and 60: freedom of association and the righ
Page 61 and 62: II. Human Rights and Specific Issue
Page 63 and 64: lead anti-corruption organisations
Page 65 and 66: Fourth, adding human rights to the
Page 67 and 68: Seen from this perspective, corrupt
Page 69 and 70: Box 16. The Right to Political Part
Page 71 and 72:
that anti-corruption advocates coul
Page 73 and 74:
Recommendations Measuring Corruptio
Page 75 and 76:
III. The Gender Perspective Early a
Page 77 and 78:
Box 19. Gender Mainstreaming Framew
Page 79 and 80:
The Need for Gender Sensitivity in
Page 81:
Recommendations ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Whe
Page 84 and 85:
Although this chapter examines thes
Page 86 and 87:
the prosecution to prove the facts
Page 88 and 89:
Special investigative techniques ar
Page 91 and 92:
Conclusions The report has included
Page 93 and 94:
Selected Bibliography Ackerman, Bru
Page 95 and 96:
Cornwall, Andrea. Beneficiary, Cons
Page 97 and 98:
International Budget Partnership. O
Page 99 and 100:
Svampa, Maristella and Sebastian Pe
Page 101 and 102:
World Bank. Assessing aid: what wor
Page 103 and 104:
About the Council The International
show all

Integrating Human Rights in the Anti-Corruption Agenda - The ICHRP

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?