Corruption and large-scale land acquisitions: an analysis of the role ...

and civil society oversight. This includes adopting the UN Convention on Anti-Corruption (UNCAC) 20 as wellas requirements for asset and beneficial ownership disclosure for all politically exposed persons, which islocally accessible, regularly updated and independently verified. Governments must ensure that landadministration and management, especially processes for acquiring and allocating large areas of land tocommercial investors are explicitly prioritised in these broader anti-corruption measures, and that progresstowards their implementation is publicly reported.Secondly, governments must investigate and prosecute those involved in corrupt land deals, includinginvolvement in intimidation and silencing of community activists, as well as take sanctions againstgovernment officials failing to fulfil their public duty.Thirdly, governments must suspend the allocation of new commercial land leases and review all existingleases until a legislative and regulatory framework is in place which: Recognises existing (customary and traditional) rights holders to land and natural resources beforeallocating concessions, through participatory land use planning, and by undertaking consultationsbased on the principle of free, prior and informed consent; Improves transparency and information disclosure relating to all procedures and decisions involvedin the identification, negotiation, contracting, implementation and monitoring of land and naturalresource deals. This must include: public disclosure of all land investment related contracts at thelocal level and in accessible forms during the contracting as well as post-agreement stages;disclosure of beneficial ownership of companies involved in such investments, as well as theirsubsidiaries; and disclosure of all payments made for land investments, both one-off payments (eg.signature bonuses and deposits) as well as taxes and royalties; Publicly discloses land cadastres and other land holdings databases and establishes accountableprocess management (to prevent changes from being made without a democratic, transparent andinclusive process and legally valid documentation); Improves rule of law and legislative frameworks relating to assessing and managing environmental,social and governance impacts; Ensures that judicial and non-judicial grievance mechanisms are accessible and affordable forcommunities affected by land grabs, including the provision of legal aid. Ensures that they operateindependently, are clearly separated from executive and administrative powers, and include appealmechanisms.Companies involved in these land investments (public and private, domestic and international) need torecognise the corporate risks associated with corruption take steps to address it. They must adopt formalinternal anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies and procedures which prohibit involvement in corruption,in any of its forms. They need to ensure compliance with such policies through contractually obliging staffto fulfil and report on their implementation, as well as establishing a mechanism for whistle blowerprotection.Given the problems associated with secrecy in the sector, companies must improve transparency andaccountability throughout their operations. This includes publicly disclosing all details of contracts on aproject-by-project basis and publicly reporting on the implementation of these contracts, as well as anypayments made to governments (as above, one off payments, taxes and royalties). It includes disclosure ofbeneficial ownership down to the subsidiary and sub-contractor level. As well as undertaking due diligenceduring investment feasibility phases to ensure government and / or private sector partners, subsidiaries,subcontractors and affiliates are not alleged to have been involved in corruption, human rights orenvironmental abuses. Finally, companies must ensure that all operations, and those of subsidiaries andsubcontractors, are compliant with national and international legislation. They must strive towardsadopting policies and operations which are in line with international standards (such as UNCAC and the20 For further information about UNCAC, see:http://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/Publications/Convention/08-50026_E.pdf (last accessed 8th October2012).__________________________________Global Witness Corruption and Large-Scale Land Acquisitions, Global Witness, October 2012 Page 9 of 10