USA, JUNE 1, 2010 - Anti-corruption challenges in the Americas

The Organisation of American States (OAS) has consistently identified corruption and a lack of transparency as a fundamental factors jeopardising the security and prosperity of citizens in the region.

It promoted the first convention against corruption, The Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) in 1996, and has made corruption a high priority at all five Summits of the Americas since 1994.

Yet despite identifying the problem, concrete action remains insufficient. Although 33 out of 34 OAS members have ratified the IACAC, there is still a strong need to translate the words of the convention into national policy and practice. Currently, only 28 states are taking part in the convention’s monitoring mechanism.

The political will to take corruption seriously has not yet translated into a concerted effort to deal with its causes. The region remains racked by violence, poverty and inequality. Organised crime is perceived to have a stranglehold on more than one country and the current build up of conventional weapons, particularly in South America where arms budgets have increased 150 per cent since the beginning of the decade, is a serious concern.

More arms are flowing into the region either illicitly or as part of defence contracts than ever before. According to the World Health organisation, guns are the leading cause of death among Latin Americans between the ages of 15 and 44.

In 2009, TI surveys conducted in eight Latin American countries showed that nearly two-thirds of those questioned thought their governments ineffective in fighting corruption and nearly three-quarters in North America reported the same. Politicians were seen as highly corrupt and one in 10 people reported paying a bribe in the preceding 12 months. Similarly, 21 out of 31 countries included in the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index scored under 5 out of ten, signalling a perception of widespread corruption, and nine scored less than 3 indicating rampant corruption. In North America few people reported paying bribes but 61 per cent believed that the private sector uses bribes to influence government policies and laws.

Completing this bleak scenario is the existence of offshore havens that facilitate money laundering and the stashing of illicit funds.

Recommendations

TI and its 16 affiliated organisations throughout the region presented OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza and the heads of the governmental delegations with recommendations to strengthen governance, peace and security in the Americas. These include:

• Guarantee a greater role for civil society in monitoring compliance with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) and the Inter-American Convention on Conventional Weapons Acquisitions.
• End restrictions on civil society participation in the follow up mechanism for assessing the implementation of the IACAC and safeguard it from intents to restrict participation in general OAS activities. Venezuela has successfully managed to ban the presentation of shadow reports on its implementation of anti-corruption recommendations.
• Implement on-site visits for anti-corruption progress reports and publication of all reports.
• Increase transparency in defence procurement and defence budgets.
• Improve communications and dissemination of best practices.
• Approve and implement access to information legislation in all OAS countries.
• Transparent disclosure of political party financing, a dire problem in the region as shown in TI studies from 2007.