|
TI
Press Releases August 31 to October 7
Daily
News:
Monday,
October 8, 2001 
(100 kb)
Tuesday,
October 9, 2001
(928 kb)
Wednesday,
October 10, 2001
(117 kb)
Thursday,
October 11, 2001
(137 kb)
The
Prague Agenda
We, some [1,300] people from 143 countries, drawn from governments,
civil society and the private sector, assembled in our individual
capacities in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, from
7 - 11 October 2001 for the 10th International Anti-Corruption
Conference. The theme was "Together Against Corruption:
Designing Strategies, Assessing Impact, Reforming Corrupt
Institutions".
Our
earlier gatherings have been held in Washington (1983), New
York (1985), Hong Kong (1987), Sydney (1989), Amsterdam (1992),
Cancun (1993), Beijing (1995), Lima (1997) and Durban (1999).
Many of us had also participated in the Global Forum discussions
in Washington (1999) and The Hague (2001).
Our
proceedings were chaired by Marie Bohata, Head of the Czech
Statistical Office. Our plenary sessions were addressed by
H.E. Milos Zeman, (Prime Minister of the Czech Republic);
Ronald Noble (Secretary General, INTERPOL, France); Eva Joly
(Investigating Magistrate, France); Ann Pettifor (Jubilee
Plus, UK); Joris Demmink (Ministry of Justice, The Netherlands);
Jean Lemierre (President, EBRD); Fernando Olivera (Minister
of Justice, Peru); Seiichi Kondo (OECD), Daniel Kaufmann (World
Bank Institute), Heinz Rothermund (Royal Dutch Shell), Ricardo
Semler (Semco Industries, Brazil), Patrick Alley (Global Witness),
Baltasar Garzon Real (Investigating Judge, Spain), Francois
Werner (International Olympic Committee), Marie Noelle Patterson
(Vanuatu), Liu Liying (China), Peter Eigen (Transparency International),
Ayo Obe (Nigeria), Freimut Duve (OSCE representative on Freedom
of the Media), President Vicente Fox (Mexico) and George Soros
(Chairman, Open Society Institute). Plenary sessions were
also chaired by Maria Livanos Cattaui (International Chamber
of Commerce); Frank Vogl (Transparency International); Petr
Brod (Czech Service, BBC); and Ekaterina Genieva (President,
Open Society Institute of Russia).
Our
proceedings were honoured by being opened by President Vaclav
Havel, himself once imprisoned by a totalitarian administration
for speaking out against abuse of power and human rights.
They were further enriched by presentations of the 2001 "Transparency
International Integrity Awards" to the French investigating
magistrate Eva Joly, for her courageous work in uncovering
high level corruption, and to the prosecutors and people of
the Brazilian city of Londrina who had joined forces to quite
literally sweep a corrupt city administration from office.
Corruption is a threat to societies in the developed and developing
worlds alike.
We
met against the background of the worst single act of terrorism
the world has ever known, one which cost the lives of thousands
of ordinary men and women from more than 80 different countries.
In expressing solidarity with the victims of all such abuse,
we welcome the actions being taken around the world to strengthen
institutions and practices to contain the continuing menace
those who would perpetrate such acts present to citizens everywhere.
The
Secretary-General of Interpol stressed the role played by
corruption in facilitating these crimes against humanity.
He pointed out that none can afford to separate the fight
against corruption from the fight against terrorism. Mutual
legal assistance arrangements have to be strengthened, financial
regimes improved and new laws passed, but none will have the
effects intended if customs, police and security officials
are corrupt. The best security structures are rendered impotent
if undermined from within by corruption . We are also conscious
of the need to fight the corruption that is blighting the
lives of many millions of people around the world, creating
feelings of helplessness and despair that can provide a ready
recruiting ground for those who seek allies in their murderous
causes.
Our
proceedings were given added poignancy as we paid tribute
at our opening ceremony to Carlos Alberto Cardoso (Mozambique),
Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento (Colombia), Georgy Gongadze
(Ukraine) and Norbert Zongo (Burkina Faso). Each paid with
his life for his efforts to bring about just and honest government
in his country.
President
Havel reminded us, in the context of the first occasion when
our Conference has taken place in Central or Eastern Europe,
that there is a direct link between corruption and human rights
abuse, with the corrupt suppression by all means of those
who peacefully criticise those in power. The Prime Minister
of the Czech Republic also observed that the main tool of
the economic Mafia in its battle with political establishments
is not murder but corruption.
Ours
is a powerful coalition which has grown increasingly in size
and strength over the course of past Conferences. We are committed
to building global standards of transparency and accountability
for governments, the private sector, civil society and international
institutions alike. We do this in the belief that we are contributing
to improving the welfare of people throughout the world, particularly
the poor, and see these standards as fundamental to achieving
acceptable levels of social just buttressed by the Rule of
Law.
In
the process of forging these standards, the role of developed
countries is of central importance. Not only do they have
a legal and moral obligation to enforce the OECD Convention
Against the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials effectively,
but they have to be aware that many other countries look to
them for examples of good practice in building modern government.
When
developed countries grant impunity to their political leaders;
when they fail to enforce laws against their political and
business elites; when they obstruct investigations; when they
act to weaken laws designed to counter money-laundering and
international mutual legal assistance; and when they prevaricate
in providing assistance to return assets looted by leaders
of developing countries back to the countries where these
assets rightly belong, they serve actively to undermine our
undertaking. They also have a duty to help the oppressed throughout
the world, and to condemn - not grant succour to - the oppressors.
Developing
countries and countries in transition face even greater challenges,
and reforms in the developed world will serve little purpose
in advancing social justice world-wide if these countries,
too, do not play a full and active part. Transparent and accountable
practices must be developed right across their institutions,
including the private sector; ethics, both in and out of government,
promoted; the voting records of individual legislators made
public; clear and unambiguous conflict of interest provisions
enforced; sound and timely accounting practices consistent
with international accounting and auditing standards generated
for government and private sector alike; a free media encouraged;
strong and effective regulatory mechanisms, including the
financial sector, put in place; reliable records management
systems established; score-cards for public procurement developed;
above all, independent and able judiciaries committed to the
rule of law. These are just some of the features of their
national integrity systems that must be established and sustained.
This is no easy task, but it is one with which we are all
ready to assist - development agencies, IFIs, international
institutions, the private sector and civil society.
Our
own experience confirms that the establishment of coalitions
of interests such as our own at the national level is one
of the most effective steps a society can take in its efforts
to curb corruption.
It
is incumbent on all to play a full and committed role in our
struggle. In this a heavy burden rests with the professions
- legal, accounting, financial and engineering - who have
for so long played roles in facilitating corruption and who
now have an opportunity to make a positive contribution to
our efforts.
Some
of the issues mentioned can be addressed through the proposed
United Nations Convention Against Corruption. We look forward
to the early conclusion of this new international instrument.
However, we are concerned that the drafting process should
not be used as a pretext by those who wish to delay urgently
needed reforms. We also believe that any such Convention must
have a strong and effective monitoring system if it is to
have the impact that is needed. We look to the Convention
to enshrine a prohibition against the affording of safe havens
to corrupt officials who flee their countries, such as that
contained in the Inter-American Convention.
In
this context we heard a strong call for the immediate return
from Japan of the disgraced former president of Peru, Alberto
Fujimori, to the country he governed for ten years and to
whose people he should account for his stewardship. Similar
demands were made for the return from Britain of the funds
looted by the late Sani Abacha while military head of state
in Nigeria as called for by African civil society in their
Nyanga Declaration.
International
systems must ensure that these shameful events are not repeated.
Arrangements for mutual legal assistance are clearly in urgent
need of attention, and we will play our part in the efforts
now under way to reform these as an element of the global
initiative against terrorism.
The
structural injustices that developing countries and countries
in transition face also featured prominently in our discussions.
These are also reflected in their relationships with international
financing institutions. In many heavily-indebted countries
debt is negotiated in secret, a situation which we deplore,
and in some there are no public records of debt.
The
incurring of debt, we noted, is neutral. It can be an engine
of development when used prudently and transparently. Debt
can, however, be misused as a means of plundering a country,
with catastrophic consequences for a country's people. Accordingly,
we repeat our statement at Durban, namely that we support
unreservedly debt relief in circumstances which ensure that
the benefits flow to the poor.
We
acclaim the initiative of JubileePlus in proposing that in
future there should be an open and transparent judicial inquiry
into the circumstances in which unpayable debt has been incurred
to determine who should bear the liability for bad lending
decisions. Such a mechanism would unquestionably introduce
stronger elements of discipline, transparency and accountability
into the international architecture.
Where
debt is incurred by corrupt and repressive elites to enrich
themselves, there is no reason why its burden should solely
fall on their repressed people. We look to international financial
institutions and to the governments of industrialised countries
to use their positions to require that borrower governments
publish full details both of the loans they receive and of
the purposes for which they are provided.
Likewise,
we agreed to explore a suggestion of Global Witness that the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and leading
stock exchanges should make it mandatory for corporations
in the extractive industries to declare the royalties and
tax payments they make to individual countries.
Ours
was not a conference of empty rhetoric and generalised condemnation
of corruption and the corrupt. Rather throughout the week
and in over 100 workshops we addressed specific challenges
of how corruption can be addressed, in institutions, in corporations
and among people who work in them. We examined success stories,
a number the result of previous IACC and Global Forum discussions,
and we dissected initiatives that had proved less fruitful.
Successful
innovations range from the improvements for the children of
Uganda that transparency in the funding of schools has achieved,
and the potential savings realised by transparent e-procurement
now practised in countries such as Chile, Korea and Mexico.
Class
(i.e. community) court actions have been brought in increasing
numbers, successfully challenging abusive government decisions;
ethics programmes introduced in professional and targeted
ways; methods are being introduced successfully identifying
over-priced contracts before they are signed by governments.
The
issue of "conflict diamonds" is being addressed
in practical ways; individual corporations are providing a
strong lead on transparency and accountability to the societies
where they operate; Transparency International is developing
business integrity principles with actors from the private
sector; and the International Olympic Movement has expressed
a wish to work with us in the development of its own needed
reforms.
All
are the product of consultation and cooperation between two
or three major elements of our coalition - governments, the
private sector and civil society.
For
the future we identified initiatives, too numerous to list
in a declaration, which appropriate groups from within our
coalition will carry forward and which will be reappraised
when next we meet. These will be posted on our web site. They
cover governments, the private sector and civil society, and
include preventive and awareness-raising measures no less
than steps to achieve institutional strengthening and enforcement.
We
began to address the special challenges presented by post-conflict
situations, and the need to secure ways in which emergency
assistance can be rendered more effective by being shielded
from corruption. Repeatedly, too, the point was made that
civil society in various parts of the world is now starting
to offer a secular framework for institutional change.
We
have noted with appreciation the new determination by the
Swiss authorities to provide international assistance, in
marked contrast to the past, a process we expect to continue
and broaden. We also noted the recent moves to introduce greater
transparency in transactions financed by the World Bank, and
look both to other international financial institutions to
follow this lead and the World Bank itself to pursue an agenda
of further increased transparency.
We
have worked for two years with eleven leading international
banks from Europe and North America to improve "Know
Your Customer" principles as a method to reduce money-laundering,
among others by corrupt politicians and their business associates.
We strongly support the resulting "Wolfsberg Principles",
which continue to be refined and made more specific. We would
like to see these Principles adopted by all leading banks
and extended across the full range of the financial services
industry. We strongly support current initiatives to make
anti-money-laundering rules more effective, and to increase
cross-border cooperation between bank supervisors and law
enforcement officials.
A
further remarkable demonstration of the potential we have
in working together was the offer made by Interpol (which
has no authority over its member police forces) to share with
civil society their materials for building ethical police
forces to empower civil society organisations to take appropriate
follow-up action in their own countries.
We
noted that the element of gender is of particular importance.
Not only does corruption bear disproportionately on women,
but they have a major role to play. We were delighted to welcome
for the first time a number of youth groups to our discussions,
and were similarly pleased that religious organisations are
also joining in the coalition.
We
cannot leave Prague without expressing our heartfelt thanks
to our hosts, Transparency International Czech Republic and
the Government of the Czech Republic for the excellent arrangements
they made for us. We take with us abiding memories of a city
of elegance and a people of warmth and generosity.
We
look forward to meeting in the City of Seoul in two years'
time, there to ensure that our deeds will have matched our
words.
Prague
11 October 2001
Top
Last modified:
29 July, 2002
This icon means that the file is in PDF format. You can get
Adobe Acrobat reader for free at http://www.adobe.com
|
