In his message on International Anti-Corruption Day, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Jose Miguel Insulza called for regional cooperation on transnational corruption -- notably through extradition and reciprocal prosecutorial assistance -- and for regional businesses to not only abstain from bribery, but to detect acts of corruption and report them.
December 9 was International Anti-Corruption Day, and in his message, Insulza called on the international community to renew its commitment to jointly tackle corruption.
"With respect to the OAS, in addition to contributing the first international legal instrument on the subject, namely our Inter-American Convention against Corruption, we have also continued to support our countries' efforts to combat this scourge by helping them to enhance their legal frameworks and to strengthen the institutions responsible for enforcing their laws," Insulza said.
He cited the Follow-up Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, known by its Spanish acronym MESICIC, and noted that the initiative has thus far completed three rounds of review geared, among other things, to improving provisions that are essential for preventing conflicts of interest, safeguarding public funds, punishing corrupt practices such as illicit enrichment and national and transnational bribery, and achieving transparency in both government procurement and with respect to the hiring of public servants.
In addition to having adequate legal provisions in place, Insulza called it "crucial" to have adequate institutions to enforce those provisions, and said it was for this reason that the MESICIC has now focused on the strengthening of the oversight bodies in OAS countries that are responsible for preventing, detecting, investigating and punishing corrupt practices.
Insulza added that the fight against corruption does not rest solely with public authorities.
He added that corruption should not be envisaged solely from the perspective of civil servants' duty to be honest, and said the MESICIC has also made very specific recommendations that the private sector, and businesses in particular, not only abstain from bribery but, in addition, establish internal controls that allow them to detect acts of corruption and comply with their duty to report them.
"Finally, all nations, and in the case of the OAS, its member states, have a very important role to play given the transnational nature of corruption, such as by providing the broadest possible reciprocal assistance for the prosecution of the corrupt, their extradition to the country where they should answer for their corrupt actions, and doing everything necessary to recover stolen public assets," Insulza said.

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