Expert Consultation on the draft of a practitioner guide on corruption and human rights violations

CCPR-Centre, together with the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and OHCHR, organised an Expert Consultation on the draft of a practitioner guide on corruption and human rights violations.

The consultation took place on 11 and 12 June 2018 in the Geneva Academy with the participation of Treaty Body members, Special Procedures mandate holders, academics, human rights and anti-corruption activists, and OHCHR and UNCAC representatives.

The objective of the consultation was to develop and agree on an outline of the practitioner guide that will subsequently be drafted by an external consultant.

During the consultation, participants presented and discussed previous research and analysis on the link between corruption and human rights violations, namely:

• A presentation of the Geneva Academy/OHCHR paper “Human Rights and Countering Corruption” which will be published soon;
• A presentation of the outcome document of the International Conference on human rights violations and corruption that took place in February 2018;
• A presentation of the report of Raoul Wallenberg Institute: “Strengthening the nexus between human rights and anti-corruption” and 
• A presentation of the UNCAC and the role of the CSO in the review process

Additionally, presentations on the current practice of the UN human rights mechanisms - Treaty Bodies, Human Rights Council and Special Procedures - the intersection of corruption and human rights violations was also discussed.

Furthermore, representatives from civil society, and in particular from anti-corruption groups, presented their expectations and needs reagrding advocacy tools for a better engagement with the UN human rights mechanisms to address the issue of corruption and human rights violations.

The rest of the consultation was dedicated to discuss the outline of the practitioner guide. It is expected that the guide will include a brief overview of the UN human rights mechanisms and specific sections on the UN Treaty Bodies and the UN Human Rights Council where best practices on findings on corruption as well as tips will be presented and analysed.

Read more in this blog post by Richard Messick, US Attorney and member of the International Network for Victims of Corruption.