Journalists' Forum on the occasion of the International Day against Corruption and the Entry into Force of the UN Convention against Corruption

UNIS Vienna, in cooperation with the Austrian Foreign Press Association organized a Journalists Forum today on the occasion the International Day against Corruption (9 December) and the entry into force of the UN Convention against Corruption (14 December).

The keynote speaker at the forum was Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Stuart Gilman, Head, Anti-Corruption Unit, UNODC, and Martin Kreutner, Head, Bureau for Internal Affairs, Austrian Ministry of Interior also addressed the forum. The briefing was co-chaired by Sonja Wintersberger, Associate Information Officer, UNIS Vienna, and Jean-Michel Stoullig, Member of the Board of the Austrian Foreign Press Association.

The International Day Against Corruption on 9 December marks two years since the signing conference of the United Nations Convention against Corruption was held in Mérida, Mexico. Having received its 30th ratification at the 2005 World Summit, the Convention will enter into force on 14 December 2005.

Mr Costa introduced the work of UNODC in the areas of fighting illicit drugs, organized crime and terrorism. Citing a survey of European Union citizens, which demonstrated that the concerns of European citizens focussed on terrorism, crime, unemployment and drugs, he drew attention to the fact that UNODC was active in three out of four of these fields.

He said that the noble goals of the United Nations could not be achieved if they were dragged down by uncivil behaviours like drugs, crime and terrorism. For development, security and peace to exist, these behaviours had to be effectively dealt with.

Mr. Costa introduced the three pillars on which UNODC organizes its work: namely, research; assistance to States in ratifying and implementing international treaties, of which UNODC had brokered five over the last five years; and field-based technical cooperation projects. Mr. Costa drew attention to the links between corruption and other forms of crime, including drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings and terrorism. He said that corruption could be called the mother of all crime.

Responding to a question on the situation in Afghanistan, Mr. Costa stated that 60 per cent of the land used for opium cultivation belonged to absentee landlords. He described the drug trafficking chain as having three links: the farmers, the traffickers, and the users. Of these, he said the farmers and users deserved a more sympathetic approach; however, harsher treatment was needed for the traffickers.

In response to a question on whether money was a driving force behind drugs, organized crime and terrorism, and whether therefore certain money movements should be blocked, Mr. Costa noted that the money trail was very important for the recovery of assets and banking secrecy could not be an obstacle to investigations. He said that while traditional channels of money proceedings were being heavily patrolled, the task was made difficult due to the fact that corrupt money was increasingly being invested in real estate and other assets.

The second part of the Journalists' Forum focused in detail on the topic of corruption.

Mr. Gilman underlined that the United Nations Convention against Corruption had been signed, adopted and would enter into force in merely two years. He pointed out that until the mid-1990s, the World Bank had not even mentioned the word 'corruption'. However, things had changed since, and the international community today recognized that corruption was an issue that needed to be addressed. He said that we needed to see the face of corruption, not the mask.

Mr. Kreutner defined corruption as the misuse of entrusted power or authority for private gain. He said it affected our security environment on various levels. He said that a three-prong approach was needed to fight corruption -- prevention, education, and repression. He felt that awareness building was a critical tool in fighting corruption, and that though Austria was relatively ahead in the fight against corruption, much remained to be done. The issue of corruption will be a focal point of interest during Austria's upcoming Presidency of the European Union (EU); Austria will work on a European anti-corruption network, involving all member States' anti-corruption units. Furthermore, Austria will focus assistance on the West Balkans in this area.

In response to a question on the issue of whistleblower protection, Mr. Kreutner emphasized that witness protection programmes needed to be extended to whistle-blowers, and there needed to be safeguards against retaliatory action. Mr. Gilman drew attention to the fact that whistleblower protection was required by the Convention against Corruption.

A question was raised on Austria's ratification of the Convention. Mr. Kreutner responded that Austria was planning to ratify the Convention in the near future.

Answering a question on corruption within the United Nations, Mr. Gilman said that the international civil service was included in the Convention and the UN would continuously look into preventing and rooting out corruption, doing everything to ensure its credibility in the fight against corruption.

In response to a question on the link between corruption and poverty, Mr. Gilman cited two examples: to set up a dry-cleaning company in Lima, Peru, would cost approximately US$ 9,000 for rent and lease of machinery, plus around  US$30,000 in bribes. Unsurprisingly, till recently, Lima had only two dry-cleaners. Interestingly, in Johannesburg, South Africa, of all the people who had used a court, 52 per cent were of the opinion that the court was corrupt, but only 2 per cent had ever been exposed to bribes or paid them. One of the reasons was shortcomings in administration, which could be rectified.

Mr. Gilman expressed the view that corruption as a phenomenon could never be completely eliminated; however, its impact could be controlled and limited.

The UNODC Executive Director's message on the International Day Against Corruption, the three new fact sheets on corruption, copies of the Convention and posters were distributed.

Journalists were invited to take a guided tour of the VIC following the conclusion of the event, courtesy of the UNIS Vienna Visitors Service. Several journalists availed themselves of the opportunity.