Status: In draft
Corruption and human rights
Introduction
In recent years, governments and international organisations have taken many initiatives to reduce corruption. The latter has rarely been analysed from the point of view of human rights, therefore in 2007 the Council started a project on the subject. The project aims to assist organisations that prosecute or support anti-corruption policies to apply human rights effectively to strengthen their programmes; make human rights bodies and mechanisms more accessible to those who work to end corruption; and make anti-corruption methods and practices more accessible to human rights advocates. This project will identify the links between different forms of corruption and specific violations of human rights, and explore the ways that human rights can be applied to illuminate and curb forms of corruption. It will also examine where anti-corruption practices are at risk of infringing human rights principles, and suggest how such risks might be avoided.
The project is designed to identify, explore, and clarify links between corruption and human rights; to assess the direct impact of corruption on human rights; to assess the strengths and weaknesses of anti-corruption strategies from a human rights point of view; and to assess where fuller use of human rights norms, principles and method would make such strategies more effective in practice. The project does not advocate human rights as a policy panacea for every challenge faced by anti-corruption specialists. Rather it examines when and how the use of human rights might improve performance in certain areas; it will also identity the limits of a human rights approach in anti-corruption. The goal is to provide an operational framework for applying human rights principles and methods to anti-corruption programmes.
The research is divided into two components, and will produce a separate report for each component.
First report
The first report will develop a conceptual framework enabling users to describe, in specific terms, how violations of human rights may be linked to particular acts of corruption. It will set out why those working on corruption and those working on human rights have reasons to cooperate, and delineate the main features of the two traditions of practice. It will then set out the links between specific acts of corruption and specific violations of rights – recognising that the links are sometimes indirect and that in some cases corruption may not violate human rights, strictly understood.
Second report
Developing a clear description of the conceptual links between human rights and corruption is important and has not been done. But a conceptual model alone will not meet the need, because human rights will not be effective tools in anti-corruption work if they are not applied in context. The anti-corruption movement has its own history: international standards have been agreed; and those involved have developed a distinct body of practice and a range of methodologies.
The second report will therefore examine issues of implementation. It will discuss where use of a human rights framework can strengthen anti-corruption programmes at national and local level, and what obstacles and conflicts may inhibit effective cooperation. To what extent are anti-corruption programmes compatible (or at odds) with human rights principles? How should national institutional and legal contexts be taken into account? Where would use of human rights principles and techniques most improve the impact of anti-corruption programmes? What could human rights and anti-corruption professionals learn from one another?
This report will examine anti-corruption practice in different institutions and seek to be a practical tool that public officials and practitioners can use to address the difficulties that arise when efforts are made to reduce or stop corruption. It will include practical cases and will address the obstacles and challenges of applying a human rights framework in corruption programmes.
