Las organizaciones: Right Livelihood, RIDH, CCPR, CIJ y WOLA se unen para condenar el nuevo nombramiento de María Consuelo Porras como Fiscal General de Guatemala.
As Right Livelihood, Réseau International des Droits de L’homme (RIDH), Center for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), International Commission of Jurists and WOLA have come together to condemn the re-appointment of María Consuelo Porras as Attorney General of Guatemala, the group has released a joint statement on the matter.
The ICJ, in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), today launched a whistleblowing application (tip off) mechanism in Harare.
It is common that people reporting corruption, tipping off and submitting key evidence prefer to stay anonymous, as they may have an often, well-founded, fear of reprisal by the parties involved. In such instances it is imperative for the ZACC to adopt a protective solution that guarantees user anonymity. This tip off mechanism will enable ZACC to receive information and evidence securely while the user of the mechanism remains anonymous. In turn ZACC will be able to use the information received to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption. Additionally, the application will also have a case management dashboard which will aid evaluation of ZACC’s efficiency in handling corruption cases.
Corruption undermines the rule of law by impeding access to justice through diversions of public resources for private gain. As such, the ICJ, through the support by the EU, is working towards increased transparency and integrity in the justice delivery system in order to increase access to justice for all. The whistleblowing application is not undertaken in isolation, as it builds on other initiatives to combat corruption under this programme, which include the Anti-Corruption Campaign, establishment of an anti-corruption court, capacity building, and various research initiatives.
“Corruption remains a key challenge confronting Zimbabwe. If unabated, corruption undermines democracy and the rule of law leading to violations of human rights. Its destructive effect on development disproportionately affects the poor. The participation of the public, in augmenting government efforts in combating corruption is therefore critical. It is our hope that through this awareness programme, ordinary members of the public will be able to recognize corrupt behaviour and feel empowered to take a stand against it. Further, we hope that the mechanism will sustain the momentum against corruption and increase the demand for improved accountability and transparency in various sectors in Zimbabwe thereby contributing to reduction of corruption,” said Blessing Gorejena, ICJ’s Zimbabwe Project Team leader.
Once officially launched, the whistle-blowing mechanism will be available to the public. It will be promoted and encouraged by publicizing stories of successful prosecutions and other actions as a result of information provided by whistle-blowers, as well as reporting on the effective protection of such persons from any form of reprisal or other harm.
The project is facilitated through the support of the European Union.
Contact:
Blessing Gorejena, Senior Legal Adviser and Team Leader of ICJ Zimbabwe Project, t:0772151989, e: blessing.gorejena(a)icj.org
Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council the ICJ today emphasized the need for a human-rights-based approach to addressing corruption in justice systems, and urged more attention be given to the abuse of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments.
The statement, delivered in an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, read as follows:
“Mr Special Rapporteur,
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concurs with the affirmation in your report that justice systems must effectively counter corruption; that corruption in justice systems negatively impacts human rights; and that addressing such impacts is within the mandate of the Human Rights Council.[1]
At the same time, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) already actively provides resources and specialized technical expertise to States and prosecutors in implementing the Convention against Corruption. Keeping the Human Rights Council’s focus on the specific value added by a human-rights-based approach to such overlapping issues makes the best use of the Council and OHCHR’s limited resources and special competence and expertise.
For example, this report could have presented a detailed analysis of, and recommendations on, the right to remedy and reparation of victims of human rights violations caused by corruption of prosecutors, judges and lawyers. However, while the report briefly mentions victims (para 30), human rights defenders (para 31), and human rights training (para 58), and that human rights issues can impede international cooperation (para 49), but otherwise it mostly addresses technical advice for effective counter-corruption measures. The ICJ invites you to elaborate on the specific new elements a human-rights-based approach adds to the expert advice already provided by UNODC in this regard.
We also urge you to devote a future report to the manipulation of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments to repress dissenting voices and human rights defenders, neutralize political opposition, shrink civil society space, and entrench impunity for human rights violations, which as our submission documented is no less urgent a global human rights issue than corruption, and is not a special focus of UN bodies other than the Council and OHCHR.
Thank you.”
[1] Indeed, twenty years ago the ICJ adopted a Policy Framework for Preventing and Eliminating Corruption and Ensuring the Impartiality of the Judicial System and its work against corruption in cooperation with judiciaries and prosecution services continues at the global and national levels.
The ICJ, in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Judicial Service Commission (JSC), convened an Anti-Corruption workshop from 27-30 January 2020.
The objective was to enhance the capacity of judicial and law enforcement officials and prosecutors in respect of their roles in anti-corruption prevention and enforcement and cyber-crime investigation.
The workshop was led by Hon. Justice Lawrence Gidudu, the Head of the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court in Uganda, who was assisted by Moses Modoi a lawyer specializing in research and capacity building that supports anti-corruption courts.
In his keynote address, Hon. Mr Justice L. Malaba Chief Justice underlined that participation by key justice actors showed commitment towards the fight against corruption.
He noted that the education and training aspects aimed to create a common understanding of standards and techniques to be applied when handling corruption matters.
He expressed the sentiment that there were lessons to be learned from the Ugandan Court which currently has had a high success rate in corruption cases.
The training workshop is part of the ICJ’s wider efforts to ensure access to justice for all in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
The main focus here was on the global outlook and emergency of anti-corruption action; analysis of municipal Anti-Corruption legislation; managing trials in anti-corruption courts, corruption as a transnational crime, admissibility of digital evidence; asset recovery and ethics and integrity.
There were 49 participants in the portions of the workshops from 27-28 January, including 18 women, comprising Judges from the Zimbabwe High Court; Regional, Provincial and Senior Magistrates; and Registrars from the Superior Courts.
Photo: Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, Chairperson for the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo
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