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DEC. 9, INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY
- Will they ever?
DEC 08 - Six years have passed since Nepal signed the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in December 2003, but there is still no sign of its being ratified. Other than a commitment to ratify UNCAC in October 2006 by the reinstated Parliament and the constitution of a task force to study the ratification process, civil servants and their political masters have shown little interest in ratifying it till date. Meanwhile, anti-corruption NGOs helplessly keep themselves busy on Dec. 9 to celebrate the day as UN Anti-Corruption Day.
UNCAC is a global instrument designed to combat corruption crime at a global level. In the annals of UN conventions, UNCAC is said to have been drafted in the shortest period of time, i.e., 18 months. The instrument came at a time when the Bush administration was waging a war against terror. The 9/11 event subsequently led to the realisation that the war on terror can be tackled only by monitoring the funding mechanisms. International finance essentially acts as the lifeblood of terrorist organisations, hence the birth of the anti-corruption drive at a global level.
There are four distinct features to UNCAC. They are (1) Prevention of corruption crime (2) Criminalisation of corruption crime (3) International cooperation to fight corruption and (4) Recovery of stolen assets (for detailed information, go to www.unodc.org). Since the instrument was floated in 2003 and enforced in 2005, 140 countries have so far signed the convention and 141 have ratified it. As the instrument was enforced in 2005 with ratification by 30 countries, there is no point in signing the convention; therefore, what is important is its ratification. The number of countries signing the convention has stopped after 2005 (see graph). With 141 ratifications, the convention has been ratified by nearly two-thirds of the UN member countries. In South Asia, only three countries, namely Nepal, India and Bhutan, have not ratified it.
It could be more than a coincidence that UN Anti-Corruption Day falls ahead of Human Rights Day (Dec. 10) simply because “to be free from the evils of corruption” or demand for good governance and accountability is now increasingly recognised as a human right. Sooner or later, the anti-corruption movement is going to evolve as the fourth generation of the human rights movement. The movement for civil and political rights is taken as the first generation of the human rights movement, the movement for economic and development rights as the second generation and the movement for social and cultural rights as the third generation. There is a close relation between corruption and human rights violations. Human rights are violated in a corrupt regime and often corruption acts as an instrument to violate human rights. In spite of so many links between the movement for anti-corruption and human rights, people have failed to perceive their inter-linkages.
Lack of effective lobbying and advocacy may be one reason for Nepal’s reluctance to ratify UNCAC. However, the real reason is lack of willingness on the part of the political masters and their civil servants. Politicians fear that the very ratification of the convention may devour them. There is a saying that one who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount. Three years ago, a member of Parliament had frankly told this scribe that the push for UNCAC ratification was nothing more than making politicians guinea pigs in an anti-corruption experiment. They seem to be keeping a watch on what happened in Bangladesh post-UNCAC ratification. If political masters have a fear psychosis, bureaucrats, especially the honchos in the Ministry of Law and Justice, are adept at avoiding obligations arising out of UNCAC ratification. In the meantime, donors continue to take non-ratification as an indicator of lack of political will to fight corruption in Nepal. Who is going to instil that “will” will probably be never known in Nepal. We are in a situation of mice trying to bell the cat.
The government led by Comrade Prachanda came with a big noise to fight corruption. At the end of the day, what the common Nepali people saw was a vulgar display of parochial corruption (nepotism and favouritism) to a maddening height. If you do not trust this scribe, just count how many in-laws and out-laws of Maoist ministers were inducted as advisors.
Since the present government of Madhav Nepal has been born out of an illegitimate or corrupt relationship, there is no point expecting an anti-corruption agenda from this government. In fact, the government is surviving, possibly thriving, on the corruption agenda. Just watch out how largesse was distributed from the PM fund immediately after the formation of the government of Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal. It is no wonder why Nepal plunged in the global corruption ranking published by Transparency International on Nov. 22. Nepal’s ranking plummeted from the 121st position last year to the 143rd position this year. It is amazing to have a clear drop of 22 notches for a government led by a collection of 22 political parties — a one-point drop for each political party.
nama@wlink.com.np
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