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The work of the 21st Autumn Meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) began yesterday and continues today in Yerevan.
The Vice-Chair of the OSCE CSO and Special Representative on Combating Corruption, Ms Irene Charalambidou, chaired today a discussion on "Corruption as a fundamental threat to peace and security". The main speakers of the discussion were Ms. Alexandra Habershon, Program Coordinator at the World Bank Group, Ms. Mariam Galstyan, Representative of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption in Armenia and Mr. Konstantin Vardzelashvili, Head of the Department of Democratization of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
In her opening remarks, Ms. Charalambidou stressed that corruption is a fundamental threat to the civil-military, economic and human dimensions of security, as it undermines state legitimacy, eroding citizens' trust in both politicians and institutions. He called on parliamentarians to rise to the occasion and not to weaken standards for investigating cases of corruption or acquiesce in cover-ups when it comes from friendly political quarters or from their own parties. "Putting petty political interests above transparency does not serve the interests of the citizens who trusted us with their votes."
She said corruption also undermines economic development because it diverts resources from key sectors of the economy such as health, education, infrastructure, as well as the security and defence sectors, to serve the private interests of those who pull the strings. He noted that the prevalence of corrupt practices can provide opportunities for infiltration by foreign actors who find fertile ground to promote their own agenda or for terrorist groups to recruit supporters.
Referring specifically to Cyprus, Ms. Charalambidou said that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists very recently pointed out that a small number of private legal and accounting firms in Cyprus may have facilitated Russian oligarchs to escape sanctions imposed on them. "If these allegations are true," Ms Charalambidou said, "it means that while the Cypriot citizen paid high financial and diplomatic costs as a result of the sanctions adopted, a few lawyers and accountants gained significant financial benefits by facilitating oligarchs to circumvent them." She stressed that such cases are a prime example of how corruption can undermine state objectives and even foreign policy.
Referring to anti-corruption solutions, Ms. Charalambidou argued that democratic institutions must provide institutional counterbalances to the power held by public officials and the way they use it. She stressed that parliaments are an integral part of the system of checks and balances and therefore accountability, both for members of parliaments and state officials, must be ensured. Furthermore, Ms. Charalambidou referred to the importance of adequate protection of public interest whistleblowers and journalists. She stressed that Parliaments should ensure that judicial proceedings are free from outside interference and that judicial officials are not exempt from their own transparency and accountability obligations.
Turning to the interventions of the keynote speakers, Ms. Habershon referred to World Bank programmes aimed at supporting States' efforts to fight corruption and prevent illicit resource flows, in particular through the use of new technologies. He focused in particular on the need to strengthen efforts to prosecute and successfully try corruption cases.
Ms Galstyan referred to the anti-corruption programme being promoted in Armenia and the related legislative and institutional reforms. She made particular reference to the positive results already recorded both in terms of saving resources and enhancing citizens' confidence in the country's institutions.
Mr. Vardzelashvili referred to efforts to promote the fight against corruption particularly through the strengthening of democratic institutions and transparency and accountability obligations.
The ensuing discussion stressed, inter alia, the importance of abolishing tax havens that facilitate international tax evasion and the importance of international cooperation to freeze funds acquired through corrupt practices and return them to their countries of origin. The link between corruption and terrorism and organised crime was discussed. The importance of beneficial ownership registers was stressed, as well as the need to ensure that data protection legislation does not undermine the effectiveness of these registers. Finally, the potential positive contribution of civil society to anti-corruption efforts was noted, as well as the need to respect transparency obligations in relation to the sources of funding of various non-governmental organisations.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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