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Anne Peters examines the pitfalls and potentials of the recent deliberate legal-political strategy of individualising the systemic problem of corruption.

Image courtesy of interviewee. November 12, 2024

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This video discusses the intricate relationship between corruption and human rights, highlighting how nations perceived as highly corrupt often have poor human rights records. It emphasizes that both corruption and human rights abuse typically occur together, as demonstrated by examples from Transparency International, such as Somalia, Venezuela, and Syria.

The speaker argues for a closer alignment of anti-corruption efforts with human rights initiatives, noting that while there are numerous anti-corruption conventions, none incorporate a human rights perspective. In contrast, human rights bodies recognize the link between the two. For instance, anti-corruption measures can significantly improve the human rights situation in a country, as corroborated by various studies showing that reducing corruption fosters better enjoyment of human rights.

Several doctrinal considerations are presented, including the necessity for a clear violation of human rights obligations, the attribution of corrupt actions to states even when they exceed an official's mandate, and establishing a causal link between corruption and human rights violations. This video also argues for a system-wide approach to hold states accountable for corruption's impact on human rights, notions of victim centrality, and the role of human rights in regulating anti-corruption measures to prevent abuses.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is cited as a leading body in integrating human rights with anti-corruption efforts. Suggestions for enhancing this integration on a global scale include more consistent treatment of corruption in UN treaty bodies and increased attention to corruption in national human rights institutions.

Overall, the speaker advocates for a more unified approach that recognizes corruption as a human rights issue, suggesting that integrating these frameworks can yield positive outcomes for protecting rights and enhancing accountability.

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Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Correlation Between Corruption and Human Rights Violations**: The video highlights a strong correlation between high levels of corruption and poor human rights records in states such as Somalia, Venezuela, and Syria. It argues that corruption and human rights issues are interlinked, with corruption adversely impacting the enjoyment of human rights, particularly social rights.

2. **Need for a Human Rights Approach in Anti-Corruption Efforts**: The author advocates for integrating human rights concerns into anti-corruption initiatives. They argue that aligning these two agendas can create a positive feedback loop that enhances both freedom from corruption and the protection of human rights.

3. **Causality and Accountability**: The video discusses challenges surrounding the attribution of corrupt behavior to the state and establishing a direct causal link between corruption and human rights violations. It suggests that a human rights perspective emphasizes systemic responsibility rather than focusing solely on individual corrupt actors.

4. **Role of Human Rights Bodies**: Human rights bodies, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, recognize corruption as a contributing factor to human rights abuses and are positioned to tackle corruption through their existing frameworks, which may be stronger than international anti-corruption bodies.

5. **Protection of Anti-Corruption Activists**: The video highlights the importance of protecting individuals combating corruption, such as journalists and whistleblowers, from state abuses. It argues that a human rights approach can safeguard these activists and ensure that anti-corruption measures do not lead to political purges or repressive actions.

These points encapsulate the main arguments of the video regarding the interplay between corruption and human rights, emphasizing the importance of integrating both issues into a cohesive framework for effective governance.

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Here are some key quotes encapsulating the main themes and points from the video:

1. **Link Between Corruption and Human Rights**:
"States perceived to be highly corrupt are in fact the same states who have a poor human rights record."

2. **Insufficient Integration of Approaches**:
"There are meanwhile about 10 universal and regional anti-corruption conventions, but none of these conventions explicitly adopts a human rights page approach."

3. **Perception of Corruption**:
"Corruption is very difficult to measure, and Transparency International, they only rely on the perception of corruption."

4. **Impact of Corruption on Human Rights**:
"Corruption significantly depletes public resources, which in turn adversely impacts the enjoyment of all human rights."

5. **Social Rights and Corruption**:
"Social rights are probably the most affected by corruption."

6. **Judicial Corruption**:
"Corruption in the judicial system endangers basic rights to judicial protection such as the right to a trial without delay."

7. **Systemic Responsibility**:
"If you take a human rights approach, then you highlight the systemic responsibility of the state instead of just focusing on the corrupt individuals."

8. **Causality and Human Rights**:
"There needs to be a direct causal link between the corrupt acts and the human rights violation."

9. **Human Rights-Based Approach to Corruption**:
"A human rights-based approach not only addresses the corrupt individuals but also harnesses the human rights apparatus to tackle corruption."

10. **Empowerment of Victims**:
"The human rights approach emphasizes the centrality of the victim and also the human costs of corruption."

11. **Protection of Anti-Corruption Activists**:
"Human rights protect, especially anti-corruption activists, for example, the human rights of journalists, of whistleblowers."

12. **Addressing Corruption in Human Rights Bodies**:
"Corruption could be included as a standard issue prior to reporting by states in the United Nations treaty body reporting procedures."

These quotes reflect the video's exploration of the intertwined nature of corruption and human rights, calling for a more integrated approach to address systemic corruption while considering human rights implications.

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To start.

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States perceived to be highly corrupt are in fact the same

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states who have a poor human rights record.

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According to the Transparency International Index

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of last year, these are, for example, Somalia,

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Venezuela, and Syria.

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The human rights issues are there rampant

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and corruptions also rampant.

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Normally, the two agendas are different

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because human rights is for individuals.

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Starting point is human dignity,

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whereas corruption is a systemic issue.

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It's a structural issue,

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and it was traditionally also perceived

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as a victimless crime.

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There are meanwhile about 10 universal

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and regional anti-corruption conventions,

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but none of these conventions explicitly adopts a human

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rights page approach.

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And in in contrast,

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the human rights bodies have a spouse corruption

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as an issue, and they acknowledge a connection,

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and especially the Inter-American Commission on Human

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Rights does so.

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And for example, also, the human rights bodies

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and the United Nations,

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they've also issued a joint statement about human

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rights and corruption.

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So these bodies, they see anti-corruption as a tool

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to enhance the human rights situation

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in the countries they monitor.

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But the corruption monitoring bodies, for example,

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the OECD working group on bribery,

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has not addressed human rights in its recommendations

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so far, as far as I know.

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And one of the reasons is that some people say it's wrong

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to shoehorn corruption into a kind of human rights mold

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and that this is the wrong individualization of a problem,

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which is a systemic problem.

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But I think on the contrary, that it's good

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to link these two issues, that the issues should be aligned

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and that it should also become more balanced in the sense

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that anti-corruption actors should also

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actively integrate human rights concerns into their work.

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Because I expect a positive feedback loop corruption

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is very difficult to measure, and

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therefore all the indicators, for example, the indicators

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of transparency International,

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they only rely on the perception of corruption.

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For example, a study on the impact of corruption

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and human rights conducted by the Center of Civil

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and Political Rights in Moldova found

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that corruption significantly depletes public resources,

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which in turn adversely impacts the enjoyment

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of all human rights.

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That's the Moldovan study.

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Uh, there's another empirical study by Mexican sociologists,

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and they found that when corruption is reduced,

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there's also a greater probability

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of a more wide strip spread enjoyment of human rights.

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And these statistics were based on the usual indicators

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for corruption and for non-compliance

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with international human rights norms.

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And they were controlling for other factors such

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as the political regime

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or the gross national product. Social rights

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Are probably the most affected by corruption.

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For example, if you can only get a medical appointment

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by paying some bribes, then your rights

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to healthcare is compromised.

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Or if you are a student

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and your grades depend on giving teachers favors,

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then your right to education has affected.

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But civil and political rights may also be undermined.

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For example, when police

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and border guards are bribed to turn a blind eye on,

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let's say human trafficking, then the human right

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to be protected from slavery, and servitude is at stake.

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And for example, corruption in the judicial system

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and dangerous basic rights, to judicial protection such

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as right to fair trial, right

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to trial without delay and so on.

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Most of the bodies dealing with the corruption,

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the human rights bodies, they just mentioned corruption

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as a kind of aggravating factor.

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For example, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights,

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looked at an illegal adoption scheme in Guatemala.

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And, there said that corruption

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aggravates the human rights violations involved in the

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illegal adoptions.

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The conceptual issues are first of all, that there needs

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to be a clear violation

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of an international human rights obligation of a state.

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And these are the obligations to respect, to protect

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and to fulfill, to respect a human right means, for example,

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to abstain from taking a bribe to fulfill

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human rights is especially relevant

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for the social human rights here.

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Every state has the basic obligation to realize

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social rights to the maximum of the state's available

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resources and squandering

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and dissipation of public money, of course, runs counter

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to this obligation.

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Another aspect of human rights are procedural duties,

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especially the procedural duty to investigate.

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And that's of course highly relevant when an allegation

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of corruption arises.

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The second doctrinal point is that corrupt behavior

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must be attributable to a state.

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And there the question arises whether activity by a public

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official, whether that's ultra

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or beyond the bounds of the official mandate of the officer.

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Uh, and therefore the question arises whether

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that's attributable to the state.

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Um, I think that it is attributable

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because of course, the bribed officer

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exactly uses the powers of his

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or her office to do something that he

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or she would not be able to do as a private person,

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for example, granting a building license,

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or fining, somebody else and so on.

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The third doctrinal element is that there needs

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to be a direct causal link between the corrupt acts

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and the human rights violation.

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And that's one of the main sticking points

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because the distance between the corruption

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and the actual violation may be quite great.

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Um, so the issue of causality is,

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it's not fully developed in international law.

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There are however, some principles,

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and actually in the recent cases on climate,

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so in climate litigation, which also causes problems

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of causation here, new principles are quickly emerging.

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For example, the human rights court,

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the European Human Rights Court said that, strictly

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but for test is not appropriate.

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But there are some other buzzwords like proximity, natural

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and normal consequence foreseeability and so on.

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For example, if there is like election riots speaking today,

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if there are election riots

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because of corruption in the elections, then there are,

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the poli.

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There is excessive police force in desolving,

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protestors.

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Then, the link between the violation of the freedom

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of assembly and the fraud

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and the elections is probably not given.

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So there would not be causality between corruption

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and that violation.

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The difference is actually

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that if you take a human rights approach, then

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you highlight the systemic responsibility of the state

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and instead of just focusing on the corrupt individuals,

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and this means getting to the bottom of corrupt structures,

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as the Inter-American Human Rights Commission puts it,

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a human rights based approach also makes it possible

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to harness the human rights apparatus

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within the United Nations

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and the region of human rights courts

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and so on to tackle corruption.

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And these are, although they are weak,

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there are still stronger than the international

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anti-corruption bodies.

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Um, and the human rights approach

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or the lens of human rights also influences

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the standard of proof.

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Because unlike a criminal suspect, the state of course,

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does not benefit from a presumption of innocence.

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Although human rights victims must also prove their case,

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the evidential threshold will be lower than

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for a criminal conviction of an individual.

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And a third advantage is that the human rights approach

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emphasizes the centrality of the victim

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and also the human costs of corruption.

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The human rights obligations to protect that I mentioned

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allows the states

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or even mandates the states to do more

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to prevent business from engaging in foreign bribery

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and in other corrupt practices.

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And states have to adopt proper regulation,

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effective enforcement, and proportionate sanctioning

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as a consequence of, human rights obligations.

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And human rights also help limiting states excessive

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and abusive use of anti-corruption tools.

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Another added value is

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that human rights can limit states excessive

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and also abusive use of anti-corruption tools

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because human rights protect,

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especially anti-corruption activists, for example,

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the human rights of journalists, of whistleblowers,

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and also of state officials

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or judges who fight against corruption,

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there will often be silenced or removed from office.

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So human rights help protect them.

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And we also know that,

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so-called anti-corruption campaigns are often used

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with corruption allegations simply as a pretext

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for targeting political opponents

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and as a veal strategy for political purges, for example.

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Uh, so a human rights based approach

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with an insistence on freedom of expression due prices

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and fair trial can shield against such abuses.

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So it's an important moderating force against excesses.

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And another added value is

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that a human rights lens puts a stronger focus on reparation

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and also on the return of confiscated asset

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to victims or to victim states.

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There is the perception that human rights bodies might stray

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outside their mandate if they also deal with corruption.

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Their human rights approach can clearly show

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that corruption also forms part of the legitimate mandate

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of these institutions.

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And actually one institution that's spearheaded the movement

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to overcome these barriers is,

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the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

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This body has developed public policy standards in the fight

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against corruption, and the commission has also,

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adopted rules of procedures in order

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to prioritize protection, protection requests

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for anti-corruption activists who are at risk

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and, in the proceedings

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of the Inter-American Human Rights system,

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in the individual petition system.

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The commission now also gives special attention

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to corruption in the context of human rights violations

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because it qualifies such a situation as a so-called serious

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structural situation that then leads to an expedition

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of the evaluation of the petitions.

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I would make other suggestions for the level

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of the United Nations.

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For example, in the United Nations treaty,

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body reporting procedures, corruption could be included

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as a standard issue prior to reporting by states.

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And then in the committee reports,

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the committees could more consistently address corruption

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and they should also use a more standardized language in

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order to address the issue.

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This is now a problem that the language is uneven,

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that there is certain selectivity

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or it looks like a certain selectivity.

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Uh, I think that also the national human rights institutions

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that many states have

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and which are actually also mandated

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by the United Nations United that they could also routinely,

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look at corruption and also, report on corruption.

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And there is also the established tool

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of human rights due diligence.

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This could, and I think should also,

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include anti-corruption procedures.

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So I see a lot of practical roots

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and possibilities, for the integration

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of these two issues.

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To overcome also the barriers and doctrinal hurdles.

Linking Corruption and Human Rights

00:00:00 - To start. States perceived to be highly corrupt are in fact the same states who have a poor human rights record. According to the Transparency International Index of last year, these are, for example, Somalia, Venezuela, and Syria. The human rights issues are there rampant and corruptions also rampant. Normally, the two agendas are different because human rights is for individuals. Starting point is human dignity, whereas corruption is a systemic issue. It's a structural issue, and it was traditionally also perceived

00:00:32 - There are meanwhile about 10 universal and regional anti-corruption conventions, but none of these conventions explicitly adopts a human rights page approach. And in in contrast, the human rights bodies have a spouse corruption as an issue, and they acknowledge a connection, and especially the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights does so. And for example, also, the human rights bodies and the United Nations, they've also issued a joint statement about human

00:01:03 - So these bodies, they see anti-corruption as a tool to enhance the human rights situation in the countries they monitor. But the corruption monitoring bodies, for example, the OECD working group on bribery, has not addressed human rights in its recommendations so far, as far as I know. And one of the reasons is that some people say it's wrong to shoehorn corruption into a kind of human rights mold

Linking Corruption and Human Rights: A Systemic Issue

00:01:37 - which is a systemic problem. But I think on the contrary, that it's good to link these two issues, that the issues should be aligned and that it should also become more balanced in the sense that anti-corruption actors should also actively integrate human rights concerns into their work. Because I expect a positive feedback loop corruption is very difficult to measure, and

00:02:05 - of transparency International, they only rely on the perception of corruption. For example, a study on the impact of corruption and human rights conducted by the Center of Civil and Political Rights in Moldova found that corruption significantly depletes public resources, which in turn adversely impacts the enjoyment of all human rights. That's the Moldovan study. there's another empirical study by Mexican sociologists,

00:02:37 - there's also a greater probability of a more wide strip spread enjoyment of human rights. And these statistics were based on the usual indicators for corruption and for non-compliance with international human rights norms. And they were controlling for other factors such as the political regime or the gross national product. Social rights Are probably the most affected by corruption. For example, if you can only get a medical appointment by paying some bribes, then your rights

Corruption's Impact on Human Rights

00:03:09 - Or if you are a student and your grades depend on giving teachers favors, then your right to education has affected. But civil and political rights may also be undermined. For example, when police and border guards are bribed to turn a blind eye on, let's say human trafficking, then the human right to be protected from slavery, and servitude is at stake. And for example, corruption in the judicial system and dangerous basic rights, to judicial protection such

00:03:41 - to trial without delay and so on. Most of the bodies dealing with the corruption, the human rights bodies, they just mentioned corruption as a kind of aggravating factor. For example, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, looked at an illegal adoption scheme in Guatemala. And, there said that corruption aggravates the human rights violations involved in the illegal adoptions. The conceptual issues are first of all, that there needs

00:04:14 - of an international human rights obligation of a state. And these are the obligations to respect, to protect and to fulfill, to respect a human right means, for example, to abstain from taking a bribe to fulfill human rights is especially relevant for the social human rights here. Every state has the basic obligation to realize social rights to the maximum of the state's available

Corruption, State Accountability, and Human Rights

00:04:47 - and dissipation of public money, of course, runs counter to this obligation. Another aspect of human rights are procedural duties, especially the procedural duty to investigate. And that's of course highly relevant when an allegation of corruption arises. The second doctrinal point is that corrupt behavior must be attributable to a state. And there the question arises whether activity by a public

00:05:19 - or beyond the bounds of the official mandate of the officer. and therefore the question arises whether that's attributable to the state. I think that it is attributable because of course, the bribed officer exactly uses the powers of his or her office to do something that he or she would not be able to do as a private person, for example, granting a building license, or fining, somebody else and so on.

00:05:51 - to be a direct causal link between the corrupt acts and the human rights violation. And that's one of the main sticking points because the distance between the corruption and the actual violation may be quite great. so the issue of causality is, it's not fully developed in international law. There are however, some principles, and actually in the recent cases on climate, so in climate litigation, which also causes problems

Linking Corruption and Human Rights: A Systemic Perspective

00:06:25 - For example, the human rights court, the European Human Rights Court said that, strictly but for test is not appropriate. But there are some other buzzwords like proximity, natural and normal consequence foreseeability and so on. For example, if there is like election riots speaking today, if there are election riots because of corruption in the elections, then there are,

00:06:53 - There is excessive police force in desolving, protestors. Then, the link between the violation of the freedom of assembly and the fraud and the elections is probably not given. So there would not be causality between corruption and that violation. The difference is actually that if you take a human rights approach, then you highlight the systemic responsibility of the state and instead of just focusing on the corrupt individuals,

00:07:27 - as the Inter-American Human Rights Commission puts it, a human rights based approach also makes it possible to harness the human rights apparatus within the United Nations and the region of human rights courts and so on to tackle corruption. And these are, although they are weak, there are still stronger than the international anti-corruption bodies. and the human rights approach

Linking Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Efforts

00:07:57 - the standard of proof. Because unlike a criminal suspect, the state of course, does not benefit from a presumption of innocence. Although human rights victims must also prove their case, the evidential threshold will be lower than for a criminal conviction of an individual. And a third advantage is that the human rights approach emphasizes the centrality of the victim and also the human costs of corruption.

00:08:29 - allows the states or even mandates the states to do more to prevent business from engaging in foreign bribery and in other corrupt practices. And states have to adopt proper regulation, effective enforcement, and proportionate sanctioning as a consequence of, human rights obligations. And human rights also help limiting states excessive and abusive use of anti-corruption tools. Another added value is that human rights can limit states excessive

00:09:00 - because human rights protect, especially anti-corruption activists, for example, the human rights of journalists, of whistleblowers, and also of state officials or judges who fight against corruption, there will often be silenced or removed from office. So human rights help protect them. And we also know that, so-called anti-corruption campaigns are often used with corruption allegations simply as a pretext

Linking Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Efforts

00:09:31 - and as a veal strategy for political purges, for example. so a human rights based approach with an insistence on freedom of expression due prices and fair trial can shield against such abuses. So it's an important moderating force against excesses. And another added value is that a human rights lens puts a stronger focus on reparation and also on the return of confiscated asset

00:10:02 - There is the perception that human rights bodies might stray outside their mandate if they also deal with corruption. Their human rights approach can clearly show that corruption also forms part of the legitimate mandate of these institutions. And actually one institution that's spearheaded the movement to overcome these barriers is, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. This body has developed public policy standards in the fight

00:10:35 - adopted rules of procedures in order to prioritize protection, protection requests for anti-corruption activists who are at risk and, in the proceedings of the Inter-American Human Rights system, in the individual petition system. The commission now also gives special attention to corruption in the context of human rights violations because it qualifies such a situation as a so-called serious

Integrating Anti-Corruption Measures into Human Rights Frameworks

00:11:08 - of the evaluation of the petitions. I would make other suggestions for the level of the United Nations. For example, in the United Nations treaty, body reporting procedures, corruption could be included as a standard issue prior to reporting by states. And then in the committee reports, the committees could more consistently address corruption and they should also use a more standardized language in

00:11:37 - This is now a problem that the language is uneven, that there is certain selectivity or it looks like a certain selectivity. I think that also the national human rights institutions that many states have and which are actually also mandated by the United Nations United that they could also routinely, look at corruption and also, report on corruption. And there is also the established tool of human rights due diligence.

00:12:19 - include anti-corruption procedures. So I see a lot of practical roots and possibilities, for the integration of these two issues. To overcome also the barriers and doctrinal hurdles.

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