Fight Against Corruption: The Ombudsman and the Latin American Experience Jorge Santistevan de Noriega (Ombudsman - Peru)

BACKGROUND USA legislation against bribery. 1980’s - AID Programs to enhance budget management and transparency in control authorities Summit of the Americas. - Poverty - Market economy - HHRR - CORRUPTION

1998 CORRUMPTION PERSEPTIONS INDEX 20 Chile 56 Mexico 27 Costa Rica 59 Guatemala 41 Peru 61 Argentina 42 Uruguay 61 Nicaragua 46 Brazil 69 Bolivia 51 El Salvador 77 Ecuador 77 Venezuela 79 Colombia 83 Honduras 84 Paraguay

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS OAS Anti Corruption Convention 1996 OCDE Convention LIMA Declaration 1997 UN and OAS resolutions Catholic Bishops declarations (CELAM)

ANTI CORRUPTION INITIATIVES Governments Parliaments/Constitutional Assemblies Judiciary Civil Society

GOVERNMENTS Reform of the State (customs, taxation) Deregulation of the economy Flexible administrative rules Special Units to combat corruption

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS Constitutional tribunals Judiciary councils National Prosecutor’s Office Ombudsman Institution

PARLIAMENTS Ratification of the OAS and/or OCDE conventions Legislation on: Integrity Disclosure of assets/income Illicit enrichment

JUDICIARY Reform of procedures Internal control within the judiciary Alternative systems of problem resolution: arbitration, conciliation, indigenous systems of justice, OMBUDSMAN

CORRUPTION SPECIAL UNITS Ethics departments within central government: Argentina Ecuador Nicaragua Honduras Peru (General Accountant Office)

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS LEGISLATION Venezuela Dominican Republic Chile Colombia

CIVIL SOCIETY NGOs / Watchdogs to combat corruption and to promote integrity: Argentina (Poder Ciudadano) Coalitions: Bolivia Nicaragua Private enterprise commitment: Peru VIII IACC Lima 1997 More than 21 TI chapters Active investigative journalism

OMBUDSOFFICES Latin American “Defensor del Pueblo”: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile (?), Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela (?) “Procurador / Comisionado de Derechos Humanos”: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, “Protecteur du Citoyen”: Haiti

OMBUDSOFFICES The Caribbean Antigua & Barbuda Bahamas Belize (1/2?) Santa Lucia Surinam Trinidad & Tobago

OMBUDSDEFINITION Independent office Receives and investigates complaints MALADMINISTRATION In Spain and Latin America ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS MALADMINISTRATION + HHRR (hybrid model excluding the Caribbean)

MALADMINISTRATION Excess / omission contrary to law, rules or regulations Abuse of power, discrimination, injustice, arbitrariness, for reasons of corrupt or improper motives Neglect, inattention, delay

OMBUDSMANDATE Supervision of the administration (Maladminstration + corruption) Protection of Human Rights Good Governance and transparency Strengthening of the rule of law Bridging role citizen- civil society - administration (networking)

OMBUDSFEATURES Constitutional institution Fully independent (2/3 majority vote) Accessible to the public Empowered to investigate Accountable through Parliament to society Basically persuasive / moral authority

OMBUDSBRIDGING Open to the Public Links with grass roots organizations (networking) Voice of the unprotected Solution oriented approach Concerned with natural law (“Equidad” “Espiritu de la ley”) rather than with the letter of the law

OMBUDSROLE IN CORRUPTION Individual cases / collective remedies Administrative responsibilities; auditor general/anti-corruption commissions Criminal responsibilities; general prosecutor Fight against impunity Promotes legislation, codes of conduct and standards of administrative behavior

OMBUDSCOMMITMENTS International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) Ibero American Federation of Ombudsman(IFO/FIO) IACC Lima Declaration 1997 IFO/FIO Tegucigalpa Declaration 1999 IX IACC - Durban, South Africa’s commitment and monitoring scheme

OMBUDSCONCLUSION Unique opportunity profit from independent investigation capable of supervising / controlling anti corruption authorities Fills the gap between “nice laws” and “ugly reality”

OMBUDSCONCLUSION Partnership with anti corruption movement: - Need to enhance regional approach to focus on basic issues: (a) access to information, (b) transparency and (c) accountability - Establish follow up and monitoring mechanisms to Durban commitment