TISL calls on Govt. to fast track implementation of UNCAC pledges

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere (second from left) addressing the media. Others from left: Legal Advice Centre Manager Manjula Shanker and Legal Officer Maheshi Herath – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

By Charumini de Silva

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) yesterday highlighted that the country’s commitment to implement the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) needs faster momentum, as there is still a lot of work to be done on the key pledges made in 2016.

Launching an online platform to track the progress that has been made in key anti-corruption commitments made by the Government on three key pledges, which includes tackling grand corruption and money laundering and effective implementation on victim and witness protection in Sri Lanka, TISL said that out of the 39 mandatory commitments of UNCAC, only eight of commitments had been completed, while 25 were underway and six were incomplete.

“There are 71 commitments under the UNCAC, 39 of which are mandatory. We have tracked each of those mandatory commitments and we have found out that out of the 39 mandatory commitments, only eight commitments have been completed. A further 25 of them are underway, while six of them are incomplete. This illustrates the momentum that is there and the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done on these pledges,” TISL Executive Director Asoka Obeysekere told journalists in Colombo.

In 2016 May, 43 governments and six international organisations met in London for the Anti-Corruption Summit, resulting bold Global Declaration Against Corruption. The Government of Sri Lanka was represented by President Maithripala Sirisena and made several broad-based pledges.

“The key highlight here is that Sri Lanka is in a unique situation, where we are probably the only country in the world to constitutionally enshrine our commitment in tackling and implementing the UNCAC pledges,” he added.

According to him, the Article 156A of Sri Lanka’s Constitution enshrines the UNCAC and the need to implement it.

Lack of crucial legal regulations and unavailability of information were flagged as some of the key issues in implementing these three main pledges.

“At the moment there is a Proceeds of Crime Bill, which will give the mechanism for returning the stolen assets back to the country, is still not passed. Areas around the allegations which are made sometime around money that has been taken out of the country and the need to be returned needs this Proceeds of Crime bill in place. So, it is essential that this bill gets approval to implement it,” Obeysekere said.

Highlighting procurement as one of the biggest issues around corruption, he asserted that Procurement Guidelines were still stuck at Cabinet level and not being approved. “The Procurement Guidelines include very important areas such are provisions for e-procurement to enable all citizens to be able to access the different procurements that are happening. This is a key tool in tackling corruption, but that is also being held up at Cabinet level,” he stressed.

Under Grand Corruption and Money Laundering, he said that the majority of the people do not have a basic idea as to what it really meant and it was an area that often went unpunished. 

“Grand Corruption is not really detailed in Sri Lanka and no one have any idea what it really means. However, in a nutshell it is calculated as corruption which is over 100 times the annual subsistence income of a family. Corruption over Rs. 30 million amounts to Grand Corruption,” he explained.

Obeysekere said key problems related to grand corruption were that it was normally engaged in by those who were extremely powerful, it was done at the expense of society as a whole and this type of corruption often went unpunished.

“We all know that it is this large-scale corruption that goes unpunished, so focusing on Garand Corruption is essential. It is important to be tackled and to do that we need better information sharing across anti-corruption agencies, which is lacking at present,” he pointed out.

He claimed that Section 17 of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) Act was the frequent excuse given by the authorities for not sharing the findings from their own investigations with other State investigative authorities.

“Currently, money laundering cases are handled by the Police, but if you have a corruption case it is handled by CIABOC. But Section 17 of the CIABOC Act doesn’t allow the CIABOC to communicate findings from its own investigations with other State investigative authorities. Thus, Section 17 of the CIABOC Act either needs to be removed or amended to allow interagency cooperation. Otherwise at the moment everyone is operating in their own silos,” he added.

TISL highlighted the need to ensure greater inter-agency cooperation if Sri Lanka is to believe that corruption is going to be taken seriously.

Looking through the details of effective implementation on victim and witness protection in Sri Lanka pledge, Obeysekere said that not only were there serious funding gaps, there was also very little public information around that if people were to really rely on the mechanism.  “As corruption also continues to feature prominently in the public discourse, we hope the data that will be provided through the tracker will empower the public and other stakeholders to focus their efforts in the fight against corruption,” he stated.

The tracker can be accessed at www.tracker.tisrilanka.org.