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Guatemala Receives On-Site Visit of the OAS Anti-Corruption Mechanism

A commission from the Anti-Corruption Mechanism of the Organization of American States (OAS) visited Guatemala from April 16-18, as part of the review process of said Mechanism, carried out in accordance with the methodology adopted by consensus by its Member Countries.

The Commission of the Mechanism for the Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) was composed of Rolinne Gravenbeek, Public Prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General of Suriname; and O’Neil Simpson, Crown Counsel in the Saint Kitts and Nevis Attorney General’s Office; who were supported by the OAS General Secretariat during the visit, through its Department of Legal Cooperation, of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs.

During three days, the members of the commission met with representatives of the Presidential Commission for Transparency and Electronic Government (COPRET), the Prosecutor’s Office, the Comptroller General of Accounts and the Judicial Branch, in order to obtain objective and complete information on these bodies and to learn about potential difficulties regarding the implementation of the Inter-American Convention.

The commission also held meetings with representatives of civil society organizations and the private and academic sectors, to address issues related to the challenges to the investigation, prosecution and punishment of acts of corruption in Guatemala, as well as civil society’s views on the role of the oversight bodies in that country.

The results and information gathered during this visit are part of the review process that is currently being carried out by the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC, and which will conclude with the adoption of the Guatemala country report by the Committee at its next plenary meeting to be held in September 2013, at OAS Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between States, with the participation of civil society organizations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal-institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption as well as the objective results achieved therein. The incorporation of on-site visits as a stage and integral part of the MESICIC review process represents an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the OAS, especially for a peer review mechanism and the importance of the issues it addresses.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-158/13