HIGHLIGHTING THE U.S. ROLE IN THE UN CORRUPTION CONVENTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 196224 SIPDIS SIPDIS, UNVIE FOR BOLAND AND SOLOMON, AMMAN FOR PAO, JAKARTA FOR PAO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL OIIP KCOR KPAO KTIA UN SUBJECT: HIGHLIGHTING THE U.S. ROLE IN THE UN CORRUPTION CONVENTION (UNCAC) CONFERENCE STATE 00196224 001.2 OF 004 MONTREAL FOR USICAO, ROME FOR USUN ROME, PARIS FOR USUNESCO, NAIROBI FOR USUNEP For Political Counselors, PAOs and NAS Directors from IO Bureau. ¶1. (U) This is an ACTION REQUEST. Please see paras 7 and 9 for action. -------------- Background -------------- ¶2. (U) On November 29, 2006, the United States became a party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The Department issued a Media Note to that effect on the same day. The UNCAC marks a milestone in U.S. efforts to combat global corruption. UNCAC is the first international anticorruption agreement to be applied on a global scale. It is a comprehensive treaty that contains, inter alia, two particularly innovative chapters; one that commits governments to take preventive measures against corruption; and another that develops a framework for international cooperation on asset recovery. As of November 29, UNCAC had 140 signatories and 80 parties, including the United States. ¶3. (U) The First Conference of States Parties (COSP) for UNCAC will take place at the Dead Sea, Jordan, from December 10 to 14, 2006. The U.S. Delegation to the COSP will be lead by Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) Elizabeth Verville. The COSP in Jordan is expected to begin to consider ways that parties can best promote implementation of the UNCAC. The role of technical assistance to promote implementation of the UNCAC is also anticipated to be a major focus of the Conference. As we did during the UNCAC negotiations, the U.S. will take an active role in seeking to shape and influence the results of the Conference. ¶4. (U) To take advantage of this unique moment, IO, INL, EB, and IIP have coordinated with regional bureaus to develop a PD Strategy that takes advantage of this unprecedented occasion. The PD Strategy enunciated in this cable highlights the leading U.S. role in negotiating and concluding the UNCAC, as well as the long-standing and on-going U.S. commitment to fighting corruption internationally. We believe this strategy will augment posts' existing anti-corruption programs. It will also help posts to emphasize that international consensus and political will now exist to change behaviors and practices that enable corruption to occur. ¶5. (U) The PD strategy that Washington has developed draws heavily on existing tools, such DVCs, web chats, and print and web publications, to deliver messages on four broad themes. At the same time there is sufficient flexibility to permit participating posts to tailor content to meet the needs of their specific markets. -------------- Webchat Program -------------- ¶6. (U) On December 12, IIP will host a webchat on the USG's global anti-corruption efforts and the U.S. role in developing the UNCAC. The 60-minute chat, entitled "Combating Corruption: The U.S. Role in Developing the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)," will begin at 7:00 am Washington time (12:00 noon GMT), and feature, from Washington, IO DAS Gerald Anderson and EB Bureau's Andew Haviland, and joining from Jordan, the US Head of Delegation to UNCAC and INL Acting DAS, Elizabeth Verville. The broad topic will be the U.S. role in developing UNCAC and the USG's global anti-corruption efforts. Subtopics may include, (1) countering corruption through UN Reform; (2) the U.S. as good multilateral citizen; (3) the economic costs of corruption; and (4) U.S. methods of enforcing anti-corruption statutes. This time slot of this chat is designed to reach the broadest global participation, although the Department recognizes that the timing of this chat may not be conducive to live participation at some posts in some time zones. As with other webchats, IIP will make a transcript available and some of these principals would be available to augment post-specific messages via a separate DVC, if desired. STATE 00196224 002.2 OF 004 Posts should direct interested participants to visit IIP's USINFO Webchat station at http://unsinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Products/Webc hats.html for information about how to join the discussion. Participation requires a one-time registration at http://webchat.state.gov/register/register.cf m. Questions about how IIP webchats work can be directed to usinfowebchat"at"state.gov. IIP webchats are designed to accept questions in advance, allowing posts to "participate" even if not during the live event itself. -------------- -------------- -------------- Digital Video Conference (DVC) or Tele-Press Conference (TPC) Programs -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) ACTION REQUEST. Posts are encouraged to consider whether a DVC or TPC event might also be useful and appropriate for their respective market. Beginning Dec 7th, IO is prepared to facilitate requests from posts to provide speakers on the themes noted in para 6 above or on other corruption-related themes. While IO is particularly interested in supporting topics directly related to the UNCAC and the COSP; and to showcase the U.S. as a good multilateral partner; under this multi-bureau cooperative effort, we will work to facilitate other requests for corruption-related programs. Requests should be directed to POC: Jesse Curtis in IO/PPC via email CurtisJS"at"state.gov (Unclass), CurtisJS"at"state.sgov.gov (CLAN) or by phone at (202) 647-6882. Post are requested to copy their respective desk and PD Action Officers on any requests. IIP Bureau also reminds posts that anti-corruption has been identified as part of a theme for its Strategic Speakers Program and expects to offer speakers related to the subject under that program as well. -------------- IIP Bureau Support -------------- ¶8. (U) IIP Bureau is providing key support for this multi-bureau strategy. IIP's electronic eJournal, "Transforming the Culture of Corruption," will be released on December 13, 2006--coinciding with the final days of the COSP event in Jordan--and it will be highlighted on the USINFO front page. Embassy webmasters will be alerted in advance so that embassy web sites may link to it as appropriate. The existing page, "Bribery and Corruption" will link to all the most recent materials for the overseas audience at http://usinfo.state.gov/ei/economic_issues/br ibery_and_corr uption.html. Each article will provide links to available translations. Currently Google ranks this page at the top for searches on "bribery and corruption" among more than one million competing pages, and we are confident that, as new material gets published, this prominence will continue. In addition to the support from the Webchat and DVC teams, USINFO (formerly Washington File) will cover the conference and related corruption issues through stories and features on USINFO. Posts are encouraged to provide USINFO with additional story ideas or product support that would be useful to the field. -------------- Talking Points -------------- ¶9. (U) ACTION REQUEST. As part of this global public diplomacy strategy, the Department is providing the below previous-cleared press guidance talking points that were prepared when the U.S. became a party to UNCAC. Posts are encouraged to draw from these points and proactively engage media and host country contacts and government counterparts in discussing the UNCAC, the COSP event, USG anti-corruption efforts, and related themes. BEGIN SUGGESTED PRESS GUIDANCE TALKING POINTS. Q: What is the significance of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)? -- UNCAC is the first international anticorruption agreement to be applied on a global level. There are currently 140 signatories and 80 parties, including the United States, which became a party to UNCAC on November 29, 2006. -- UNCAC is a focal point for international anticorruption action. Many countries are already citing it as the new STATE 00196224 003.2 OF 004 international standard for developing an effective anticorruption regime. Among its provisions are two innovative chapters, one that commits governments to take a wide range of measures against corruption and a second one that develops a framework for international cooperation on asset recovery cases. Q: The United States is already a party to two other anti-corruption treaties, the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. Why is another Convention needed? How does UNCAC differ from the other two? -- UNCAC takes the international fight against corruption to a new level. It is far more comprehensive in scope than either the OECD Convention or the Inter-American Convention. The OECD Convention focuses on Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, and the Inter-American Convention only requires action in the law enforcement arena. UNCAC addresses corruption on multiple fronts. It commits governments to take preventive measures, criminalizes a wide range of corrupt conduct, and establishes a framework for cooperation on asset recovery. UNCAC is the only convention that addresses asset recovery cases. -- As a UN Convention, the UNCAC will apply to countries outside the Americas and outside the Parties to the OECD Convention, thus providing a global common framework to combat corruption. Q: The first Conference of States Parties to the Convention (COSP) is scheduled to take place in Jordan in December. What issues will the Conference address? What role will the U.S. play? -- We expect that the First Conference of States Parties (COSP) will begin to consider ways that parties can best promote implementation of the UNCAC. The role of technical assistance to promote implementations will also be a major focus. We would like to see a constructive process that will facilitate providing effective technical assistance. -- The United States was active and very successful during the negotiations, and we hope to have a similarly active and influential role in the COSP process. Q: Is technical assistance envisioned to assist countries in their efforts to implement the Convention? -- We expect that technical assistance will be needed by some countries to implement certain UNCAC provisions. UNCAC provides a basis for political commitment to take action in these areas, and will provide a basis for the United States and other donor countries to work cooperatively and closely with other countries on fighting corruption. -- We expect that COSP will need to gather information on UNCAC implementation in order to determine which countries are committed to implementing UNCAC and willing to take action. Q: How will the Convention advance U.S. foreign policy goals? How does it fit in with the broader U.S. anti-corruption agenda? -- As President Bush said in transmitting UNCAC to the U.S. Senate, the fight against corruption is a foreign policy priority for the U.S. Corruption adversely affects many of our broader foreign policy goals: Corruption facilitates crime and terrorism, hinders sustainable development, threatens democracy and prevents U.S. business from obtaining international contracts. -- UNCAC will be a critical tool for enhancing U.S. international anticorruption efforts. UNCAC takes all the best provisions from existing regional anticorruption agreements and combines them in one comprehensive document. Thus all regions of the globe will be operating from a common framework. The global nature of UNCAC allows countries to develop and share expertise in a wide range of areas, including preventive measures, law enforcement, and asset recovery. -- UNCAC is already becoming the standard for fighting corruption. The U.S. is already using UNCAC as the centerpiece to promote anticorruption action in other multilateral fora, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Middle East Governance for STATE 00196224 004.2 OF 004 Development Initiative. UNCAC will make it easier for the United States to press the global community to take needed and effective action against corruption. -- The anticorruption regime anticipated by UNCAC provides a model for international action and cooperation. It is one that is consistent with U.S. standards and will provide a basis for the United States to increase our leadership in this area. END SUGGESTED PRESS GUIDANCE TALKING POINTS. ¶10. (U) Minimize Considered. RICE