Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda Join OAS Anti-Corruption Mechanism

ZIZ News…Dec. 9, 2010 – Three Caribbean countries members of the Organization of American States (OAS) confirmed their incorporation to the Mechanism for Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC), joining 28 other states already part of this important regional tool.

In the framework of the Third Meeting of the Conference of the States Parties to the MESICIC, being held today and tomorrow in Brasilia, Haití and Saint Kitts and Nevis today signed their integration to the mechanism, and Antigua and Barbuda will do so tomorrow.

In representation of their respective countries, the Director General of the Anti-Corruption Unit of Haiti, Amos Durosier, and the Attorney General of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Patrice Dwight Nisbett, signed the document that formalizes the integration of their governments to the inter-American mechanism.

As new States Parties to this mechanism, the three Caribbean countries will benefit from the activities of cooperation conducted by the MESICIC to fight corruption. This mechanism is guided by the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, which was a world pioneer in this area and constitutes a holistic legal tool to confront the serious problem of corruption through preventive and repressive measures, not only at the national but also international level.

The MESICIC, which began to operate in 2002, is an intergovernmental body with broad opportunities of participation for civil society, established in the framework of the OAS to provide support in the implementation of the measures of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption. It is organized by the Department for Legal Cooperation of the OAS Secretariat for Legal Affairs, and also serves as a forum for the exchange of information and reciprocal cooperation among the countries that are part of it, including best practices in the prevention of and fight against corruption.