MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

OAS anti-corruption commission begins on-site visit to Uruguay

A vast round of contacts with the civil society and private sector are programmed

An OAS anti-corruption commission begins Monday a three day on-site visit to Uruguay as part of a review process of the Mechanism for follow-up on implementation of the Inter-American convention against corruption, MESICIC.

The on-site visit like all those carried out by the MESICIC, is made with the host countries’ consent. MESICIC is a cooperative, “inter pares” mechanism that incorporates the participation of civil society organizations, in which the legal and 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 process of analysis is considered an innovative and pioneering initiative of OAS which has further strengthened this mechanism of reciprocal analysis between states.

The Commission visiting Uruguay is made up of representatives from Antigua and Barbuda and Argentina, as well as from the Department of Legal Cooperation of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs of the OAS, in its capacity as the Technical Secretariat of the MESICIC.

Meetings are to take place with representatives from oversight bodies responsible for preventing, detecting and punishing corruption, the purpose of which is to review, on site, the manner in which the Inter-American Convention against Corruption is being implemented in Uruguay and to provide first hand, objective and complete information for consideration of its national report, which will be adopted by the MESICIC in a plenary meeting in September.

In addition, it is also expected that meetings will take place with Uruguayan civil society organizations, representatives from the private sector, professional associations and academics, in order to address the topics that are currently being reviewed in the Fourth Round of the Mechanism. It will also provide an opportunity to address the implementation of the recommendations formulated in the First Round, such as conflicts of interest, sworn statements of net worth and access to public information.