Amnesty International has reported how anti-corruption activists in 19 West and Central African countries risk arrest, harassment, detention, hefty fines and even death for speaking out against corruption.
Development Diaries reports that the human rights organisation released the report as it marked the 2023 African Anti-Corruption Day on 11 July.
In the report, Anti-Corruption Fight in Peril: Crackdown on Anti-Corruption Human Rights Defenders in West and Central Africa, the organisation noted that other anti-corruption activists are targeted with court cases and criminal prosecutions in attacks on their right to freedom of expression.
‘The repression faced by anti-corruption human rights defenders in West and Central Africa is shocking’, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said.
‘These individuals play a critical role in fighting corruption and thus defending human rights. Yet they routinely endure attacks, intimidation, harassment, and persecution for exposing the truth’.
The report called on West and Central African countries to take concrete and effective measures to protect and support human rights defenders who expose corruption.
It also called on West and Central African countries to stop prosecuting human rights defenders who expose corruption, bribery and abuse of office.
According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), corruption is both a cause and a consequence of many illicit activities in West and Central Africa.
These illicit activities include the trafficking of arms, drugs, and cultural property; terrorism; wildlife and forest crime, human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
The African Union Assembly’s 2003 adoption of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption (AUCPCC) was a significant step in addressing the continent’s chronic corruption issues.
The convention seeks to end corruption in business and government by serving as a shared road map for member states to implement governance and anti-corruption measures.
Today, 48 African countries have ratified the convention, leaving seven behind.
Development Diaries calls on African countries to respect their commitments to the AUCPCC, and strengthen measures towards fighting corruption.
We also urge governments in West and Central Africa to end all forms of human rights abuses and prosecution of anti-corruption activists in the region.
Photo source: Amnesty International
