Indonesia signs UN Convention Against Corruption

Indonesia signs UN Convention Against Corruption

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government signed the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption at the UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday (Friday
Jakarta time), but critics doubted its commitment to implementing
the pact in fighting against corruption.

Witnessed by the UN secretary-general's legal adviser, Hans
Correl, Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra
signed the convention issued in Vienna in October.

Indonesia, according to Yusril, supported the substance of the
convention, particularly the obligation of signatory countries to
cooperate in tracing corrupted wealth deposited in a foreign
country.

"We strongly support the convention," he told Antara after
signing the convention in New York, saying that the government
was ready to ratify the convention.

Yusril said Indonesia expected the world body to influence
more member countries, particularly those well-known among
corruptors for laundering money, to adopt the convention.

As many as 39 countries have signed the convention in Mexico.
The UN has said that the convention would take effect in Dec.
2005 after 30 countries had signed it.

"We expect Singapore to adopt and ratify the convention
because many Indonesian corruptors deposit their ill-gotten gains
in that country," he said.

Indonesia has often complained about the neighboring country's
refusal to respond to Indonesia's call to extradite alleged and
convicted corruptors that have fled to Singapore.

"Singapore has often refused to engage in talks over
corruption. We are disappointed at Singapore for always rejecting
the idea," he said, saying that political pressure was mandatory
to force Singapore to sign and ratify the convention.

Yusril was unable to sign the convention in Mexico as
President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered him to represent the
government in a series of hearings with the Constitutional Court.

The new convention, which covers both corruption in both
private and government sectors, puts the highlight on the
requirement of member states to return assets obtained through
corruption to the country from which they were stolen.

The convention also stipulates that member states have to
evaluate legal instruments and administrative requirements
periodically for their effectiveness in preventing corruption.

According to the convention, a member state must criminalize
the most prevalent forms of corruption -- such as the giving,
offering or receiving of bribes -- in both the public and private
sectors.

Separately in Jakarta, the Muhammadiyah Students Association
(IMM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) to adopt an antibribery
pact, initiated by the latter.

Ahmad Rofiq, who chairs the IMM, said that the MOU required
IMM not to become involved in bribery as well as to campaign
against bribery in society.

"We shall be critical of Kadin. We are giving consideration to
requesting that Kadin give us access to information so we can
also monitor the implementation of Kadin's antibribery pact. We
all know that businesspeople are exposed to bribery," he said.

However, Rofiq also called on Kadin, and other elements of
society, to monitor the IMM's commitment to eradicate bribery.
The pact will last until 2015.

Muhammadiyah and the Nahdlatul Ulama, the two largest Muslim
organizations in the country, have signed an agreement to
eradicate corruption. The move was later followed by other
religious and social organizations in the country.

Corruption permeates almost all parts of the country, despite
the so-called reform movement following the downfall of president
Soeharto in 1998. One of the targets of the movement is
corruption.

Unfortunately, no significant result has been achieved so far.
Recently, the World Economic Forum ranked Indonesia as 60th (of a
total 102 countries surveyed) in terms of business
competitiveness.

According to the forum, rampant corruption and ineffective
bureaucracy are the two most important factors behind the
country's low business competitiveness index.