Corruption and human rights

Corruption compromises States’ ability to fulfil their obligation to promote, respect and protect the human rights of individuals within their jurisdictions. Human rights are indivisible and interdependent, and the consequences of corrupt governance are multiple and touch on all human rights — civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the right to development.

In recent years, a number of relevant UN bodies and mechanisms have acknowledged the negative effects of corruption on the protection of human rights and on development. UN human rights bodies and mechanisms (i.e., Human Rights Council, its Special Rapporteurs, and the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, as well as human rights Treaty Bodies) are increasingly mindful of the negative impact of corruption on the enjoyment of human rights, and have addressed issues of corruption and human rights on numerous occasions.

Starting in March 2016, the URG is implementing a project that has the following three broad objectives:

1. Turn the vague assertion that widespread corruption ‘has an increasingly negative impact…on the enjoyment of all human rights’ into hard-hitting, fact-based and objective research into the nature and extent of that impact, especially for the most vulnerable sections of society.

2. Reflect on four country-specific case studies (Argentina, Guatemala, Honduras, and Tunisia) to highlight the ways in which corruption affects human rights, and to provide insight into the potential role of the international human rights system in helping to combat corruption at a national level.

3. Develop concrete ideas, strategies, and actions to usefully leverage international human rights law, obligations, institutions, and mechanisms to support the global fight against corruption.