Press Release: Recalcitrant Oil-for-Food opportunists must be disqualified from future contracts, says TI

올린이: GS Kim

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         Transparency International

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Jesse Garcia
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The unfolding Oil-for-Food scandal shows that governments of wealthy states are failing to fulfill their obligations under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which criminalises foreign bribery for signatories. While the business community in OECD countries has been publicly supportive of curbing corruption, there is a lack of awareness of the Convention among both public and private sector decision-makers. Cumbersome legal procedures and a lack of cross-border co-operation have meant that few cases have been successfully prosecuted under the Convention.

The Oil-For-Food programme, which was in operation from December 1996 until November 2003, allowed Iraq to sell oil to pay for food and humanitarian supplies. The former Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein extorted bribes and surcharges from handpicked buyers of Iraqi oil and vendors of humanitarian goods, and is estimated to have amassed between US$ 1.7 billion and US$ 4.7 billion, according to various studies.

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Transparency International is the leading global civil society organisation devoted to the fight against corruption.