Press releases
Alliance for Electoral Oversight | Press Release and Public Information on the risks and wider guidance ahead of the second round elections on 19 June 2022
18 June 2022
The Peace & Reconciliation Foundation, the Open Policy ‘Extituto’ and the Anti-Corruption Institute have come together to co-create the Alliance for Electoral Oversight – or AVE for its Spanish name – where we have identified the main risks identified during the electoral process for the Congress of the Republic and Presidential consultations on 13 March 13, as well as during the first-round of the Presidential elections on 29 May and the current risks and alerts ahead of the second round of the 2022 Presidential elections.
Anti-Corruption Institute supports the arrest of Senator Mario Castaño
8 June 2022
According to reports in the national media, the Prosecutor’s Office’s Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) captured Liberal Party Senator Mario Alberto Castaño, in Bogotá, where he was accused of the crimes of (i) improper interest in the execution of contracts; (ii) embezzlement by appropriation; and (iii) extortion.
30 Nobel Prize winners endorse the International Anti-Corruption Court
4 May 2022
The Anti-Corruption Institute is delighted to share news of the creation of a new International Anti-Corruption Court (CIAC) with members of the public, journalists, observers and other interested parties, including the progress we have made in conjunction with Integrity Initiatives International (III).
Civil Society Organizations call upon the Senate to reject the Government’s objections to the response times for Rights of Petition
8 April 2022
Civil Society Organizations, including all those that make up the Open State Committee, countersigned a request to the Senate of the Republic to reject President Iván Duque’s objections to the Bill that seeks to restore the established deadlines for responding to Rights of Petition, respecting the mandate of Laws 1437 of 2011 and 1577 of 2015 that regulate the Right of Petition in Colombia.
The ALLIANCE FOR ELECTORAL OVERSIGHT (TRANSPARENCY) made up of the EXTITUTO organization for OPEN POLITICS, the ANTI-CORRUPTION INSTITUTE and the PEACE AND RECONCILIATION FOUNDATION
23 March 2022
We are committed to carrying out a number of administrative and judicial activities focused on ensuring effective control over the work carried out by the National Registry and guaranteeing the free and transparent right to vote for all Colombian citizens, both in the national territory and internationally, with a particular emphasis on ensuring the non-repetition of the errors that previously took place when the first round of the presidential elections take place on 29 May.
The Anti-Corruption Institute rejects the privileges received by Carlos Mattos within and outside La Picota prison, as well as the proven incidences of corruption within INPEC
2 March 2022
The Anti-Corruption Institute rejects the obvious privileges that Carlos Mattos enjoys both within and outside La Picota prison. This criminal abuses his alleged poor state of health to request special permits that allow him to walk the streets of Bogotá freely, using INPEC guards as bodyguard chaperones, visiting his offices and talking to his lawyers in areas where those kind of conversations are not foreseen to take place.
Press release: The Anti-Corruption Institute requests that the Congress of the Republic of Colombia eliminate Article 68 of Bill 369 of 2021 from the Chamber and 341 of 2020
15 December 2021
A formal request has been made for the elimination of Article 68 of Bill 369 of 2021 Chamber and 341 of 2020 Senate “by means of which measures are adopted in matters of transparency, prevention and the fight against corruption and other provisions are issued” (hereinafter referred to as the “Article”), which was approved on 6 December 2021 in the final debate held by the House of Representatives.
The publication of the COVID-19 vaccine contracts for the protection of transparency and access to public information
11 August 2021
The Anti-Corruption Institute, in defence of our commitment to transparency and acting to safeguard the fundamental right of access to public information, decided to publish and disseminate copies of the contracts. The publication of the COVID-19 vaccine contracts should not affect the implementation of the National Vaccination Plan.
Anti-Corruption Institute rejects the decision of former Member of Congressman Álvaro Hernán Prada to resign from his seat
20 April 2021
The Anti-Corruption Institute rejects the decision of former congressman Álvaro Hernán Prada to resign his seat as Representative to the Chamber. The sole purpose of his resignation is that he is being investigated for witness tampering by the Attorney General Office and will therefore, by leaving his position, will be able to evade the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Justice.
The Anti-corruption Institute celebrates the sentence issued by a circuit court yesterday against former Chief Justice Francisco Ricaurte for his involvement with the “robe cartel”
26 March 2021
The Anti-corruption Institute celebrates the conviction by a first instance court against Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Justice Francisco Ricaurte. Mr. Ricaurte will serve a sentence of 19 years and one month in prison, will pay a fine of 485 minimum wages, and has been banned from exercising public office during the time of the sentence. This sentence is given in the framework of the facts associated with the Robe Cartel, a criminal structure in which favorable decisions were granted in exchange for money. The Robe Cartel involved several justices of the Supreme Court of Justice. The Anti-corruption Institute will monitor that Mr. Ricaurte serves time in prisos as ordered by the circuit judge, and that pending cases against former Justice Leonidas Bustos and others reach soon final decisions.
The Oversight for Integrity and Transparency committee (VITA) asks the Congress of the Republic to guarantee the effectiveness of the vaccination plan and to make public their management of the resources designated for the acquisition of vaccines
26 January 2021
The members of the Oversight for Integrity and Transparency committee (VITA) will today ask Congress, as part of a public hearing, to guarantee the publication of information related to the management of resources for the acquisition of vaccines, as well as for the implementation of an agile and effective vaccination plan against Covid-19.
The Anti-Corruption Institute filed a disciplinary complaint against the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance and Public Credit
8 January 2021
The Anti-Corruption Institute announced today that it had filed a disciplinary complaint against Colombia’s Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz Gómez, and the Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Alberto Carrasquilla, for their alleged breach of duty in not making public details of the contracts signed by these bodies and the special funds they manage, including the Emergency Mitigation Fund.
FUERSA and Cuestión Pública filed a petition with the President of the Senate and all senators
16 July 2020
The Anti-Corruption Social Response Force (FUERSA), in conjunction with the investigative journalism portal, Cuestión Pública, filed a petition this Thursday afternoon to the President of the Senate, Lidio García, as well as to all the senators in the Upper House of the Congress of the Republic, seeking their responses regarding possible campaign donations, credit or commercial relations with companies within the Char Group. These connections would represent a conflict of interest for those senators who might eventually decide to vote for the Cambio Radical party candidate, Senator Arturo Char Chaljub, in his bid for election as President of the Senate.
The Anti-Corruption Institute and the Latin American Compliance Network signed a Collaboration Agreement with the Argentine Chapter of the World Compliance Association
15 July 2020
This morning the International Institute of Anti-Corruption Studies and the Latin American Compliance Network signed a Collaboration Agreement with the Argentine Chapter of the World Compliance Association, chaired by the lawyer Lina Anllo, for the constitution of a strategic alliance that seeks to share good practices in compliance and business ethics between Colombia and Argentina.
New Anticorruption Force files lawsuit against the election of the National Registrar
18 november 2019
The Anticorruption Social Response Force (FUERSA) officially notifies the public that on Friday 15 November 2019, it filed a lawsuit to the Council of State for electoral annulment, against the appointment of Mr. Alexander Vega as the National Registrar.
The International Institute for Anticorruption Studies celebrates the association of national and international experts
18 june 2018
Tom Devine, Eugene Soltes, Rubén Avendaño and Rafael Rincón, all of whom are experts in whistleblower protection, white collar crime, anticorruption, transparency and integrity, corporate governance, and international arbitration, join the International Institute on Anticorruption Studies.
The International Institute on Anticorruption Studies (IIAS) announced that Tom Devine, Eugene Soltes, Rubén Avendaño and Rafael Rincón have joined their team, sharing the news with the general public, as well as the country’s anticorruption community.
The Latin American Compliance Network met in Bogotá to discuss secure reporting channels
21 june 2018
As part of its 2018 program, the Latin American Compliance Network met on 6 April 2018 at Bogotá’s Deloitte Center of Excellence. The meeting, coordinated by the International Institute on Anticorruption Studies (IIAS), which organizes its Executive Secretariat, discussed the first of three major topics: Secure Denunciation Channels, which are of paramount importance in Corruption Risk Prevention Systems, both within public institutions and private companies.
RANKING OF ACCESS TO LEGISLATIVE MANAGEMENT
Congressmen are divided almost down the middle when it comes to their financial accountability
8 March 2018
According to a study by the International Institute on Anticorruption Studies, Congress representatives are divided almost down the middle when it comes to their financial accountability.
The study, carried out by the International Institute on Anticorruption Studies during the first week of March found that only 68% of a total of 98 Senators [1] responded to requests for information related to the management of their work in Congress.
A similar trend was detected in the Chamber, where only 66% of Representatives replied.
On a scale of -26 to 26, where zero (0) represents the minimum information that is expected provided, -26 represents extreme
disappointment with the expected information and +26 the proactive delivery of information in addition to the expected. The average score of the evaluated Senators was -6.19 and -2.96 in the Chamber.
This means that both Senators and representatives to the Chamber tend to deliver less information than any citizen expects to know about their activities.
[1] Those congress representatives who are imprisoned or who have resigned from office were not evaluated