Civil society participation in the United Nations Conference on Transnational Organized Crime is more secure following decisions Oct. 18 by the 11th Conference of Parties.
The votes not only allowed for the participation of three civil society organizations that were being blocked by Russia and Azerbaijan, but also changed the rules governing participation of civil society organizations (CSOs).
Going forward, the UNTOC COP decided, the inclusion of CSOs as observers will be decided by a majority vote, rather than a two-thirds vote.
The vote favoring the three contested CSOs, including Transparency International Russia and two Armenian groups, was 57 to 7 for inclusion, with 34 abstentions.
A few days before the COP meeting, Turkey lifted its objections to the participation of three other CSOs, according to an informed source.
Seen as Useful Precedent
“This vote can set precedent for other Vienna-based conventions, in particular the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) which has seen a growing number of leading NGO’s being excluded due to politically motivated objections from some Member States,” according to an UNCAC Coalition press release.
The Coalition is a network of over CSOs in over 100 countries “committed to promoting the ratification, implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).”
UNCAC Coalition Managing Director Mathias Huter said:
With this important vote, States made clear that politically motivated objections against civil society participation will no longer be accepted. We hope this message will also end the arbitrary exclusion of leading NGOs under the UNCAC and allow all interested organizations to participate and contribute to efforts to tackle transnational organized crime and corruption. The so-called Vienna Spirit of Consensus, which shapes the work of the two conventions, should stand for the inclusion of all relevant actors.
Eyeonglobaltransparency.net in 2020 wrote about previous votes against Turkish efforts to block four CSOs from being observers from UNTOC.
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