The Impact of Corruption on the Enjoyment of Human Rights: The Case of South Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State Ethics and Anticorruption Commission and Justice Bureau

Abstract

Corruption is a global phenomenon that the world’s community faces without any status difference in fact its severity varies from place to place or country. Though it exists and affects every society, there is no universally accepted definition of corruption. Moreover, its causes, forms and impacts are diverse and thus it has an economic, social as well as human rights aspects. And, the pain of corruption touches all the human family, its negative effect will be doubled in the case of vulnerable groups of the society. Above all, corruption is a universal problem which undermines the universal value-human rights. The international, regional as well as the national anticorruption initiatives and legislations against corruption take a political and economic point of view in addressing corruption. The measures adopted in this regard, are not sufficient in responding to such a sophisticated problem of corruption which violates human rights. The anticorruption conventions and national legislations do not address corruption as a human rights issue except the AU convention on prevention and combating corruption which highlighted to some extent. These anticorruption tools are similarly applied in the study area (SNNPRS) disregarding corruption as human rights issue. The existing literature also reveals that the relationship between corruption and human rights is negative, that is corruption affects the human rights in one way or the other resulting in violation of such rights, suppressing the efforts for the enforcement of human rights as set forth in the relevant human rights instruments. On the other hand, enhancing the implementation of human rights standards and principles to the extent required, can be the preventive tool for the fight against corruption. Therefore, in study it is recommended that the fight against corruption should also be diversified and integrated, hence the anticorruption instruments should be reconsidered and revised so that the human rights approach should be part of the anticorruption regimes. It is also recommended that the regional government of the study area should establish binding forum so as to enable collaboration and cooperation between NHRIs and ACCs thus the complementarity between anticorruption efforts and human rights promotion and protection can be capitalized upon through mutual mainstreaming.