Category Archives: Uncategorized

International Anti-Corruption Court

Momentum is building to support the creation of an international anti-corruption court, led by Integrity Initiatives International (III), of which I am a board member. Please share the declaration, linked below, with your networks. It has a impressive list of signatories supporting the effort.

Declaration in Support of the Creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court

Please also see the accompanying press release, copied below.

30 Nobel Laureates Join Calls for An International Anti-Corruption Court

April 20, 2022 05:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Integrity Initiatives International (III) announced today that 30 additional Nobel laureates have signed the Declaration calling for the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC).

The Declaration, first released in June 2021 with the signatures of more than 100 world leaders from 45 countries, has now been signed by over 200 eminent persons from more than 60 countries. Since June 2021, working with international partners to establish the International Anti-Corruption Court has become official foreign policy in both Canada and the Netherlands.

Earlier this month, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra asked his European Union counterparts to work with the Netherlands to establish the IACC. He said, “Corruption among public officials isn’t just a financial problem; it also undermines democracy and the rule of law in a country and exacerbates inequality among its people. And of course, it’s a form of criminality. Not only does the country itself suffer, but other countries’ interests are harmed too.”

Foreign Minister Hoeksta continued: “By establishing an anti-corruption court, the Netherlands aims to strengthen the international legal order. But to make this happen, we will need the support of many other countries.”

To obtain that support, the Netherlands, Canada, Ecuador, and other partners will hold a conference of ministers from many countries later this year on international efforts to tackle corruption, with particular focus on the International Anti-Corruption Court.

The Declaration advocates for a new international court to punish and deter grand corruption – the abuse of public power for private gain by a nation’s leaders (kleptocrats) – which thrives in many countries and has devastating consequences for climate change, human rights, human health, and international peace and security, as has been made tragically evident by the war in Ukraine. New signatories to the Declaration being announced today include:

  • Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from the U.S. and founding Coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
  • José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former President and former Prime Minister of Timor-Leste
  • Leymah Roberta Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Liberia
  • Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Yemen
  • Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Guatemala
  • Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Bangladesh, founder of the Grameen Bank, and recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Declaration and full list of signatories can be found here.

The new signatories have voiced their support for the IACC because they recognize that the global community needs innovative tools to combat corruption.

“Tackling corruption is fundamental to bolstering democracy around the world. New international institutions are also critical elements of strengthening multilateralism and the rule of law which have been under attack in recent years,” said Jody Williams.

“I am impressed by the quality of world leaders who have expressed their support for this initiative, reflecting growing awareness of the extent to which corruption undermines human progress and democracy. I am confident that we can find the political will to make this happen,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, former Chief Economist at the World Economic Forum and current Executive Director of the Global Governance Forum. Lopez-Claros now serves as a Co-Chair of the newly formed International Coordinating Committee for the IACC campaign.

The Declaration in support of the IACC and the broader campaign for the IACC have been organized by Integrity Initiatives International (III), a non-profit with the mission of strengthening the enforcement of criminal laws against kleptocrats.

United States District Judge Mark L. Wolf, the Chair of III and a Co-Chair of the International Coordinating Committee for the IACC, stated that, “III has long focused on Vladimir Putin as epitomizing the kleptocrats who are the worst abusers of human rights yet enjoy impunity for their crimes in the countries that they rule. Tragically, as former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently wrote, ‘Every day Putin continues to hold power, the case for an International Anti- Corruption Court grows.’ If the IACC had been established years ago, it is more likely that Putin would now be in prison, rather than criminally killing Ukrainians.”

Improving Immigrant Access to Justice: Innovative Approaches

On May 14, 2014, Roosevelt House hosted an event that looked  into the state of immigrant justice in America. Mirela Iverac of WNYC moderated a panel that consisted of Justice Robert KatzmannChief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Angela FernandezExecutive Director of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights and co-founder of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, and Peter L. Markowitz, Interim Executive Director of the Immigrant Justice Corps. Jonathan provided introductory remarks, which are included below. Video will be made available shortly.

Improving Immigrant Access to Justice: Innovative Approaches

May 14, 2014

Good evening, I am Jonathan Fanton, Interim Director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. It is my pleasure to welcome you to a discussion on innovative approaches to improving immigrant access to justice.

Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt would have been pleased that we gather in their home tonight to explore this topic so central to our values and national character. Hear Franklin’s words in his October 1940 radio address to the Herald Tribune Forum. He spoke of how immigrants contribute to our country when he said:

“…These varied Americans with varied backgrounds are all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. All of them are inheritors of the same stalwart tradition—a tradition of unusual enterprise, of adventurousness, of courage ‘to pull up stakes and git moving.’ That has been the great, compelling force in our history. Our continent, our hemisphere, has been populated by people who wanted a life better than the life they had previously known. They were willing to undergo all conceivable perils, all conceivable hardships, to achieve the better life. They were animated just as we are animated by this compelling force today. It is what makes us Americans…They built a system in which Government and people are one—a nation which is a partnership and can continue as a partnership. That is our strength today.” It is this sense of partnership and our panelists’ commitment to fairness and the rule of law that brings us together tonight.

But I think FDR would be troubled, as we are, by these startling facts:

  • In New York City, 60% of detained immigrants facing deportation do not have attorneys by the time their cases are completed.
  • It is estimated that 40% of undocumented children are eligible for legal status but only a few have legal counsel to help them secure that status.
  • And individuals not detained but who face deportation are successful in their case 74% of the time if they have legal counsel, but only 13% if they are unrepresented. Quite a difference.

One of our panelists tonight, Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Robert Katzmann, has taken the lead in addressing this shocking situation. In 2007 he gave the Marden Lecture at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York about the unmet needs of the immigrant poor. It was rich in evidence of how badly immigrants facing deportation were treated by both administrative and judicial arms of our government. And it was a clarion call for reform. “We are a nation of immigrants, whose contributions have been vital to who we are and hope to be. All too often immigrants are deprived of adequate legal representation, essential if they and their families are to live openly and with security. This failure should be a concern for all of us committed to the fair and efficient administration of justice.”

A year later, Judge Katzmann convened a study group on immigrant deportation made up of 50 leading lawyers in private practice, leaders of immigrant service organizations, government officials and more. It commissioned a New York Immigrant Population Study which documented the statistics I cited earlier. Its work lead to the establishment of two important projects we will discuss this evening.   Starting this year, the Immigrant Justice Corps-spearheaded by Justice Katzmann’s efforts – began its work of providing New York’s immigrant population with high-quality legal assistance.  The I.J.C. recruits from a pool of talented young lawyers and law students around the country, partnering them with non-profits that specialize in immigration assistance.  The founding of the Corps marks the largest expansion of immigration legal services in New York’s City’s history.

We have a distinguished moderator today who will help to facilitate what I know will be a thoughtful and lively discussion. I am delighted to introduce Mirela Iverac, a reporter for WNYC, where she covers topics on poverty and immigration. In 2013, Mirela won a Gracie award for Outstanding Reporter for her coverage of those issues.  Prior to joining WNYC, she was a freelance contributor to the New York Times. Mirela holds master’s degrees in journalism from Columbia University and in international affairs from the University of Cambridge, U.K.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mirela Iverac from WNYC who will introduce the other panelists this evening.

 

Robert Orr Introduction

On October 26, 2011, Jonathan Fanton introduced Robert C. Orr, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning. Orr discussed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s agenda for his second term, and previewed the themes of the Secretary-General’s acceptance speech planned for January 2012.

Robert Orr – Introduction

October 26, 2011

Good evening. I am Jonathan Fanton, Interim Director of Roosevelt House, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to an event which exemplifies the mission of Roosevelt House. Our guest, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN for Planning and Policy, Robert Orr, will preview the themes that will animate Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s second term. Robert Orr is working closely with the Secretary-General in framing the priorities for the next five years, a daunting task given the daily crises, long term challenges, and opportunities to create a safe and more just world that lie ahead.

I came to know Bob Orr when I was President of the MacArthur Foundation and we worked on issues like reducing dangers from biological and chemical weapons, protecting the environment, advancing human rights and framing the new norm of the Responsibility to Protect, a commitment we have seen engaged in Kenya, the Ivory Coast and Libya.

I came to admire his vision of what the UN can be at its best, his commitment to make the UN an effective force for advancing humankind’s noblest instincts and aspirations and his ability to get things done. Widely respected and trusted by people and countries who do not trust each other, he is a human bridge of understanding, able to build coalitions that advance the Secretary-General’s goals.

He combines theory and practice as well as anyone I know. With a Ph.D.  and M.P.A. from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, he has led the Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs at Harvard, served as Director of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington,  published extensively on post-conflict situations, including Winning the Peace: an American Strategy for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Keeping the Peace: Multidimensional UN Operations in Cambodia  and El Salvador.

On the practice side, he has been Director of the USUN Washington office and Director of Global and Multilateral Affairs at the National Security Council. In his current role he is responsible for the Secretary-General’s Policy Committee and is a policy advisor to Ban Ki-moon on counter terrorism strategy, climate change, food security, global health, reducing the dangers of WMD and more.

And we are particularly grateful to you, Bob, for encouraging the Secretary-General to preside over the official opening of Roosevelt House last year. His presence – and yours today – serve as a powerful reminder that within these walls Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt helped conceive and develop the United Nations. Your talk today is central to the mission of Roosevelt house: bringing policy makers together with students, faculty and the general public to explore the most pressing issues of the day.

So we are privileged for an advanced insight into the agenda in formation for Ban Ki-moon’s second term and appreciate your openness to questions, reactions and suggestions during the discussion period to follow you rem