OneWorld.net (U.S.)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (OneWorld) - As the first-ever international treaty to fight worldwide corruption comes into effect, a top U.N. official has urged rich nations to return funds deposited in their banks by the corrupt rulers of developing countries.

"Corruption continues to wreck havoc, especially in the least developed countries," Ibrahim Gambari, under-secretary-general of the U.N. Department of Political affairs, told diplomats at a gathering here Thursday.

Gambari, a former foreign minister of Nigeria, said more "must be done" by developed countries to return funds acquired through corrupt practices and funneled out of developing nations, particularly in Africa.

His call comes a day after a new convention aimed at rooting out corruption in both the public and private sectors became legally binding on those countries that have ratified the document.

"Corruption has an immense and deleterious effect on poverty reduction efforts and peace and security, as well as on democracy," Gambari said, while stressing that there should be no immunity for people who hold high offices.

The U.N. cites corruption as a major obstacle in the way of development in poor countries and an impediment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, a series of measures designed to reduce poverty by half by the year 2015.

Adopted by the 191-member U.N. General Assembly in December 2003 and signed by more than 140 countries, so far the treaty has been ratified by only 38 nations.

The United States has signed the treaty but has not ratified it.

Experts consider the treaty remarkable because it calls for "stronger cooperation" between states, especially in the area of money laundering, a principle source for corrupt rulers and businessmen to hide stolen national wealth from poor countries.

The treaty regards "asset recovery" as its "fundamental principle," because that sends a message to corrupt officials that there will be no place to hide their illicit assets, U.N. officials say.

A World Bank study estimates that more than $1 trillion is paid in bribes every year, an amount that many argue could be spent on improving infrastructure and government services worldwide.

The world body's Global Program against Corruption defines corruption as the "abuse of power for private gains," and that includes both the public and private sector.

The principles articulated in the text of the treaty require nations to strengthen their anti-corruption laws and establish criminal and other offenses to cover a wide range of acts of corruption.

Though civil society groups monitoring worldwide corrupt practices by governments and businesses have welcomed the treaty, it seems they are not entirely satisfied with the pace at which governments are moving ahead.

"There is a promise on the horizon that through this landmark achievement, all member states of the United Nations will eventually marry their strengths in a common bond against bribery, extortion, and malfeasance, because of its broad reach," said Huguentte Labellle of the Germany-based Transparency International.

But she added the treaty's promise was "tinged with doubt," noting that three out of every four countries that have signed the treaty have yet to ratify it.

"That means that 102 countries clearly recognize the Convention's value," she said, "yet will not be bound by its terms as it enters into force. Until they are, the promise of the [Millennium Development Goals] will remain unfulfilled."

Among the Group of Eight rich countries, so far only France has ratified the treaty.

"Ratification is not about getting credit for signing an agreement," Labelle said. "It's making it come alive. Until all nations are bound by the Convention's terms, like water through the cracks, criminals will find ways to breach the dike."

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called for governments, individuals, and institutions to "do more than just voice support for anti-corruption action," telling Thursday's diplomatic gathering that his country applied and would continue to apply a policy of "zero tolerance" on corruption.

Bolton, a staunch critic of the United Nations, told the U.N. diplomats that it was necessary "to put our own house in order," stressing that the oil-for-food scandal "should not be swept under the rug."

He said the United States was pursuing bringing to justice some of the companies implicated by the Volcker Commission, which investigated wrongdoings during the U.N.-overseen program in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, adding that several individuals and companies who had allegedly participated in illegal activities had already been indicted.

When Ecuador became the thirtieth nation to ratify the so-called United Nations Convention against Corruption on September 15, the 90-day countdown began until the treaty's entry into force Wednesday.