Taxes, Corruption and Human Rights

The news of the last week included the report that the White House will no longer share its visitor logs as well as President Trump’s reassertion that he will not release his tax returns, breaking with forty years of bi-partisan precedent. Meanwhile, ethics issues continue to compound daily in the executive branch, which has shown little interest in addressing apparent conflicts of interest.  

On April 15, tens of thousands of ordinary Americans across the country participated in “tax marches” to protest this lack of transparency.  According to the national march coordinators, tax returns are just the tip of the iceberg:  “President Trump needs to be straight with the American people. To whom does he owe favors? Who are his policies really intended to benefit? Who will he put first?”

The international community has long recognized the relationship between corruption and denial of human rights.  And many of the issues that impede the realization of human rights in less resource-rich countries are the same that we increasingly face in the US, including lack of transparency, a disregard of the need for integrity in the public sphere, and a consequent lack of trust in the public sector. 

Domestic activism like the tax marches and targeted lawsuits are critical components of addressing this issue.  But there may also be opportunities to raise these issues internationally.  The US has ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, for which the UN Office on Drugs and Crime serves as a Secretariat.  The U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Center has produced a useful guide to the Convention and its implementation, which highlights opportunities for civil society input.  Upcoming peer reviews will focus on, among other things, the preventative measures adopted by member states.

We are all the losers when our government values cronyism above expertise, and secrecy over open dealings.  And we should not shy away from calling this what it is: a human rights issue.