Doha: The Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) underscored the need to compensate victims of corruption as an integral part of justice and the rule of law, calling for stronger legislation to ensure victims receive their legitimate rights.
According to Qatar News Agency, a special side event held during the 11th session of the conference in Doha warned that one of the most pressing corruption-related challenges is impunity. Participants urged linking corruption to human rights, stressing that any act of corruption constitutes a grave violation of fundamental rights.
UN officials and experts said corruption's impact goes far beyond financial losses, depriving individuals and communities of basic rights, eroding trust in public institutions, and deepening poverty and marginalization, particularly in conflict-affected settings. They called for human rights-based approaches that ensure accountability, prevent impunity, deliver justice to victims, and help prevent future violations.
Maria Villa, Officer for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasized that corruption and asset recovery are, at their core, human rights issues. She noted that corruption diverts resources from essential services, weakens institutions, exacerbates inequality and exclusion, especially in conflict and post-conflict contexts, and can enable or sustain serious human rights and international humanitarian law violations.
She stressed that asset recovery and return should not be treated as purely technical or financial processes, but as essential tools to restore illicitly diverted resources, strengthen funding for human rights work, and provide reparations to victims. Victims of corruption, she said, are often also victims of human rights abuses, and, in armed conflicts, of serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Recovered assets, she added, can be a vital source for compensating victims of grave abuses, particularly in environments plagued by systemic corruption that fuels violence, repression, and impunity. Returning such assets presents a critical opportunity to channel funds toward human rights causes, recovery and peacebuilding efforts, rebuilding trust in institutions, and delivering redress, rather than simply returning them to state treasuries. Villa expressed hope that the conference discussions would advance a more victim-centered, human rights-based approach to asset recovery and return policies.
For his part, Jean-Francois Bohnert, Representative of France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office, highlighted the national role in uncovering corruption cases and supporting victims in reclaiming their rights or obtaining redress. He noted that officially accredited anti-corruption associations have played a key role in exposing illicit gains linked to foreign leaders, including real estate investments and bank accounts in France.
He acknowledged that identifying victims in corruption cases, particularly those involving bribery of public officials, remains complex, as the harm often affects entire communities rather than specific individuals. The session also reviewed practical compensation models, drawing on relevant international frameworks, including the UNCAC and the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.