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	Investigators looking into Mubarak''s hidden wealth by Global Witness & news agencies   Feb 14, 2011   Media reports say Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may be one of the world"s richest men, with an estimated fortune of anything up to $US70 billion.   Much of it in Swiss banks or tied up in real estate in New York, Los Angeles and London, media agencies have report.   According to Princeton political science professor Amaney Jamal, quoted by the ABC network in the US, Mubarak"s three-decade rule in Egypt had kept him in a perfect spot to get a piece of any government action.   Mubarak, his wife and two sons were able to also accumulate wealth through a number of business partnerships with foreigners, Christopher Davidson, professor of Middle East Politics at Durham University in England. Egyptian law requires that foreigners give a local business partner a 51 per cent stake in most ventures.   Meanwhile, Egyptian press reported that investigators were looking into the hidden wealth of Mubarak"s allies, which ranged from the $US3 billion of party insider Ahmed Ezz to the $US1.2 billion of former interior minister Habib Ibrahim El-Adly.   Five former cronies of Mubarak each amassed fortunes topping $US1 billion, according to military prosecutors preparing criminal cases against them. Three of them, former Cabinet ministers, tried to flee the country over the weekend but were denied permission, Cairo airport sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt"s largest independent newspaper.   "There was a lot of corruption in this regime and stifling of public resources for personal gain. This is the pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators," Princeton"s Jamal told reporters.   Protesters have cited government corruption as one of the reasons they demanded Mubarak"s ouster.   Jamal said that Mubarak"s assets are most likely in banks outside of Egypt, possibly in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. "This is the pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators so their wealth will not be taken during a transition, she said. "These leaders plan on this."   Egypt has asked Britain, Germany and France to freeze the assets of former regime officials, as finance ministers for the bloc discussed the issue in a meeting in Brussels.   Britain said it would conform with the request and take "firm and prompt action" if there was any evidence of misuse of state assets. Britain has taken a similar course of action with Tunisia, whose president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled last month in a popular revolt.   Germany said it too had received a request from Egyptian authorities for the financial assets of former government members and lawmakers to be frozen. And in Paris, Bernard Valero, the French foreign ministry spokesman, said Cairo also asked France to freeze the assets of former Egyptian regime officials.   Ahead of the meeting in Brussels, the head of the eurozone area, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, said Monday he wanted the region to follow Switzerland"s lead in freezing assets held by Mubarak.   Feb 2011   It’s time to put G20 anti-corruption commitments into practice, say campaigners.   Global Witness and Transparency International (TI), together with 76 other organisations from around the world, have signed a letter to the Group of 20 leading economies calling for swift implementation of the G20’s Anti-Corruption Action Plan, published last November.   Huguette Labelle, chair of TI, said “the time to act is now. On the streets of Cairo and Tunis we have seen crowds calling for an end to corruption. The G20 has said it would lead by example. People are rightly concerned about the alleged wealth of former heads of state in Egypt and Tunisia. G20 countries should be doing everything they can to ensure any illicit financial flows are stopped and investigated.”   Gavin Hayman, director of campaigns at Global Witness stressed “G20 countries need to do much more to ensure that they are not providing safe haven to corrupt politicians or their dirty money. The G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan is welcome, but as yet it lacks detail and a clear timeframe for implementation. At a time when people around the world are looking for ways to restore trust in governments and the financial system, transparency should be at the heart of the G20’s reform agenda.”   Corruption perpetuates poverty, impedes economic growth and fosters instability. Sustainable development can only be achieved based on the rule of law and a sound, well regulated, accountable, financial system. This is not possible without tackling corruption.   The letter makes a series of recommendations on each area covered by the Action Plan, for example on how to curb banks’ ability to accept corrupt funds, implement the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), and protect whistleblowers. The key theme is the importance of greater transparency, as well as the need for civil society input into the G20 process.   Two of our recommendations – registries of the beneficial owners/controllers of companies and trusts; and companies reporting their accounts on a country-by-country basis – would provide investors, citizens and government agencies with crucial information to tackle financial crime and tax dodging.   Four G20 countries have yet to ratify UNCAC – Germany, Japan, India and Saudi Arabia. Visit the related web page
	Alarmed at rise in killings, UN rights chief urges Iran to halt executions by United Nations News Iran   Feb 2011   Voicing alarm at reports that at least 66 people have been executed in Iran in January alone, including several political activists, the United Nations human rights chief today once again called on the Government to halt the use of the death penalty.   At least three political prisoners were among those hanged, states a news release issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).   “We have urged Iran, time and again, to halt executions,” said High Commissioner Navi Pillay. “I am very dismayed that instead of heeding our calls, the Iranian authorities appear to have stepped up the use of the death penalty.”   There are at least three known cases in which political activists were executed. Jafar Kazemi, Mohammad Ali Haj Aqaei and another man whose name was not disclosed were affiliated with banned political parties. Mr. Kazemi and Mr. Aqaei were arrested in September 2009 during protests. All three individuals were convicted of mohareb or “enmity against God,” and hanged last month.   “Dissent is not a crime,” Ms. Pillay stressed, recalling that Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to free expression and to free association.   “It is absolutely unacceptable for individuals to be imprisoned for association with opposition groups, let alone be executed for their political views or affiliations.”   She also condemned the two instances in which public executions were held, despite a circular issued in January 2008 by the head of the judiciary that banned public executions. In addition, she voiced deep concern that a large number of people reportedly remain on death row, including more political prisoners and even juvenile offenders.   “As Iran is no doubt aware, the international community as a whole is moving towards abolition of the death penalty in law or in practice. I call upon Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty,” stated the High Commissioner.   “At a minimum, I call upon them to respect international standards guaranteeing due process and the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, to progressively restrict its use and reduce the number of offences for which it may be imposed.”   Two independent UN human rights experts have also joined the High Commissioner’s call for an immediate moratorium on executions, given the “gravity of the situation and the regular disregard of due process.”   Christof Heyns, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, noted in a news release that, under international law, the death penalty is regarded as an extreme form of punishment which, if used at all, should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, after a fair trial. “Any death sentence undertaken in contravention of a Government’s international obligations is tantamount to an arbitrary execution,” he stressed.   For her part, Gabriela Knaul, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, deplored that “in many cases, people sentenced to death do not have access to legal representation and their families and lawyers are not even informed of the execution.”   The Special Rapporteurs reiterated the appeals made to the Iranian authorities by several UN experts to allow them to visit the country, and encouraged the Government to respond positively to their request.
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