Submission to the UN: Advancing the just repatriation of illicit funds 

Many in the international community have long recognized the importance of asset recovery in corruption-related offenses, yet too often repatriation structures have failed to effectively return funds to victims most harmed by those offenses.  

Last month, the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project (SLP) sought to address some of these gaps, providing recommendations to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the return of ill-gotten funds and the use of those funds for the sustainable development, and the realization of economic, social, and cultural rights. Incorporating lessons learned from past repatriations of illicit funds, consultations with civil society and victim and survivor associations, and existing legal tools, the SLP outlined the close connection between corruption and human rights abuses and recommended steps that foreign governments and international mechanisms can take to ensure that corrupt funds are repatriated in a manner that advances justice for victims and survivors of related harms.

This submission is part of the SLP’s broader work on facilitating a victim- and survivor-centric approach to the repatriation of illicit funds that is essential to advancing justice. As such, a key part of the SLP’s work involves ensuring that fines, forfeitures, and other monetary proceeds stemming from the commission of serious violations of international law be directed toward victims and survivors of the underlying harms. 

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The Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project injects fresh thinking into how governments and practitioners can apply legal tools to advance human rights and democracy around the world.

Image: Syrian VP Rifaat al-Assad’s furniture is on display at Drouot auction house on January 12, 2023 in Paris, France. A pair of monumental candelabras estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 euros, a marquetry and gilt bronze chest of drawers estimated between 8,000 and 16,000 euros, dozens of Isfahan rugs. The furniture that belonged to Rifaat Al-Assad, the uncle of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad, who was finally sentenced in Paris in September to four years in prison for fraudulently building up an estate valued at 90 million euros, will be sold at the Hotel Drouot on Thursday and Friday. Photo by Eliot Blondet/ABACAPRESS.COM