2004 Press Releases

Corrupt Officials to be disqualified for US visas

May 25, 2004

Freetown
Contact: PAO Kevin Green
Tel: 226481

Bush: "America will not be a Safehaven for Corrupt Officials"

May 25, 2004 -- The White House announced a new policy that bars visas for corrupt officials.  Several Sierra Leone officials have so far been placed on the list of individuals barred from receiving visas due to their corrupt practices.  The visa ban also covers their family members.  In accordance with current U.S. confidentiality policy, the U.S. Embassy cannot publicize the names of the affected individuals.  Additional corruption cases in Sierra Leone are under review by the Embassy.  More visa bans are expected.

President Bush’s Proclamation 7750, suspends entry into the United States of corrupt public officials, those who corrupt them, their families and dependents.  Past and present officials are covered by the new rule.  Conviction for corruption is not required for an official to be added to the ban, so long as a reasonable belief exists that corruption occurred.  Once a person is put on the corruption list, this fact is immediately known at every US Embassy, consulate and border crossing post worldwide.

Since the signing of the first international anticorruption convention in 1996, the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption, there has been increasing awareness of the impact corruption has on democracy and development.  Although the United States was one of the first nations to address this issue internationally, with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977, corrupt individuals from abroad continue to use the United States as a safe haven for themselves, their families, and their ill-gotten gains. 

Over the last year, the U.S. has helped lead international efforts to establish a "No Safe Haven" policy, a commitment from countries to deny safe haven to corrupt officials, those who corrupt them, their families and assets.  The United States endorsed the G-8 Anticorruption Action Plan at the Evian Summit in 2003.  The United States helped lead efforts to advance anticorruption elements of the Special Summit of the Americas, endorsed in the Declaration of Nuevo Leon on January 13, 2004. President Bush has sent cabinet-level delegations to the Global Fora on Combating Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity.  The World Bank has declared corruption to be the single greatest barrier to development in the developing world, a concern that the US Government has echoed on a number of occasions.  Corruption fundamentally threatens public trust and the integrity of basic institutions, therefore undermining both democracy and security.