Representing organizations and individuals at the UN, OSCE, and European Parliament

Due to the partnership of the Institute of Information Security with a number of reputable international organizations, since 2016, the Institute’s partners have the opportunity to represent their interests at the highest world-class venues.

Corruption has become increasingly pervasive in state apparatuses worldwide. It continues to grow like a cancer, undermining both the functioning of free and fair markets and the provision of state services. It has proven impossible to deter, as even countries implementing the death penalty for corruption are not spared its effects. In the neoliberal era, the profit motive has become the driving force of politics in much of the world, and this often extends to the exploitation of political positions for personal gain. Much of the world is ruled by neopatrimonial regimes with corrupt ties to cronies whose personal fortunes are made or protected by the regime in power. In this high-stakes environment, officials often use the most sophisticated methods to extort organizations and individuals to “pay them off”. People often have to pay for the privilege of avoiding prosecution (justified or unjustified), traveling freely within or outside the country, conducting international business, or conducting business legally inside the country. It is particularly difficult for local actors based in a particular territory to resist extortion attempts by well-connected groups, as in many countries, systems of corruption are established, entrenched, and permeate the state apparatus from the top to the bottom. Corruption networks often capture the very institutions which would otherwise hold them in check, such as the media, courts, and ombudsmen, meaning that justified complaints are dismissed and anti-corruption measures are instead used to harass opponents.

National authorities frequently lack the will or the means to combat corruption, particularly given that they are themselves its prime beneficiaries. Solutions must therefore be sought at the international level, through conveying credible and reliable information to the international community at platforms such as the United Nations, the OSCE, and the European Parliament. This kind of scale-jumping often gets around local blockages, generating significant reputational risk for corruption networks with knock-on effects for the political and economic credibility of actors associated with these networks.

This is widely recognized in the business community. According to a survey conducted by the Institute in 2021–2022, 75% of respondents from private businesses see lobbying of international bodies as a solution to their existing problems, and 89% wanted to be able to access such transnational venues in advance, before any problems arise. At the same time, almost all respondents agreed that, in today’s conditions, most organizations and individuals do not have the opportunity to access transnational solutions. Among the difficulties mentioned in approaching such institutions are difficulty obtaining a hearing or access to insider networks, lack of understanding of the procedures through which formal interaction can occur, a lack of competent specialists able to prepare reports in line with international laws, protocols, and standards, inability to identify the appropriate events or reporting bodies to lobby, and a general lack of understanding of potential me4ans to maximize the effects of submissions to these bodies.

The Information Security Institute has worked in the field of information security for over a decade, and is now able to offer services in the area of lobbying at international venues. The Institute’s specialists have a track record of long-term international cooperation with an international community of scholars, journalists, NGO representatives, and persons accredited at the UN, OSCE, and European Parliament. These networks were developed in the process of combating religiously-motivated disinformation. This networking has built trust and credibility with our many partners who, as a sign of respect and merit, have extended to the Institute their access to international platforms in Europe and worldwide.

We advise potential clients to ask immediately for this product, so as to save time and financial resources, in a number of circumstances:

1. This product is appropriate when fair results cannot be obtained in local judicial systems. When organizations or individuals are caught in conflicts with government agencies, prosecutors, local and federal authorities, the court system, or similar bodies at the national scale, and when this entanglement cannot be resolved by establishing their innocence, it is worthwhile to internationalize the dispute.

2. The product is also appropriate in cases where an actor has already successfully repelled an information threat at the local level, but where there is risk of a recurrence of the threat along similar attack vectors. In these cases, obtaining a public hearing at international venues is an effective countermeasure against recurring disinformation. This serves both to defeat ongoing reputational attacks and to deter such attacks in the first place.

3. The product can also be used as an effective tool in combination with legal recourse to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). International lobbying can be used to prepare and influence public opinion and attract public attention ahead of such legal appeals, thus increasing the likelihood of a favorable ruling.

4. Lawyers will also find the tool useful when seeking to attract global attention to a case.

Due to reputational risks associated with use of this product, it is only available on a discretionary basis. It is available to our trusted partners and associates, and to other clients subject to audit. The Institute asserts the right to refuse this product without explanation.

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