Anticorruption
From independent investigative journalism to budget transparency initiatives to legal action, the Open Society Foundations support those who expose and challenge the abuse of political or institutional power for personal gain.
Navalny’s Legacy
Night Country: The Mysterious Death of Alexei Navalny in Putin’s Russia
![Alexei Navalny and other demonstrators march in memory of a murdered Kremlin critic in Moscow on February 29, 2020. Photo credit: © Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Alexei Navalny and other demonstrators march in Moscow.](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/0e07e11d-4ad9-4126-bd4c-c3df003752da/20240220-kudryavtsev-moscow-navalny-2020-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C63%2C3000%2C1875)
Alexei Navalny’s death underscores the paradox of Russian power—that the voice of one man imprisoned and isolated in the Arctic should be such a threat.
Fighting Corruption
A Global Forcefield of Accountability
![A demonstrator holds a placard calling for sanctions against Russian oligarchs in London, on March 13, 2022. Photo credit: © Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty A woman at a protest holding a sign that says, "Pressure Russian Oligarchs"](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/e05bd49e-aec0-4b05-8dbf-289380ee6ee7/20221209-london-targeted-sanctions-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1875)
Magnitsky sanctions and their like have emerged as powerful tools for fighting corruption and upholding human rights. But some fixes are urgently needed to strengthen their ability to hold kleptocrats accountable.
Deadly Corruption
Justice for Victims of the Beirut Blast
![People remove debris from a blast-damaged house in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 7, 2020.
Photo credit: © Felipe Dana/AP People removing debris from a heavily damaged building and car](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/9c5e2db7-d839-439e-a283-600437999601/20220916-dana-lebanon-beirut-blast-volunteers-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1875)
It has been two years since an apocalyptic explosion at Beirut’s port killed hundreds and wounded thousands. One lawyer’s quest for justice in a land where it is hard to find.
Exposing Corruption
Time to Shut Down Dirty Money’s “London Laundromat”
![People walk across a street in London’s financial district on January 31, 2022. Photo credit: © Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty People crossing a street near an office building](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/8c40d9a7-8930-46dd-9a22-665434533bef/20220520-baker-london-financial-district-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1875)
The UK’s move to strengthen anti–money laundering rules will also require well-funded enforcement.
Surveillance Oversight
Q&A: Watching the Watchers during a Pandemic
![A citizen shows an exit permit to a robot that law enforcement is using to maintain an anti–COVID-19 curfew, in Tunis, Tunisia, on April 1, 2020. Photo credit: © Khaled Nasraoui/picture alliance/Getty A man holds up a piece of paper to a police robot on a public sidewalk](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/c58a1538-c3ea-497e-8d8a-5d077c328a45/20200429-nasraoui-tunisia-police-robot-coronavirus-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1875)
With states around the world embracing surveillance technology against COVID-19, civil society groups must step up to ensure that individual rights and anticorruption laws are not sacrificed for the sake of an easy fix.
Beyond Sectarianism
An Iraq for All Iraqis
![Mourners light candles to honor anticorruption protestors killed or wounded by government security forces in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 8, 2019. Photo credit: © Murtaja Lateef/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Rows of people and candles at a vigil](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/1735f60e-47c0-4519-8f70-5f31d33aefb1/20191204-lateef-baghdad-vigil-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C63%2C3000%2C1875)
Protests in Iraq over corruption and joblessness are about more than the current’s failures. They are the expression of a rising generation’s desire to move beyond a spoils system based on ethnicity and sect.
A New Puerto Rico
“We’re More, and We’re Not Afraid”
![Protesters gather outside the governor’s mansion in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Monday, July 15, 2019. Photo credit: © Erika P. Rodriguez/NYTimes/Redux A woman holding a Puerto Rican flag among other protestors](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/f28beb71-c1d0-4ec0-a379-2b736e606bc9/20190919-rodriguez-puerto-rico-protests-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C125%2C3000%2C1875)
It’s been two years since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. In the time since, historic protests have forced a hated governor from office—inaugurating a new era of reform and political mobilization.
REMEMBERING MARIELLE
Q&A: Marielle Franco’s Enduring Legacy
![Anielle Franco during a Carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 3, 2019. Photo credit: © Celso Pupo/Fotoarena/Newscom Anielle Franco and others on a float in a parade](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/b094e382-b59b-4172-bf61-7509e2d76399/20190722-pupo-brazil-franco-anielle-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1875)
Marielle Franco’s sister, Anielle, remembers her sister, her work for a better Brazil, and her legacy of fighting for marginalized women and girls.