U.S. Statement at the Universal Periodic Review of Malta
31st Session
Geneva, November 14, 2018
as delivered by Anna Palladino
The United States warmly welcomes the Maltese delegation to the UPR Working Group.
The United States commends Malta for enacting a Media and Defamation Bill, which abolished criminal libel and introduced alternative civil remedies for slander.
The United States encourages Malta to more aggressively address terrorist financing, money laundering, and corruption in banking supervision. Ongoing criminal investigations, such as one into the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was investigating alleged corruption, have brought to light rule of law challenges. Additionally, the Council of Europe has reported on poor conditions in prisons and detention centers.
We recommend that Malta:
- Comply with the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorism Finance Directive;
- Increase the number of investigations and, where appropriate, prosecutions of corruption and financial crime;
- Continue improving living conditions in prisons.