and Peoples’ Rights has called upon States parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights “to examine their national tax laws and policies towards preventing illicit capital flight in Africa”.42 b) The role of extraterritorial human rights obligations Strengthening domestic institutions tasked with combating tax evasion will not suffice, however. This is one area in which such efforts shall only be fully effective if supported by international cooperation, requiring that all countries comply with their extraterritorial human rights obligations.43 Though classic forms of international cooperation have a role to play in this regard, "aid for tax" strategies -- by supporting local institutions in charge of tax collection44 -- will remain insufficient unless complemented by reforms in the countries which receive illicit financial flows from tax evasion or other forms of economic crime such as corruption. This concerns in particular the countries under whose jurisdiction tax havens are currently left unaddressed, or whose bank secrecy laws facilitate tax evasion. As noted by the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights : "Individual countries, in particular low-income countries, are severely constrained in the measures that they alone can take against tax abuse. Illicit financial flows are international in nature and therefore beyond the capacity of one State alone to tackle. The availability of offshore financial centres (tax havens) that offer low or no taxes and secrecy is a major factor."45 There are signs that governments are finally taking these issues more seriously. In 2010, the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, intially the result of a joint effort of the OECD and the Council of Europe in 1988, was amended in order to allow for the participation of developing countries. The new text was opened for signature on 1 June 2011. It now covers 109 jurisdictions, including 15 jurisdictions covered by extension.46 It provides for various forms of administrative cooperation between States in the assessment and collection of taxes, facilitating the exchange of information and the recovery of foreign tax claims with a view to supporting States' efforts to combat tax avoidance and evasion. At the same time, the G20 has identified base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) as a major concern for tax justice worlwide: the ability for States to raise public revenue is undermined as multinational companies are taking advantage of differences between tax rates by artificially shifting profits across borders, rather than declaring such profits (and paying the corresponding taxes) where their productive activities take place. The OECD adopted a 15-point action plan in 2013 in order to address this, to be progressively implemented in the next few years.47 That these efforts are essential for the fulfilment of human rights is made increasingly explicit by United Nations human rights treaty bodies. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted in Concluding Observations related to the United Kingdom that "financial secrecy legislation [allowing its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to prosper as tax havens] and permissive rules on corporate tax are affecting the ability of the State party, as well other States, to meet their obligation to 42 Resolution adopted by the Commission at its 53rd ordinary session, 23 April 2013. The Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, seek to bring together the rather disparate contributions from judicial and non-judicial bodies to this fast-developing area of human rights law. They were endorsed on 28 September 2011 by a range of non-governmental organisations and human rights experts, including mandate-holders within the Special Procedures established by the Human Rights Council. See Olivier De Schutter, et al., "Commentary to the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights", Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 34 (2012), pp. 1084-1171. 44 See in this regard OECD, Tax and Development: Aid Modalities for Strengthening Tax Systems (OECD Publishing, Paris, 2013). 45 Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona, presented at the 26th session of the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/26/28) (22 May 2014), para. 61. 46 Thus, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Montserrat and the Turk and Caicos Islands are covered by extension from the United Kingdom; Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the latter two formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles, are covered by extension from the Netherlands; the Faroe Islands are covered by extension of Denmark. 47 OECD, Development Co-Operation Report 2014. Mobilising Resources for Sustainable Development, cited above (note 11), at 167-176. 43 14 CRIDHO Working Paper 2017/1