(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: 14 August 2001 The Right to Information in South Asia Statement, Model Law and Regional Survey A Model Freedom of Information Law and a narrative survey of the right to information internationally and in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (1) were launched at an […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:
14 August 2001
The Right to Information in South Asia
Statement, Model Law and Regional Survey
A Model Freedom of Information Law and a narrative survey of the right to information internationally and in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (1) were launched at an international conference on freedom of information in South Asia. The conference was held in July in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as part of a project on promoting the right to information in the region.(2)
The Conference endorsed a Plan of Action for a global campaign to promote this fundamental human right. The Plan includes promoting a UN Declaration on the Right to Information, and advocacy to promote greater transparency in and through transnational corporations, as well as multilateral institutions such as the World Bank.
The Conference also adopted a set of recommendations on the right to information as follows:
All countries in South Asia should adopt right to information legislation. This legislation should:
1) establish a presumption in favour of disclosure which is subject only to narrow and clearly drawn exceptions which include a harm test and a public interest override;
2) provide for an independent appeals mechanism for any refusals to disclose information which operates in a timely and low-cost fashion and which has full powers to assess claims, including by viewing records, and to order disclosure;
3) ensure that there is a body with responsibility for monitoring and promoting effective implementation of the law;
4) establish mechanisms for tackling the culture of secrecy, including through training;
5) require public bodies to publish and disseminate widely documents of significant public interest, subject only to reasonable limits based on resources and capacity;
6) impose on private bodies which undertake public functions the same obligations as public bodies;
7) provide for penalties for willful obstruction of access to information;
8) provide protection against legal, administrative or employment-related sanctions for whistleblowers, those who release information on wrongdoings or a serious threat to health, safety or the environment, as long as they acted in good faith and in the reasonable belief that the information was substantially true and disclosed evidence of wrongdoing;
9) establish a right to receive information from private bodies where this information is needed to exercise or protect a right;
10) impose an obligation on private bodies to publish information in the general public’s interest including where those bodies undertake activities posing a risk of harm to public health or safety or the environment or where this is necessary to enable consumers to make informed choices.
NOTES
1. See A Model Law on Freedom of Information (www.article19.org/docimages/1112.htm) and Global Trends On The Right To Information: A Survey Of South Asia (www.article19.org/docimages/1116.htm).
2. The joint project is Promoting a Right to Freedom of Information in South Asia, which ARTICLE 19 is undertaking in collaboration with the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA – Colombo, Sri Lanka), the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI – New Delhi, India), and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP – Lahore, Pakistan).
