(SPP/IFEX) – The following is a 16 August 2001 SPP press release: This morning (16 August 2001) the Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies repealed Law 1.728 on Administrative Transparency, which imposed a series of obstacles to accessing public information. The legislative assembly’s plenary reached the momentous decision due to the favourable vote cast by 57 parliamentarians, […]
(SPP/IFEX) – The following is a 16 August 2001 SPP press release:
This morning (16 August 2001) the Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies repealed Law 1.728 on Administrative Transparency, which imposed a series of obstacles to accessing public information.
The legislative assembly’s plenary reached the momentous decision due to the favourable vote cast by 57 parliamentarians, with one against and two abstentions. Nevertheless, the document is going back to the Senate for consideration. The Senate had only requested the modification of a few articles, which did not diminish the law’s threat to freedom of expression.
Several civil society and constitutional analysis organisations have protested Law 1.728 and believe that civil servants are using it, by way of political decisions, to institutionalise impunity and put a stamp of approval on the path toward corruption and non-transparency of the government in managing public affairs.
The Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay (SPP), in conjunction with other union organisations, human rights groups, community radio stations and public and private universities, will soon present to the Chamber of Deputies a new bill on access to information that does not impinge on the principals of freedom of expression and information. This document is being prepared with the help of Deputy Rafael Filizzola, who presented the first bill, which is currently in force and was adversely modified by the senate.
For now, the senate does not foresee the possibilty of the law’s repeal, as was the case with the Chamber of Deputies. The politicians in that legislative agency maintain that the criticism of the law originates from the whims of the press before which the senators say they will down back down.
The Chamber of Deputies was also presented with a bill to repeal Law 1.682 on Private Information, which is much more restrictive than 1.728.
