What’s New
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6 September 2011
Five More Countries Join OGP, Bringing Total to 22
There are 22 countries are now committed to joining the Open Government Partnership, with the latest five additions being Bulgaria, Israel, Croatia, Mongolia and Lithuania, according to a U.S. State Department official. These countries join nine others whose names were disclosed last week and the eight original participants who are on the OGP steering committee. […]
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5 September 2011
Sierra Leone President Promises September Passage
Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has told a leading freedom of information campaigner that a FOI bill will be passed in September. The president made his comment Sept. 3 to Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai during a conversation at the launch for Koroma’s biography. Koroma said that he “has given the go ahead for the Freedom […]
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2 September 2011
17 Countries Pledge to Join Open Government Partnership
Nine countries plus the initial core group of eight have pledged to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a U.S. official told FreedomInfo.org Sept. 2, bringing total membership to 17. The nine countries that have sent in “letters of intent” are Kenya, Guatemala, Honduras, Albania, Macedonia, Malta, Georgia, Moldova and Slovakia. More letters are expected, […]
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2 September 2011
India Law Needs to Protect RTI Activists, Group Says
The Asian Centre for Human Rights has issued a report, “RTI activists: sitting ducks of India,” stated that from January 2010 to August 2011, at least 12 right to information activists including have been murdered and recommending an amendment to the RTI Act. “RTI activists are the most vulnerable human rights defenders (HRDs) of India. […]
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2 September 2011
SA Committee Adopts Protection of Information Bill
A committee of the South African Parliament has passed a Protection of Information Bill. While somewhat toned down from the original proposal offered a year ago, the final version is still considered objectionable by critics and possibly unconstitutional. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The bill now goes to the whole Parliament, where vote before Sept. 15 is expected. […]
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31 August 2011
Indian Cabinet Rejects Controversial Sports Bill
The Indian Cabinet Aug. 30 rejected a proposal to regulate national sports federations that included a provision to bring them under the right to information law. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The disapproval was overwhelming according to news reports, but the sports minister later vowed to try again. The sports minister said any revised draft legislation […]
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31 August 2011
Judge Says FOIA Covers White House Visitor Logs
By Harry Hammitt Hammitt publishes Access Reports, a biweekly newsletter. This article is reprinted with permission from his latest issue: Access Reports, Aug. 24, 2011, v. 37, n. 17 Relying heavily on previous district court rulings directly on point, Judge Beryl Howell has ruled that visitors’ log records for the White House and the Vice […]
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29 August 2011
Statewatch Says EU Report Makes Pitiful Reading
The European Commission’s annual report on access to documents makes “very pitiful reading,” according to the public interest group Statewatch. The Report from the Commission on the application in 2010 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (pdf). The Commission’s annual report on public access to its […]
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29 August 2011
U.S. Survey Finds More Desire for Transparency
A lack of resources has made news organizations “increasingly less inclined to file freedom of information lawsuits,” but citizens have “a growing interest in government transparency and are becoming more active in asserting their right to government information,” according to a new study in the United States. The surveys were conducted by the Media Law […]
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29 August 2011
Implementation of Nepal RTI Law Called Unsatisfactory
By Tanka Raj Aryal Aryal is Executive Director, Citizens’ Campaign for RTI Despite the legal and institutional setup‚ the implementation status of RTI is not satisfactory. Many public agencies have not appointed information officers; and where they have been‚ they are without the necessary training‚ capacity and resources. Capacity and orientation of the information officer […]
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29 August 2011
South Africa Coalition Critical of POIB as Debate Nears End
Work on the Protection of Information Bill by the South African parliamentary committee is nearing conclusion, with some compromises being made, but the Right2Know Coalition says the bill “still fails the Freedom Test.” Deliberations are expected to continue this week, beginning with debate on whether to allow a public interest defense, a major coalition demand. […]
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25 August 2011
OGP Members Begin Work on National Action Plans
Efforts by the eight conveners of the Open Government Partnership to draft their national “action plans” are slowly emerging, according to a FreedomInfo.org survey. However, in most countries the development of a plan does not appear to involve the wide public consultation called for in the “road map” for OGP aspirants to follow. In the […]
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25 August 2011
Brazilian Senator Takes Stand Undercutting FOI Bill
Former Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello, now a powerful senator, has proposed revisions to the proposed freedom of information bill that proponents quickly condemned. His proposals are raising concerns about the bill’s future notwithstanding the support for it by new president Dilma Rousseff. (See previous FreedomInfo.org reports.) International freedom of expression group Article 19 […]
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25 August 2011
Guinea Conakry ATI Law Available in English
The Guinea Conakry access to information law, promulgated late last year, but not immediately published, is now available in English. The law was issued by the outgoing military government in November 2010, signed by General Sékouba Konaté, just prior to the presidential election in which Alpha Conde became president. The English translation has been posted […]
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25 August 2011
FOI Notes: Africa, UNESCO, United States, United Kingdom
West Africa: The Africa Freedom of Information Centre has issued a study on access to information in Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria. Follow this link, and got to bottom of listings. UNESCO: The online report on the 2010 UNESCO World Press Freedom Day meeting, on the theme of: “Freedom of Information: The Right to Know” is available. […]
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22 August 2011
Ghana RTI Coalition Summarizes Consultations
The Right to Information Coalition-Ghana has listed the main criticisms of pending RTI legislation following a series of parliamentary consultations. The consultations were marred by a lack of adequate notice, according to the Coalition statement Aug 19. The sessions were held in the Volta, Eastern, Northern, Ashanti, Western and Greater Accra regions and according to […]
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19 August 2011
Debate Over Definition Emerges in South Africa
A new controversy emerged this week in deliberations over the Protection of Information Bill in South Africa as proponents suggested that the key term “national security” in the bill doesn’t need to be defined. “Which means we’d go from an outrageously broad definition (thus open to abuse) to no definition at all (thus inviting abuse […]
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19 August 2011
Variety of Topics on Agenda for ICIC Meeting in Canada
A dozen sessions on a wide variety of topics are planned for the 7th International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC 2011) in Ottawa, Canada, on Oct. 4 and 5. The topics of sessions are: Oversight: Is there an optimal model for protecting access to information rights? Freedom of Information across frontiers: The lifeblood of human […]
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17 August 2011
China to Allow Appeals Over Failure to Provide Information
Chinese citizens will be able to sue the central government and local governments if their requests for information are denied according to a judicial explanation (in Chinese) from China’s Supreme People’s Court, according to a report from China’s official news agency, Xinhua. The explanation, which was issued on Aug. 13, “confirmed that citizens may file lawsuits […]
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17 August 2011
Aguino Still Withholding Support for FOI Legislation
Philippines President Benigno Aquino has “specific questions and concerns” about freedom of information legislation, according to a spokesman in comments after the Aquino administration bypassed another opportunity to make the bill a priority. The inaction brought a round of condemnations from the bill’s frustrated supporters. The legislation was not placed on a list of priority […]