What’s New
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29 July 2011
Indian Activists Object to Exclusion on PPP Projects
Indian right to information activists are expressing dissatisfaction with an internal government legal opinion that would exempt Public Private Partnership Projects (PPPs) from the right to information law. The Central Information Commission has decided to seek Prime Minister’s Manmohan Singh’s intervention,according to The Hindustani Times, which broke the story. “We will be writing to the […]
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29 July 2011
Chinese Agencies Disclose Spending on Travel
Chinese government departments have largely complied with a requirement to disclose how much was spent on overseas trips, receptions and vehicles in 2010, according to reports in the Chinese state and commercial media. Despite a deadline of June 30 to comply with a Cabinet order, by July 7 only three out of the 98 central […]
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27 July 2011
Classified: The Classifiers, Until Now; An Indian Saga
By Venkatesh Nayak Nayak is Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative We are all aware of the practice of bureaucrats who classify files, records and various kinds of electronic information as ‘top secret’, ‘secret’ and ‘confidential’. However the rules governing such classification are themselves secret in India. These instructions are contained in […]
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25 July 2011
President Aquino Does Not Mention FOI in State of Union
Philippine President Benigno Aquino did not mention freedom of information in his July 25 State of the Union address, but several days later said his proosal was almost ready. In a speech July 28, however, Aquino said he had ordered the drafting of a “balanced” freedom of information bill and suggested it would be ready […]
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22 July 2011
Groups Urge More Access to Environmental Information
The decision-making processes concerning the environment are too opaque and governments should commit to transparency steps when they meet next year for Earth Summit 2012, according to a joint report by Article 19 and The Access Initiative. Titled Moving from Principles to Rights, the report says “people in over half the countries around the world […]
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22 July 2011
Aquino Position on FOI Remains in Doubt
Philippine President Benigno Aquino still has not indicated whether he will support a freedom of information bill developed by a working group of his ministers, according to sources consulted by FreedomInfo.org and media reports. Aquino “will likely not mention the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill in his second State of the Nation Address on July […]
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22 July 2011
Alliance Backs Case on Transparency in Ecuador
The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information (Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información) has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica that seeks to establish standards for dissemination of information. The case, “Pueblo Indígena Kichwa de Sarayaku vs. Ecuador,” is being conducted by […]
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22 July 2011
Challenges, Prospects for a FOI Law in Sierra Leone
By John Baimba Sesay – Freetown Reprinted with permission of Sierra Express, where this article was published July 19, 2011. When Nigeria started its campaign for an access to information law, it was not an easy task especially during the days of former President Olusegn Obasanjo, a former military General. He had his own misgivings […]
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21 July 2011
U.S., India Announce Plan for Creating Open Data Platforms
The United States and India July 19 announced plans to jointly develop “open source” platforms for other governments to use to post government data. The software will be available by the first quarter of 2011, according to one paragraph in a fact sheet on of bilateral science and technology understandings issued while U.S. Secretary of […]
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21 July 2011
Poland Proposes New Restrictions on Documents
The Polish government has proposed new restrictions on access to documents. The amendments would prevent the disclosure of documents used in the preparation of official positions on a variety of defined matters. The restriction would apply to materials regarding the commercialization or privatization of property, court proceedings and international negotiations. Later release of the documents […]
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15 July 2011
India-U.S. to Announce Joint Transparency Initiative
The United States and India on July 19 in India will unveil plans to help other countries use technology to improve access to government information. The joint effort will focus primarily on “harnessing technology” to enhance openness efforts, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra told FreedomInfo.org, saving details for the announcement next week. The bilateral effort was announced last […]
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15 July 2011
Eight Countries to Join Open Government Partnership
Eight governments have indicated their intention to join the Open Government Partnership, according to Maria Otero, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs. Speaking at a reception following the July 12 kick-off event in Washington, Otero listed Kenya, Honduras, Mongolia, Chile, Uruguay, Thailand, Liberia and Canada. They would join eight other countries who […]
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15 July 2011
EU Proposes Tighter Controls on Access to Documents
“The 27 EU-ambassadors in Brussels have agreed to make internal security rules for information binding law in the member countries,” according to an article in Wobbing Europe by Staffan Dahllöf. In addition, the 15 top members of the European Parliament have decided that information ”disadvantageous” to the EU shall not be disclosed to the public, […]
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15 July 2011
Bulgarian AIP Offers Proposals in Annual Report
The Access to Information Programme (AIP) in Bulgaria has identified persistent problems facing those seeking government information and made a series of recommendations. The eleventh annual report containing the information — Access to Information in Bulgaria 2010 — is now available in English online. AIP identifies several persisting problems: Lack of unified practices in terms […]
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15 July 2011
Armenia Group Publishes Latest in Blacklist Series
The Freedom of Information Center of Armenia (FOICA) has “blacklisted” six officials for violating the Freedom of Information Law during the second quarter of 2012. The blacklist is topped by Transport and Communication Minister Manuk Vardanyan followed by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, Emergency Situations Minister Armen Yeritsyan, Hamalsaranakanner Condominium chairman Armen Tadevosyan, Yerevan Municipality Information […]
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12 July 2011
India Withdraws From Open Government Partnership
By Toby McIntosh On the eve of the kick-off event for the Open Government Partnership, India dropped out, but the show went on, with enthusiastic pro-transparency speeches at a day-long event at the U.S. State Department in Washington. The unexpected pull-out by a country with an international reputation for its strong right to information law […]
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11 July 2011
Kenya Creates Portal for Government Data
Kenya July 8 launched a web portal offering free access to government information. There are over 160 datasets including the complete 2009 census, national budget data, nation and county public expenditure data, information on health care and school facilities. See the Data Catalog for a full list of what is available. “Today marks an important […]
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11 July 2011
Tunisia Issues Decree on Access to Documents
Tunisia has issued a Decree on Access to Administrative Documents, but the exemptions are “overly broad,” according to an analysis by Article 19. The decree, adopted in May, has “many positive features,” the London-based freedom of expression group said, but the exceptions “can largely undermine the impact of the Decree in assuring transparency and accountability.” […]
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8 July 2011
OGP Initiative Envisions National Action Plans
By Toby McIntosh Organizers of the Open Government Partnership hope that more than 55 countries will be motivated by a kick-off event in Washington July 12 to prepare pro-transparency “action plans.” The action plans, to be drafted with public input, would be unveiled in early September in New York when heads of state gather for […]
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8 July 2011
Indian CIC Criticizes Exemption for CBI
The Indian Central Information Commission has crossed swords with the government over its exemption of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the Right to Information Act as the matter heads toward a likely conclusion in the courts. The Cabinet action is “without sanction of the law” and “not in consonance with the letter or […]