Alliance Protests Defiance by El Salvador Legislature

11 October 2013

The Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información (Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information) has protested the decision of the Board of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador to ignore an order from the Institute for Access to Public Information (IAIP) to release information about the legislators’ legal advisors.

The legislature said it would provide aggregate and incomplete information about their legal advisers, but IAIP had ordered publication of a list that includes the names, private activities and salaries.

The Legislative Assembly refused to comply with the IAIP’s order and said it will go to the courts to challenge the IAIP’s decisions.

“The IAIP approval marked a significant advance to provide effective protection of the human right of access to public information, whose guarantee is part of the international obligations assumed by the Salvadoran State,” according to the Regional Alliance Oct. 7 statement (in Spanish). The group also pointed out that the IAIP “to date has not received the funds required to function.”

The Regional Alliance brings together 23 NGOs from 19 countries of the Americas , whose main objective is to strengthen the full exercise of freedom of expression and access to public information. Local groups involved are the Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES) and the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES ).

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