A new report from Transparency International UK’s Defence and Security Programme “calls for better legislation that balances national security concerns with the public right to access information,” according to a Sept 11 press release.
“A strong defence and security sector can coexist with the ability of citizens to access to information and hold leaders to account”, said Mark Pyman, the director of Transparency International UK’s Defence and Security Programme. “In fact, greater openness can help reduce corruption, which devastates the effectiveness of defence and security establishments.”
The study examines secrecy laws across 15 countries and the European Union: Austria, Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia (FYR), Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Republic of South Africa, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the European Union.
The report “recommends precautions that can help prevent corruption and malfeasance: information must only be classified when the public interest in withholding it outweighs public interest in disclosing it; it must not be classified indefinitely; classification decisions must be justified in writing; internal and independent external reviews should be part of the legislation; information should be properly archived; and civil society should be engaged both in the regulation of this field and in the oversight of classification, according to the press release.
“Few countries studied met these standards,” TI UK observes.
“We hope that this report will inform the public debate about the appropriate ways to balance national security information and protect the public’s right to information”, said Adam Foldes, the author of the report.
“The study also finds that the use of private security companies to protect bases and projects has increased the risk of corruption and accelerated the decentralisation of power,” TI UK said. “These contractors can become muddled with organised crime and might not adhere to the same anti-corruption standards as state or public sector actors.”
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