A special commission in Venezuela has begun discussing a draft bill (in Spanish) on access to information.
The opening meeting of the Joint Committee on the Draft Law on Transparency, Disclosure and Access to Public Information was held April 14, chaired by Simon Calzadilla, second vice president of the National Assembly, acording to an account (in Spanish) by the advocacy group Transparencia Venezuela.
As a first step, the Joint Commission agreed that Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Organization of American Commission on Human rights (CIDH), should be made part of the committee. A recent report by the Special Rapporteur said, “There is no law on access to public information in Venezuela; there are very high barriers to obtain public management data.” (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
The Joint Commission will hold consultations and divide into three subgroups before reporting back to the National Assembly.
The description of the meeting includes excerpts from the opening statements of members.
In another development, Transparency Venezuela has brought five lawsuits to require publication of all contracts signed between the Venezuelan state and the four Brazilian construction companies involved in the corruption scheme.
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