Posts Tagged ‘secrecy’
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22 April 2011
SA Committee Recesses After Debate on Scope of POIB
The South African parliamentary committee debated whether the proposed protection of information bill should cover the police and the military before recessing until after the May 18 municipal elections, according to reports on the meeting. “Opposition parties disagreed on whether the bill should apply to police and defence, whose powers to classify information derive from […]
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15 April 2011
ANC Holding Firm on Secrecy Legislation in South Africa
The ruling African National Congress in South Africa this week indicated it will not make significant changes to its controversial Protection of Information Bill. “Reading the position paper, it’s clear that the ANC’s position has hardly shifted since the massive public outcry last October,” said Alison Tilley of the Right2Know campaign. Little progress was made […]
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25 August 2009
US Torture Files and Access to Human Rights Information
By Jesse Franzblau and Emilene Martinez-Morales Washington, DC — The US government’s August 24, 2009, release of a controversial CIA 2004 Inspector General report on torture brings new attention to the issue of how information on human rights abuses is treated and should be treated under freedom of information laws. Deadlines set by a federal […]
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12 June 2009
Debate about PM Gordon Brown’s Proposed Changes to UK Freedom of Information Act
Discussion Rekindled about Cabinet Minutes and Revelations of Widespread MP Corruption By Yvette M. Chin London, United Kingdom — Civil society organizations and the news media have expressed mixed feelings about Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s proposed changes to the United Kingdom‘s Freedom of Information Act. Official documents could now be routinely released after 20 years instead of […]
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24 February 2009
UK Justice Minister Jack Straw Vetoes the Release of Pre-Iraq Cabinet Minutes
First Use of Veto Provision in UK’s 2000 FOI Law Sets Dangerous Precedent London, United Kingdom – Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw today used his veto power to block the release of minutes from two controversial cabinet meetings in March 2003, when the British government signed off on joining the Bush administration’s invasion […]
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23 January 2009
Day One: President Obama Pledges to Open Government – International Openness Advocates Applaud US Reforms
Washington, DC – On Day One of his administration, President Barack Obama took authoritative steps to “create an unprecedented level of openness” in the US government through an executive order and two presidential memoranda. International openness advocates, including more than 60 organizations and individuals in at least 30 countries, have issued a statement welcoming the […]
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12 April 2007
World Bank Hires Washington Law Firm to Probe Leaks
Almost 10 weeks after announcing plans to investigate leaks of internal documents to Fox News, the World Bank has hired a Washington, D.C., law firm to conduct the probe, according to an announcement made internally April 9. The firm of Williams & Connolly has been selected to examine not only the first leak, of board […]
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1 March 2007
World Bank Seeking Outside Counsel to Conduct Leak Probe
The World Bank has decided to seek outside help to track down who leaked minutes of a January 2007 board meeting to Fox News, a senior World Bank official has told freedominfo.org. "We want this to be independent, so management is working with the board to identify outside counsel to conduct it," according to a […]
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9 February 2007
Wolfowitz Launches Probe Into Leak of Board Meeting Minutes
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has launched an internal investigation into who provided Fox News with the “raw” minutes of a World Bank board meeting in January, a document that transparency advocates say should routinely be made public. The internal probe comes in the wake of an article critical of Wolfowitz and the bank, done […]
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22 September 2006
Hungarian Government Releases NATO Secrecy Policy Document
UPDATE – 11 OCTOBER 2006 In response to a subsequent HCLU request, the Hungarian National Security Superintendence recently released an additional, previously secret NATO document entitled “Directive on the Security of Information,” dated 2005. The directive, enacted in support of NATO Security Policy C-M(2002)49, contains mandatory provisions related to classification, marking and handling of sensitive information, […]
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22 March 2006
Freedom of Information Laws Added to the Development Agenda
By Toby McIntosh Riding a wave of transparency, the idea of encouraging Freedom of Information (FOI) laws as part of the development agenda is gaining currency, but slowly. With research and case studies increasingly identifying transparency as a key tool in fighting corruption and facilitating development, more attention is being paid to the development of […]
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20 April 2004
Shanghai Advances the Cause of Open Government Information in China
While the Chinese State Council mulls over a draft of China’s first freedom of information legislation, the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, home to some 16 million people, adopted China’s first provincial-level open information legislation on January 20, 2004. The Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Open Government Information (the Shanghai Provisions) represent the most comprehensive framework […]
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14 July 2003
China’s Pioneering Foray Into Open Government: A Tale of Two Cities
By Jamie P. Horsley Guangzhou Municipal Provisions on Open Government Information (Decree No. 8 of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government dated November 6, 2002) (PDF – 158 KB) China’s initial reticence in sharing information about the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic highlighted anew the culture of secrecy that has for centuries shrouded the Chinese […]
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17 January 2003
The Philippines: A Liberal Information Regime Even Without an Information Law
Yvonne T. Chua has been the training director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) since 1995. As journalism trainer, she has trained scores of journalists in the Philippines and abroad, including Indonesia, Cambodia and Nepal. In 1999, she won the first prize in the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Investigative Journalism for her […]
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8 August 2002
PERU: New freedom of information law approved
On August 2, 2002 Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo formally promulgated the Law of Transparency and Access to Public Information, which was then published on August 3, 2002 in the official government daily El Peruano. Only minor changes had been made to the second draft of the law, which had been approved by the Peruvian Congress […]
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15 July 2002
World’s Right to Know
By Thomas Blanton Published in Foreign Policy, July/August 2002 During the last decade, 26 countries have enacted new legislation giving their citizens access to government information. Why? Because the concept of freedom of information is evolving from a moral indictment of secrecy to a tool for market regulation, more efficient government, and economic and technological […]