Secrecy law deals blow to public’s right to Be informed
Secrecy law deals blow to public’s right to Be informed
Friday, 17 January 2014, 11:35 am
Press Release: Reporters sans frontieres
The imprecise, discretionary and hastily-approved Law on Secret Information that the Honduran parliament adopted on 13 January constitutes a major new blow to freedom of information in one of the western hemisphere’s most dangerous countries for news and information providers.
Reporters Without Borders hopes that this law, which turns state-held information into a private reserve, will be overturned on the grounds of unconstitutionality.
“This law strips the Institute for Access to Public Information (IAIP) of all the powers that are the very reason for its existence, namely, determining and justifying the classification of information of public interest,” Reporters Without Borders said.
“These powers have been indiscriminately transferred to each state agency, which will be able to classify information as secret without having to account their decisions. We can only repeat IAIP president Doris Madrid’s objections. How much power will citizens now have for challenging the actions and decisions of public authorities? On the basis of what specific imperative will information be ‘restricted’ under the new law?
More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1401/S00212/secrecy-law-deals-blow-to-publics-right-to-be-informed.htm
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