Right to Know Day — Governments need to open up to citizens

Charmaine Rodrigues

28 September is World Right to Know Day.It is an opportune time for the Commonwealth to reflect on the importance of the right to know for deepening democracy and enhancing people- centred development for its citizens.

The right to know has been recognised internationally in the form of the “right to information ”for more than fifty years.At its very inception,the United Nations declared that, “Freedom of Information is a fundamental human right and is the touchstone for all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated. The right was enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and became a legally binding treaty obligation through Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,which states:“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers .”

Over the years,the importance of the right to information has been acknowledged again and again in myriad international agreements, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights,the European Convention on Human Rights and the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.The UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Expression has also in 1998 stated unequivocally that the right to seek,receive and impart information enshrined in Article 19 of the UDHR “imposes a positive obligation on States to ensure access to information,particularly with regard to information held by the Government in all types of storage and retrieval systems. In 1999,the UN Special Rapporteur further recognised that “implicit in the freedom of expression is the public’s right to open access to information and to know what governments are doing on their behalf, without which truth would languish and people’s participation in government would remain
fragmented.

Guaranteeing the right to access information lays the foundation upon which to build good governance,transparency,accountability and participation,and to eliminate that scourge upon the poor –corruption.For example,information about government tender processes can be used to assess efficiency and to expose corruption.

Information on the background of electoral candidates helps voters make an informed choice. Information on the pros and cons of development projects assists people to make informed decisions about whether they want to proceed.Information about the toxicity of chemicals released by an industrial plant into local water sources can save lives if released to the public and acted upon. Information is power and,in the spirit of
democracy and equality,it needs to be shared freely with all people.As far back as 1980, the Commonwealth has recognised that “public participation in the democratic and governmental process was at its most meaningful when citizens had adequate access to official information.” Collective policy statements since then have encouraged member countries to “regard freedom of information as a legal and enforceable right.”
The Commonwealth has also developed “Freedom of Information Principles ”as well as a model law which member countries can use as a base from which to develop their own access legislation.

The commitments of the Commonwealth to date are a good first step towards the practical realisation of the right to information in all member states.The Commonwealth has a great opportunity at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Abuja in December 2003 to make further progress towards the practical realisation of the right in all its member states,as well as within the institutions of the Commonwealth itself.At that meeting the Commonwealth Heads of Government will –not for the first time –be searching for ways to deal with these challenges of deepening democracy and development.Opengovernment is the answer;and entrenching the people ’s right to access information is the most practical way of achieving it.

CHRI is an NGO with offices in New Delhi, Accra and London.The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative ’s 2003 Report,“Open Sesame: The Right to Information in the Commonwealth ”, examines the value of the right to information for the Commonwealth and its member states and citizens.The Report provides law-makers, advocates and the public with guidance on how the right to information can be practically realised, including best practice examples from the Commonwealth on drafting and implementing freedom of information legislation.The Report will be launched in Abuja in December 2003.