Malaysia
New report on government's freedom of informaPosted Feb 25 2007
The human rights organization ARTICLE 19 and the Center for Independent Journalists have unveiled a new report about the Malaysian government’s restrictive legislation and practices regarding rights to access and the free flow of information. “A Haze of Secrecy: Access to Environmental Information in Malaysia” comes just three weeks after Malaysia’s most devastating floods in 30 years. According to the report, there is current concern regarding victims’ ability to get aid information and other protective assistance. ARTICLE 19 and CIJ say the government’s “culture of secrecy” has affected all levels of its administration and that the effects of secrecy have created a lack of information on environmental health issues, such as their haze crises in 1997, 1998 and 2005. The report also criticizes The Official Secrets Act that legally restricts the release of environmental, health and other rights to access information. In response to additional information barriers that prohibit communities from openly accessing Environmental Impact Assessments on large-scale development projects that are removing people from their land, ARTICLE 19 and CIJ make recommendations to address the access issues that are negatively impacting the Malaysian population. Recommendations include legislation that promotes access and complies with international standards, training and guidelines for public officials that develop “a culture of openness,” the improvement on how EIA notices are handled and their availability to the public and the necessary government measures that should be taken in the event of environmental and natural disasters to consistently and immediately release potentially life-saving information.
For the full report, go to http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/malaysia-a-haze-of-secrecy.pdf.