The News on Sunday: PK: Sunday, December 17, 2017.
Experts have
given laws that allow citizens the Right To Information (RTI) the title
‘Sunshine Laws’ because under the glaring light of the sun nothing misses you,
and under the RTI laws, the performance of those holding public offices is
exposed to public scrutiny.
Yet Pakistani
citizens often find too many obstacles in their path when they attempt to
exercise their right to information, even though Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly states that it
is a basic human right to be able to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media.
If Pakistani
people begin to tap into this reservoir of power, the collective narrative
could change forever, and transparency and accountability could become
realities.
“RTI laws are
made for the people. These are unique laws because they empower the common man;
that is why those in echelons of power do not like them,” says Dr Raza Gardezi,
an RTI activist, adding that those holding public offices are forced to
legislate these laws but they often do not let them succeed.
“The laws are
there on paper but are not operationalised. The discourse would change if RTI
laws are implemented,” says Zahid Abdullah, Transparency and Inclusion
Specialist with Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA),
citing the landmark Right of Access to Information Act 2017 passed by the
National Assembly in October 2017, months after the Senate unanimously passed
the Right of Access to Information Bill 2017, granting citizens access to the
record of public authorities.
The Sindh
Assembly passed the Sindh Transparency and the Right to Information Bill 2016
in March 2017. According to this new law, it was made mandatory upon the
government to establish the Sindh Information Commission within 100 days.
Months later, activists and organisations like Free and Fair Election Network
(FAFEN) raised their voice against the fact that the government of Sindh had failed
to do so.
Likewise in
Punjab, the Right to Transparency and Information Act was passed in 2013.
Perhaps so effectively did the designated information commissioners play their
role for the first tenure that after that, commissioners have not been appointed
for the second tenure, explains Abdullah. “A mandatory part of the law is
‘proactive disclosure’ of information on part of the government. However, the
general assumption is that it is always the citizens who should ask for the
information. To become capable of this proactive disclosure of information, the
concerned offices need technological know-how and financial support from the
government, which they often don’t get,” he adds.
In his
opinion, the role of commissioners of the Information Commission is key and
part of their duties is to sensitise government officials as well as advise the
government. “They also have to launch awareness-raising campaigns, media
campaigns, and provide guidelines to the public as to how they can exercise
their rights.”
Other than
lack of awareness, political resistance, and an absence of the required
information commissions and Public Information Officers (PIO), there are other
reasons that hinder the path of citizens aiming to extract information. “One of
the main problems is inadequate set-ups for RTI applications and processing,”
says Summaiya Zaidi, a lawyer.
Activists
from civil society have been pushing for practical implementation of these laws
but their efforts meet a dead end due to bad governance and resistance from
political quarters. However, Gardezi still encourages citizens to continue
asking for information as this is their right. “The operationality of these
laws is still undergoing teething pains. But the more people exercise their
right, the more those in public offices will have to share the information
under pressure. It is demand and supply.”
In 2014, Bolo
Bhi, a not-for-profit geared towards advocacy, policy and research in the area
of government transparency among others, filed three Freedom of Information
requests under the FOI 2002 Ordinance with the Ministry of Information
Technology, Pakistan Telecommunications (MOITT). The requests were filed under
the Freedom of Information Ordinance (FOI) 2002. “It took months before some
information was obtained. At first, we didn’t hear back, so we followed it up
with letters to the federal ombudsperson,” says Farieha Aziz, Co-Founder, Bolo
Bhi.
She and her
team were given some information but not all. “The exclusion clause of the
information act was used to deny us access to some of the information. We made
the argument based on our legal interpretation of the FOI Act’s exclusion
clause,” says Aziz.
While
ultimately the Bolo Bhi team had some success in gaining partial information,
the average Pakistani is neither aware nor motivated enough to pursue the legal
course to get information. “What’s important with RTI requests is that you must
be very specific with the question you ask and the information you seek, and
clear on who to ask who has the authority and mandate to provide the
information,” advises Aziz.
“You must
also be determined and ready to follow up the requests and understand that it
can take months before you get something substantive. You might get some
information but not all. Don’t let that deter you. Use what you manage to get
and then push on to get more. This is a process. You’ve got to be in it for the
long haul,” she adds.
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