IAPA criticizes Argentine Congress for inaction

MIAMI, Florida (December 1, 2005)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed deep regret that the Argentine national legislature failed to pass a Law on Access to Public Information during its session which ended yesterday, saying that the country had taken a step backward  in terms of freedom of expression in not observing the principle of the public’s right to know.

In 2003 the Argentine Chamber of Deputies passed a bill for a Law on Access to Public Information. The bill went on for debate in the Senate, which late last year was approved but with amendments which the IAPA described as “harmful to freedom of expression and of the press” and urged the Congress to pass the law only in its original version, which had the backing of various press organizations.

IAPA President Diana Daniels, The Washington Post Company, Washington, D.C., regretted the lack of attention to the bill and declared, “The absence of an access law is a serious obstacle to transparency and openness in government and is in addition an impediment to the press to inform the public. An access law also enables the general public to access information they need in order to take the appropriate decisions in their daily lives and as members of society Without a free flow of information their right to be informed is seriously compromised.”

In postponing the debate, the bill lost its parliamentary character, which means that it must be submitted again for consideration in the Argentine national Congress, which will begin its next session in March 2006.

The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Gonzalo Marroquín, editor of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, daily newspaper Prensa Libre, stated, “We will be watching closely and hope that this outstanding matter for the Argentine legislators and leaders will be a priority in the upcoming session. He added that it was fundamental, “to put an end to the culture of secrecy, open up democratic paths to free discussion of public affairs and to strengthen press freedom – and all of this is achieved with an access law.”

On November 3, following an IAPA Chapultepec Project conference in Buenos Aires, an international delegation from the organization delivered to Argentine legislators recommendations on freedom of the press, asking them to pass the bill in its original form, without the Senate amendments, as these lessened transparency in government and did not enable equal access to public records.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, countries with laws on access to public information presently exist in Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic. In addition to Argentina, bills for such a law have been introduced in Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay, among others.

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