Resolution of the 71th General Assembly
Charleston, South Carolina
October 2 – 6, 2015
WHEREAS there continues the intransigence of some governments of the Americas to limit and not comply with existing legal precepts on access to public information
WHEREAS Argentina still does not have a law on access to public information
WHEREAS in Canada there continue without adoption amendments to the access law, a reform necessary to sustain transparency in the institutions and guarantee democracy
WHEREAS in Ecuador the government impedes access to information, which in addition has been left without effect with the Communication Organic Law
WHEREAS in Haiti there is denounced the lack of access to government data and obstruction in the search for information
WHEREAS in Honduras, on the grounds of protecting national security, there are restrictions in the access to public information
WHEREAS in Nicaragua the government maintains a strict information embargo, restricting all official information to media that it does not control, neither does it keep up-to-date the Web sites of the state institutions as required under the Law on Access to Public Information (Law 621), and it impedes independent media and journalists from entering official public events
WHEREAS in Paraguay one year after promulgation of Law 5282/14 "On free citizen access to public information and governmental transparency" there have been imposed obstacles to contact by authorities and officials of the Foreign Relations Ministry with the media
WHEREAS Peru since 2003 has a constitutional body of law that protects the people's right to access to public information and guarantees citizens an media an unrestricted access to sources to public information and that the Peruvian Congress has been delaying debate on laws and other mechanism to guarantee the access to public information
WHEREAS in Puerto Rico the government administration limits the delivery of public information
WHEREAS in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago there are obstacles to accessing public information
WHEREAS in Venezuela access to information is restricted systematically in all the public administration offices
WHEREAS Principle 3 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states "The authorities must be compelled by law to make available in a timely and reasonable manner the information generated by the public sector"
THE IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES
to urge the countries of the Americas that restrict the laws on access to public information to suspend those practices and comply with the content of the laws
to call upon Argentina and the countries that do not yet have laws on access to public information to encourage debates and approve initiatives with a view to strengthening the transparency of the government, the rendering of accounts and the credibility of public institutions
to urge the authorities of Canada to commit themselves and finalize the reform of the access to information system
to urge the Peruvian Congress to approve the amendments of laws and other mechanism that guarantees the free flow of information and of access to public information in the country
to call upon the authorities of Nicaragua, Ecuador and Venezuela to comply with what is established in international rulings that state that "access to information in the hands of the government is a fundamental right of individuals."
