MIAMI, Florida (August 16, 2015)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed concern at a delaying tactic by the city government of Culiacán in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in responding to requests for public information, a right guaranteed by law.
The Culiacán newspaper El Debate said that officials of the Culiacán Coordination of Linkup of Access to Information has placed obstacles and caused delays since February this year in responding to at least three requests for public information, thus contravening Sinaloa state's Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information.
El Debate requests information referred to trips by the city mayor, salaries, permits granted to officials during the elections, expenses for computer equipment and assignment of vehicles, among others. The authorities claim that the documents with the requested information have not been organized but it is available in hundreds of boxes with thousands of files.
The chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, said, "Access to information is a basic condition to comply with press freedom, especially if there is a law that requires the government to comply with it, not to impede or discourage the search for information."
Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, added, "It is of concern that if this happens to journalists who have the backing of a news media outlet, one can imagine the difficulty that a common member of the public will have in citing a law that was conceived precisely to enjoy the benefits of a democratic society."
He said that for laws on access to information to be effective they must comply with the following requirements: Speed in providing the information, which does not require an explanation of the reason for the request and which contemplates exemplary punishments for those officials that do not comply with the law. "If this is no complied with," he said, "the creation of that law was mere demagoguery."
El Debate has submitted a formal complaint to the State Commission on Access to Public Information, an autonomous body charged with ensuring compliance with the right of access to information.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.