WHEREAS, in Colombia, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Puerto Rico, there were reports of restrictions on access to information and blockages to news coverage on issues of interest
WHEREAS, in Colombia, eight journalists reported obstacles to access information in the Office of the Attorney General - and in another 34 cases there were blockages to this right
WHEREAS, in El Salvador, the government neutralized the Institute for Access to Public Information and the laws governing transparency in the use of public funds - data that since 2020 has been systematically concealed for seven years after the fact
WHEREAS, in the United States, the media continues to face difficulties in obtaining timely public information; under the administration of Joe Biden, journalists have had trouble gaining access to the President and his senior officials
WHEREAS, in Guatemala, many public and government institutions do not give statements to journalists and the government refuses to provide public information in the time and manner requested
WHEREAS, in Paraguay there is persistent non-compliance with the Law on Access to Public Information by the binational entity Itaipu - which was denounced in May before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
WHEREAS, in Peru, the government has prohibited the access of the local press to public events, press conferences and the swearing in of ministers, and that through a bill it has tried to prevent judges, prosecutors, lawyers and police from disseminating confidential fiscal information about the investigation of criminal cases, and that President Pedro Castillo does not render accounts to the public through the press
WHEREAS, in Puerto Rico, faced with the refusal of the government and governmental companies, the media must constantly resort to the courts in order to obtain the release of public information
WHEREAS, Principle 3 of the Chapultepec Declaration states: "The authorities should be legally bound to make available to citizens, in a timely and equitable manner, information generated by the public sector."
THE 78TH IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES
To reject the restrictions on access to information and news coverage being faced by journalists and the media in Colombia, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, Paraguay and Puerto Rico
To urge governments that restrict the laws of access to public information or the constitutional rights to abandon such practices, dismantle the culture of secrecy, and refrain from obstructing and restricting the work of the press
To urge governments to follow the standards and requirements that access laws should meet regarding disclosure duties and maximum transparency, an expedited process for releasing information, a pre-established set of exceptions, the necessary infrastructure for posting the generated information, reasonable fees for requesting and obtaining information, and, among others, a set of rules for penalizing public officials and entities that refuse to provide requested information.
