Statement

Statement of the Working Group on African Platform on Access to Information

At the 50^th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights under the agenda Item number 9b Activity reports of Members of the Commission and special Mechanisms  

Banjul 29 October 2011

Madame Chair,

Honorable Commissioners

Distinguish Delegates 

ARTICLE 19 on behalf of the working group on APAI composed of nine African CSO organizations: Article 19 East and West Africa, Africa Freedom of Information Centre, Media Institute of Southern Africa, Media Rights Agenda, Media Foundation of West Africa, International Federation of Journalists (Africa Office), Open Democracy Advise Centre, High Way Africa and Africa Editors Forum brings its compliments to the new bureau of the ACHPR and congratulates all the new Commissioners for their recent election.

We reiterate our resolve to support the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Information in Africa and the ACHPR in general to advance freedom of expression and access to information on the continent.

Chair Person,

In September this year, Africa commemorated the 20^th anniversary of the trailblazing Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press under the theme of Access to Information.

The celebration of this symbolical date for our continent was marked by a major Pan-African Conference that brought together more than 300 people from 25 African Countries, including African governments, African Union Commission, UNESCO, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression an Opinion, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Information in Africa, human rights, civil society organizations and the media.

The Conference adopted a landmark Declaration, the African Platform on Access to Information and call for action which reiterates the centrality of access to information and its importance in the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights and in advancing democratic values and accountability and sustainable development.

The Declaration acknowledges the gains so far made at the regional and international levels especially by the ACHPR through the adoption of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, in October 2002, and the recent initiative to develop a Model Law for AU Member States on Access to Information, aimed at assisting Member States in formulating, adopting or reviewing access to information legislation and its implementation;

Chair person,

To date, 90 countries around the world have adopted Access to Information laws, out of this number, 10 are in Africa. These are Africa-South Africa, Liberia, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Guinea-Conakry, Niger, Angola and Zimbabwe; besides many countries in Africa have joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the International Aid Transparency Initiative and the Open Government Partnership; and that the Economic Community of West African States is moving towards adoption of a binding Supplementary Act for a Uniform Legal Framework on Freedom of Expression and Right to Information;

Despite these major strides, we are concerned that most African countries have not yet adopted comprehensive ATI laws or regulations and that significant problems remain with both the substantive  provisions of many of those that have adopted laws and the full implementation of the laws;

Civil society organisations and government bodies around the world celebrate 28 September as International Right to Know Day as a means to advocate around the above concerns.

We appreciate the endorsement of the APAI Declaration by the NGO Forum preceding the 50^th Session of this session and support their resolutions and call upon ACHPR to:

1. Pass a resolution authorizing the ACHPR Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa to expand Part IV of the Declaration of Freedom of Expression in Africa to include principles of APAI Declaration
2. Pass a resolution requesting the AU Heads of State Summit of January 2012 to adopt September 28 as an International Right to Information Day
3. Urge AU member states to adopt and implement national Access to Information laws that comply with the APAI Declaration and the model law on ATI developed by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Information in Africa.
4. Pass a resolution requesting the African Union Summit of January 2012 to initiate an Experts meeting to develop a continental wide instrument on the right of Access to Information.

Thank you for your kind attention

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