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(San Francisco, April 15, 2004) -
Recent allegations of bribery and mismanagement
within the now defunct UN-administered Iraqi Oil-for-Food
program highlight the fact that the United Nations must hold
itself to the same freedom of information principles that
it promotes. Many of these recent charges, as well as the
broader damage to UN credibility, could have been avoided
if a public information policy based on maximum disclosure
had been in place within the UN system.
The lack of a system-wide public information
policy has often allowed the UN to adopt a restrictive disclosure
approach. In the case of the Iraqi Oil-for-Food debacle, the
UN has refused to release the names of the companies involved
in the program, claiming that releasing them would have damaging
economic consequences. This refusal helps strengthen the feeling
that the UN has something to hide and, more importantly, it
undermines UN leadership in promoting freedom of information
globally.
To dispel such impressions and avoid unnecessary future scandals,
the UN should immediately adopt a public information policy
based on the principle of maximum disclosure: information
held by the UN should be available to the public except in
very limited circumstances. Measures restricting full disclosure
should not be arbitrary. They should be written and be legitimate
in their aim - that is, they should always be in the public's
best interest, not the UN's. Restrictions on disclosure should
also be proportional to the public good they claim to protect.
Finally, there should be an independent appeals procedure
in place to challenge these restrictions.
These basic principles underlie a healthy freedom of information
regime. They are recognized under international law and have
been promoted by the UN itself for many years. Article 19
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone
shall have the right to…seek, receive and impart information
and ideas of all kinds." Other international instruments,
including the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, the 1992 Rio Declaration on the environment and development,
the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration for social development and
the 1998 Aahrus Convention on access to information in environmental
matters go even further in promoting strong freedom of information
principles.
The United Nations Development Program has acknowledged its
responsibility to promote freedom of information, stating
that, as custodian of public funds, it is directly accountable
to member Governments and indirectly accountable to their
parliaments, their taxpayers, and the public in donor and
program countries. As a result, in 1997, UNDP adopted a public
information policy that is unfortunately a lone exception
within the UN system.
In 1993, the UN Commission on Human Rights created the position
of Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Information and Expression
with a mandate to promote the principles enshrined in Article
19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political
Rights. In the exercise of his mandate, the Special Rapporteur
must pay particular attention to "obstacles to access
to information at the local, regional and national levels
on projects and initiatives proposed by governments."
Over the past decade, the Special Rapporteur has been crisscrossing
the globe, promoting the principle of freedom of information
in the name of the UN.
Freedom of information should now be applied to the UN itself.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has shown genuine leadership
with regard to UN reform in other areas, must take this opportunity
to restructure the UN's public information policy and adopt
principles such as those developed by UNDP across the entire
system. Knowing that freedom of information is the foundation
of transparency, accountability and good governance, the UN
must now lead, not with words, but by example and adopt a
public information policy based on the principle of maximum
disclosure that it has been promoting globally for so long.
Bruno Schneider
Executive Director
UN Observer.org
www.unobserver.org
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