As a preliminary to this Campaign, the International Conference “More Information, Better Democracy” took place, with the participation of the British Ambassador, the Director of the British Council, the Representative of the Antonio Nariño Project, the Director of CIDER-Los Andes University, and the Representative of Transparency for Colombia.

Among the panelists were Rodrigo Uprimmy, Director of DeJuSticia (Centre of Law, Justice and Society Studies), Claudia Lopez, researcher and analyst, and Oscar Ortiz, Director of the Programme of Fight against Corruption of the Presidency.

Subjects that were developed were:

• Access to information, democracy and social control.
• The civil society and access to information in Colombia.
• Is the right to information guaranteed in Colombia?
• Challenges of access to information in Colombia.

The Conference closing session was conducted by Senator Rodrigo Lara and the Director of Semana Magazine, Alejandro Santos.

Conclusions of the International Conference More Information, Better Democracy

Within the framework of the campaign “More Information, More Rights”, led by the British Embassy – a group of social organisations, headed by the British Council, the Antonio Nariño Project (PAN), Transparency for Colombia, the Foundation for Freedom of Press and Los Andes University’s CIDER, offered the International Conference “More Information, Better Democracy”.

The invited panellists, such as Catalina Botero, Special Reporter for the Freedom of Speech of the CIDH – OAS; Agnes Callamard, Director of Article XIX; Steve Woods, UK Deputy Information Commissioner; Rodrigo Uprimny, Director of DeJusticia; Oscar Ortiz, Director of the Programme of Fight against Corruption of the Presidency and Alejandro Santos, Director of Semana Magazine, amongst others, presented their points of view on the access to public information and some considerations applicable to the Colombian case.

The central subjects of this Conference were: access to information as a basic right to strengthen democracy and guarantee the other rights; the promotion of the processes of accounts giving and social control.

Below is a summary of the main conclusions:

• The right to access to public information and its transparency are basic for the construction of a democratic society.

• In Colombia, the Political Constitution and the diverse legislation set out the right to access to information, but, in practice, there is resistance to give such information. Sometimes, institutions do not give information on the grounds of it being part of the reserve and being an attempt against national security.

• The State must effectively produce, gather, systematize, disclose and divulge public information.

• Any person may request for public information with no need to explain the reasons or purposes for making such request. If it is reserve information, there must be a legal justification for not giving it.

• The public information systems that exist in Colombia need to be brought up to date, unified, and be compatible with one another, in order to facilitate access to timely, true and systematised information.

• The “secret culture” produces stress between public officers and citizens, and hinders the access to information. The petition right is seen as an aggressive means.

• “It is important that the media be committed with transparency of information” said Jaime Abello Banfi, of Nuevo Periodismo Foundation.

• “Journalists and media commitment is needed, with truth and a historic memory of victims of displacement, massacres and genocide that have occurred in this country for nearly two decades”, said Alejandro Santos, director of Semana Magazine.

• It is necessary to clearly establish if, in Colombia, there is a need to promote a statutory law on access to information, to make it clear what information means, what its value is, what it is needed for, the law’s key principles and exceptions in a strict sense. In order to do that, it is essential that the government, the civil society organisations, the academy, the media and the citizens work in coordination. “To participate in the construction of a draft of law on citizenship participation in administrative acts, available for officers to start a process of account giving”, said Oscar Ortiz, Director of the Programme of Fight against Corruption of the Presidency.

• It is not enough to have a law on access to information; a change in the culture of officers and citizens is needed: “Mediators such as the civil society and the media are needed to inform people of the importance of a right to access to information, so that they use it, exercise it and use it in their own good, said Agnes Callamard of the British NGO, Article XIX, when she mentioned that a law on access to information is not enough, but a change in the culture of officers and citizens is needed too.

Also supporting and joining the Campaign are Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris, Ocasa, Medios para la Paz, Alianza Medios y Democracia and the United Nations Development Programme UNDP Colombia.