Bangladesh
“There was no law providing for public access to
government information. Instead, the Official Secrets
Act protected government officials from scrutiny, typically
in the name of national security.”
Bulgaria
“While freedom of information laws provide for
public access to government information, there were restrictions
to such access in practice. The NGO Access to Information
Program reported approximately 140 cases where government
institutions denied access to information throughout the
year.”
India
“The Freedom of Information law allows citizens
to request and receive documents from the Government that
were considered to be in the public domain; however, the
rules governing access to the information remained unclear.”
Peru
“Pursuant to the Transparency and Access to Public
Information Law, most Ministries and central offices provided
key information on their web pages, and, in some offices,
information requests were expedited. However, implementation
of the law was incomplete, particularly in rural areas.
In addition, there was a widespread lack of awareness
of the law, and relatively few citizens understood and
exercised their right to information. The Ombudsman's
office made efforts to promote citizen awareness of transparency
rights and to encourage regional governments to adopt
transparency practices. In July, the Ombudsman's office
issued its annual report that ranked regional governments
in terms of transparency, citizen access to information,
clear financial accounting, and ability to work with different
social actors.”
Thailand
“The Constitution and the 1997 Official Information
Act both provide access to public information. If a government
agency denies a citizen's request for information, a petition
may be made to the Official Information Commission. From
January to July, 124 petitions and 103 appeals were made.
Approximately 99 percent of the petitions were approved.
Requests for public information may be denied for reasons
of national security, law enforcement, and public safety.”
