NGOs object to Honduras secrecy law
NGOs object to Honduras secrecy law
January 18, 2014
TEGUCIGALPA: The Honduran Congress quietly passed a law allowing the president to keep government information secret, local media reported on Thursday, prompting a fierce outcry from civil society groups.
The law allows the president and ministers to classify official information for varied time limits under several categories: 10 years for confidential information, 15 for secret information and 25 for super secret information.
It was passed by Congress without prior publicity, by a vote of 71 of 128 deputies, mainly from the ruling, right-leaning National Party, according to reports in local media.
Government intelligence chief Julian Pacheco justified the move on local television as a law “to protect state officials who risk their lives to defend society.” He said the media has revealed the names of numerous authorities holding sensitive information on organised crime.
But at a press conference on Thursday, leaders of 15 influential NGOs denounced the law as “representing a setback in the fight against corruption... and interrupting a process to be a more open and transparent state.”
More:
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/d99b65ae-4e1a-408f-98b4-84a27030ccd4.aspx