PETALING JAYA: Civil society groups have raised concerns over findings by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) that Malaysia's Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill fails to meet international standards.
In a joint statement Monday (Aug 17), the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center), the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Article 19 and 38 endorsing organisations, said the findings reinforced serious concerns that had been raised about the bill.
The group said that CLD had rated the FOI Bill at 47 out of 150 points, based on its Right to Information Rating (RTI) indicators.
"The score places Malaysia 137th out of 142 countries worldwide that have RTI or FOI laws.
"This reinforces the serious concerns our organisations raised, and it is evident that the FOI Bill, tabled for its first reading in Parliament on July 13, fundamentally fails to meet international human rights law and standards.
"Considering that the CLD’s review found the Bill extremely weak and ranked it among the worst in the world, we call on the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) to take urgent action to bring it in line with international human rights law and standards," it said in a statement on Monday (Aug 17).
It said that instead of establishing a right for members of the public to access information held by the government and introducing a culture of openness by default, the FOI Bill preserves the supremacy of secrecy laws such as the Official Secrets Act.
"With approximately 165 federal laws (approximately 25% of substantive federal laws currently in force) containing secrecy provisions, this risks leaving a vast body of government information beyond meaningful FOI access and scrutiny.
"The CLD recommends that the Bill should set overriding standards for all secrecy provisions such that provisions in other laws which do not conform to it are void, to the extent of that inconsistency,” it said.
It said the FOI Bill does not provide for any effective oversight or administration by an independent authority.
"Under the Bill, the Ombudsman established under the Ombudsman Act will conduct external review.
"However, the Ombudsman currently does not exist, and there is no clarity on when or how the position will be established.
"This effectively means the FOI framework will have no external oversight," it added.
It added that the FOI Bill, in its current form, is widely denounced nationally and globally as deficient and will do little to remedy the entrenched culture of secrecy in Malaysia.
"The government has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to combating corruption and improving governance, yet this Bill does not reflect those stated ambitions.
"It is not too late to re-draft this Bill to ensure it aligns with international law and standards.
"Malaysia deserves a genuine right-to-information law, not legislation that creates the illusion of openness or reform while preserving a culture of secrecy.
"We therefore urge the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) to conduct a comprehensive review of the Bill, with due consideration of the criticisms and recommendations received from all relevant stakeholders," it added.
The endorsing organisations included entities like Consumers' Association of Penang, Bersih, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm), Greenpeace, Justice for Sisters, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), Lawyer Kamek as well as 25 social activists.
