Friday, September 28, 2018

A street drama performance Near Fort Railway Station Photo - Gayan Pushpika

he year 2018 was named as the Tyear of ‘increasing public aware- ness’ on the Right to Information Act in order to create wider public acceptance and awareness of the Act, having en- sured the Sri Lankan citizen’s right to information on June 24 2016. The International Day for the Universal Access to Information which falls on 28 September, will be celebrated in under the theme of ‘the right to information for a superior public service’ at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre. The event organized by the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media has also declared 21-28 September as the ‘access to information’ week, and they have taken various measures to inform the people of the importance to exercise the right to information.

To read Pawatha as an Paper visit www.dailynews.lk /pawatha International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 2

The Right to Information is an important M achievement in the path towards E good governance o have the country’s citizens become active participants in the progress of the country. S Tcountry’s governance is a mark of a developed democracy. Ma- ture forms of government based on the concept of a representative In connection to the Interna- S democracy have used various alternative methods to incorporate tional Day for the Universal their citizens in the subject of governance. The Right to Information Access to information which A Act belongs to such a method used by advanced democracies. falls on 2018 September, an international conference has G The right to information can be simply identified as the legal right been organized in . bestowed on the citizens to find out information on the workings of This will help us share our their elected government and its representative agencies.This right experiences with developed President E not only fences and confines corruption, fraud and misuse of public countries around the world who The Democratic S resources but also helps in improving the efficiency of the public also practice this right and have Socialist Republic of sector. opportunities to openly discuss, Sri Lanka learn, share examples and re- Our government which came into power after a struggle launched solve any issues. by a civil society collective to re-establish democracy in the coun- try, introduced the right to information as a right of the citizens’ of I would like to extend my heart- this country. Thus this was a fulfillment of one of the main promises felt praise to the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media which is taking made to the civil society collective. Given the importance of this act, steps to promote the right to information; an important principle in it was decided that in 2018, the government would introduce vari- the journey towards achieving good governance and wish the con- ous measures to make the general public aware of the provisions ference all the success it deserves. of the act and the manner in which it can be used to increase its wider application and have the right to information work towards the

The right to information is a victory of the people

hen we consider future prospects of a country and the wel- People must be informed re- Wfare of its citizens, Right to Information (RTI) is one of the garding the Act, its implementa- most important rights enjoyed by the people. It is a remarkable tion and usage in order to real- achievement of this government to ensure the right of access to ize the goals of implementing information through the Act No 12 of 2016. this Act. On this International The government’s objective is to foster a culture of transparency Right to Information Day, we and accountability of public authorities and to promote a society in should follow collective meas- which the people of Sri Lanka will be able to actively participate in ures to enhance the public the decision making. awareness in the Act for mak- Prime Minister It is accepted that the people have a right to inquire after the func- ing it The Democratic tions of the public authorities that affect the general public. The an approach in the best interest Socialist Republic of government named 2018 as the “Year of Public Awareness” in co- of the people and the country. Sri Lanka incidence with the International Right to Information Day to promote the public for requesting information. International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 3 The right to information is extremely important to M achieve the principles of E S good governance S he United Nations in its Universal Declaration of Human information among the TRights in 1948 stated in Article 19 that all individuals have general public and will al- A the right to freedom of opinion, expression and the right to seek, ways respect the citizen’s receive and impart information. In addition it also stresses on right to information and G the right to seek information and ideas through any media. will ensure it through the We have since 1978, for the first time worked to incorporate principles accepted in Vi- E the right to information as a fundamental right in the Constitu- sion 2025 to help deliver tion of the country. Despite the various challenges, the ability a superior government Minister of Finance S to enact the Right to Information Act No 12 of 2016 into the service to the people. and legal framework of the country is considered among one of our Through the Right to In- Mass Media greatest victories. formation Act, the coali- The people of the country as of now are realizing the impor- tion government is able tance of this act. To further widen its reach, the government to uphold its three main is working to include the study of the right to information as a pillars which are; democ- subject in the school curriculum and into the syllabi of higher racy, reconciliation and economic development and by moving education and technical education institutions. The government forward with this concept, I believe we are able to ensure great- through its ‘Vision 2025: Sri Lanka’s Path to Prosperity’ will also er media freedom and create a more informed general public work towards strengthening and further promoting the right to equipped with the free availability of information.

Let us commit to a transparent government service t has been two years since the Sri Lankan citizens received the to increase awareness Iright to information through the 2016 Right to Information Act. of the act among the As we celebrate the International Day for the Universal Access general public. Of these to Information, all public authorities in the country have been events the international subjected to this act and the people have received the oppor- conference which would tunity to enjoy the full benefits of democracy. However simply be held at the Nelum- because a right to information act has been enacted, all changes Pokuna Theatre would expected of it will not take place. Its effectiveness would depend have special benefits on its public acceptance and use. Thus it is imperative that we and allow us to share make the people aware of this act. our experiences and Whilst Sri Lanka was the last country in South Asia to adopt this achievements among our right, the results of the last two years have clearly shown that peers in South Asia. This Deputy Minister of this act has become an important tool in the hands of the public would make it a great Finance and to breathe life into the concept of good governance. opportunity to increase Mass Media We need to understand that when there is no transparency in awareness among public governance there is distance created between the people and officials and the general their politicians and public servants. Thus we need to create a public on the importance wider dialogue among the people with regards to this act. There- of this act. fore our ministry has declared a week to celebrate international day for information this year and organized several programmes International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 4 I The story and important junctures in the N Right to Information Act n the face of it, the Right to Information Act in Sri Lanka by the Editors’ Guild, Free Media Movement and the Centre F Odoes not have a long history. If you only take the story for Policy Alternatives in 2002 and 2003. Similarly another at- of the time it took to become law, it only has a history of two tempt was made in 2000, when the incumbent President at O years. The Right to Information Act was enacted as a funda- the time, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga included the mental right in 2015, through the 19th Amendment to the Con- Right to Information as a fundamental right in the new draft stitution on 15 May 2015. Thereafter for the practical imple- Constitution prepared by the government at the time, it was R mentation of that right, the Right to Information Act 2016 No not successful at the time. 12, was presented to Parliament and passed on June 2016. M Thus the whole process only took a short time period of three Thus several attempts made to introduce the act prior to years. 2015 were not successful, but the ‘Freedom of speech and A expression including publication’’ had been guaranteed as a In the meantime it is important to note that in 2011, The Les- fundamental right, and expressed so by two Supreme Court sons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report recom- judgments. One of the cases was in 1996, with that of Wimal T mended the need to introduce a Right to Information Act. Fernando versus the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SC In 2010, it needs to be highlighted that three members of Application NO 81/95). A similar judgement was delivered in I Parliament, introduced a Right to Information Act as a private the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foun- member bill. They were the MPs , dation Ltd versus the Urban Development Authority (SCFR and Thilanga Sumathipala. Similar bills were 47/2004). O introduced from time to time and in November 2009, the in- Another important juncture in the journey towards winning the cumbent Minister of Justice and Law Reforms appointed a Right to Information was in April 27 1988, during the interna- N special committee and they prepared a draft bill on the Right tional symposium on ‘media freedom and social responsibility’ to Information with inputs from the Sri Lanka Press Council held at BMICH. In that conference, the ‘Media Freedom and and Editor’s Guild. Social Responsibility’, Colombo declaration was adopted, and it showed that the country’s guarantees of freedom of expres- Prior to this, the most important juncture in the Right to Infor- sion need to be brought in line with the Country’s international A mation Act was in 2004 when under the leadership of Prime legal obligations, especially in line with Article 19 of the Inter- Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, approval was given to submit national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This C a draft Right to Information Act to Cabinet. But before they document was prepared and signed by the Editor’s Guild of could present it to Parliament, Parliament was dissolved in Sri Lanka together with the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka March 2004, and that was the end of that attempt. The foun- and the Free Media Movement. T dation for the 2004 attempt was laid in 2002. The pioneer of However when one studies the history of the road to legaliz- that attempt was the draft Right to Information Act prepared ing the Right to Information, the oldest such attempt one finds is in the 1996 27 May Committee report prepared by R.K.W. Gunasekara. This was officially recognized as the ‘Advisory Committee report to reform laws affecting freedom of the press and the freedom of expression’. The Committee had 14 recommenda- tions on laws governing the media and one of them was the Right to Information act. This was the first time in the history of the country that a document officially recommended that the Right to Information be introduced to the people as a legal right through an act.

The committee while being initially appointed to reform laws governing the media had as one of the three main objec- tives to create a new democratic media culture. This clearly shows that this committee which first recommended a right to information act, was greatly influenced by the social dialogue which promoted wide democratic reforms at the time. The Minister of Media at the time, Dharmasiri Senanayake had ap- pointed this committee through a cabinet paper which asked for democratic reforms.

Continued on Page 5 International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 5 Continued from Page 4... Thus we can understand the socio political environment of the product of that discussion. Thus the beginning of the story of the time. The committee was appointed in 1995, but the cabinet pa- Right to Information enjoyed by all citizens as of February 2017, I per relevant to it was presented in 1994. It followed the heat of is something that is enjoined with the fight for democracy over the election results at the time. All elections at the time widely the past several decades. N discussed the need for more media freedom and democratic re- forms and was a great influencer of policy. It went beyond party 2015-2017 politics, into a wider social dialogue. Its beginnings may have *At the cabinet meeting held on April 12 2015, F been in the early80s or even prior to that. Minister of Mass Media and Parliamentary Af- In the end of the seventies, the worsening ethnic conflict, the ex- fairs, Gayantha Karunathilake presents the cabi- O periences of the 1980 strikes, the 83 pogrom, the experiences of net paper which promises to bring in the right to the 1987-89 insurgency, were some of the shocking experiences information act. which led to a wider discussion on democracy. As a result many R *2015 April 22- Prime Minister Ranil Wickremes- civil society movements, media organizations, pressure groups, inghe presents a cabinet paper asking that the human rights organizations, intellectuals and social activists be- right to information be brought in as an emergen- M came important stakeholders in this dialogue. cy bill. The Cabinet also in principle approved the basic premises of the bill. A The R.K.W. Gunasekara committee which was a result of Min- ister Dharmasiri Senanayake’s cabinet paper, was also a by- *2015 April 29- Prime Minister Ranil Wickremes- inghe stated at the Cabinet meeting that several T institutions and persons had proposed various Senior Journalist amendments to the previously approved bill and 2010- 2014 the accordingly amended bill was presented for I C. Dodawatte Cabinet approval once again- Cabinet approval *Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe bill on was granted. Cabinet also decided that the bill O the right to information- 2010 would not be presented to Parliament as an emergency bill but would follow due procedure *2010- Karu Jayasuriya pre- before being presented for Parliamentary ap- N 1994 - 2009 sents a draft bill on the right to proval. information to Parliament as a private member bill and with- *2015 November 2- The final amended bill which *1994- The first cabinet paper calling for the draws it on the promise that the was presented for Cabinet approval by Minister enactment of the Right to Information government was preparing to of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs, Gay- A introduce its own such bill antha Karunathilake was granted approval. *1996- The Advisory Committee report to *2015 December 18- the Cabinet approved bill reform laws affecting freedom of the press *2010- MP Thilanga Sumathip- C ala presents a private member on the right to information was gazetted. and the freedom of expression’ (R.K.W. motion asking that the right Gunasekara Committee) recommends the to information be enacted (P *2016 February- A Task Force on the right to in- T enactment of the Right to Information 55/10) formation was formed *1996- Wimal Fernando Versus the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (S.C. Ap- *2011 May- Karu Jayasuriya’s *2016 March 24- The Minister of Media presents plication No 81/95) case judgement draft bill on the right to informa- the right to information bill for its first reading in tion is gazetted Parliament *1996- The Sri Lanka Legal Commission in- *2016 April 5-6- petitions on the draft bill taken up troduces a bill on the access to information *2011 June- Karu Jayasuriya presents the draft bill on the right to information to Parlia- *2016 June 23- The bill is presented to Parlia- *2000- The new draft Constitution in 2000 ment as a private member bill ment for its second reading includes the right to information as a fun- and is defeated in Parliament. damental right *2016 June 24- The bill is passed *2011- The Lessons Learnt and *2004 February- Cabinet approves the first Reconciliation Commission pre- *2016 August 4- Act enacted as law after Speak- draft bill on the right to information sents its final report and recom- er signs the act mends that the right to informa- *2016 September 30- Commissioners to the *2006 April- The Sri Lanka Legal Commis- tion be enacted as law. Right to Information Commission appointed sion presents the proposed bill on the ac- *2012 May 11- the adjournment cess to information for the second time debate on the need to enact the *2017 January- The date on which the act comes right to information (motion by into effect is gazetted. *2009 November- A special committee ap- MP ) pointed by the Minister of Justice and Law *2017 February 3- rules and regulations on the Reforms, , prepares a bill *2014- the common candidate right to information gazetted on the access to information with proposals of the opposition promises in his from the Sri Lanka Press Council and the election manifesto that he would *2017 February 06- Citizens and civil society or- ganizations file for information under the right to Editor’s Guild. enact the right to information if elected into power information act for the first time. International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 6 I The Right to N Information for a T superior E public service R

Q. How can you strengthen the country’s public sector ma- V chinery through the enactment of the right to information act?

I When implementing a country’s government machinery many decisions are made and for their implementation various policies are formulated. When implementing these decisions, E what we expect of the policies is to deliver the needs of the people in a transparent and systematic manner. We have in- W troduced this right to information act to minimize the room for these policies to be changed in the middle or to be taken in a different direction. What does a government do for the people in the country? What is expected through such actions? How is money spent for all such services? Has a decent service been rendered to R.H.S. Samaratunga the village, area or country as a result of all that money spent? These are the questions the public have a right to ask. We did Secretary not see that right being exercised until now. Thus many were Ministry of Finance and Mass Media motivated to get their work done through various other means time but no one was able to question it. Today the situation and people. is different. We can question an injustice which happens to- day immediately. The government has given that right to the Q. Is there a program to get public officials who have dilapi- people. dated the public service give information to the public? At the same time, the officials now are aware of their respon- sibilities. They know that they would have to answer for evad- With the right to information act coming into force, the public ing responsibility. Similarly they are reminded that they would official can no longer neglect his duties. They are automati- have to answer to past misdeeds. Thus they cannot hide any cally made to work according to the agenda set by the govern- information in future. As the general public, all you have to do ment and to work within the confines of the legal framework. At is submit an application. the same time we also need to systemize information so that the official can provide the information needed by the public at Q. How can you use the International Right to Information Day some point of time. Truly only the public can get this system celebrations to highlight the characteristics of a strong democ- to work. racy in Sri Lanka? For the last 70 years, rather than solving the problems of the public, what was done was to divert the issues elsewhere and With the strengthening of the right to information, the devel- the official simply kills time. If certain issues were resolved, opment path of Sri Lanka becomes very transparent and the they were done because of various other pressures. This was responsibilities and accountability of the public service is en- the very reason that the public service became inefficient. As a sured. It is through this that the principle of good governance result the public service disintegrated and various other forces is established. This is a characteristic of all democratic and de- became stronger. As the government machinery succumbed veloped countries. When you take into account the implemen- to their will, the people became more vulnerable. With the en- tation of the act, we are in its preliminary stages. We will use actment of the right to information, the government ensured this year to further increase the awareness of the act among that the people got their rights back. the officials and the general public. This year the celebration of the International Day of Right to Information in Sri Lanka is Q. What should the people do to take advantage of this situ- in line with the theme of ‘Right to Information for a superior ation? public service’. Accordingly we hope to focus the attention of the public towards to the right to information. If the people take advantage of this right given to them by the government, many things can change quickly. If the service you receive from a government office does not deliver what is Pramitha Randali Pabasara promised, you can question them. Government servants are Pics by- Gayan Pushpika there to serve you. This system has been going on for some International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 7

I The Right to Information N The provision of a protector of the T public good government official E ture of asking for information and giving the information needed has R to be cultivated among both the public and the public servants, and in doing so there is a great benefit to society. This will help us provide information in a correct manner. With the establishment of public trust V and systems, the government service will improve greatly. I see this I as a motivation towards building a more efficient public sector. Q. How do you see this right being systematically embedded within E society after a period of 70 years? The strengthening of this right, I see as an important political juncture W in the history of our country. The right to information is a fundamental right and this act has been one of the most important acts in our his- tory. It is great victory of the people. We need to create a culture of providing information within all government institutions through the media. When a member of the general public asks for information and a hundred others want the same information, the government official J.M. Thilaka Jayasundera understands that it becomes a burden to keep providing that informa- Additional Secretary tion a hundred times. So he is motivated to put out that information (Development and Planning) even when it is not asked. Ministry of Finance and Mass Media Q. How does the Right to Information Act contribute towards estab- Chairman- The Independent Television Network lishing an efficient government service which would help the country move forward? Q. How can you strengthen the country’s public sector machinery through the enactment of the right to information act? The Right to Information Act in our country is very powerful. If we are to take the government service to a place which works for the people, The Global Competitive Index is one of the most important indica- the people then have to use the privileges granted by the Act to ask tors when it comes to measuring Sri Lanka’s efficiency, quality and for information. At present we see that the general public is not very productivity of the public sector. According to that index, Sri Lanka aware of this. Thus they are still resorting to other means to get their was ranked 72nd among 144 countries in 2018. In global indices, work done within the system. At the same time public officials too Sri Lanka ranks high when it comes to our health and other human have to use this Act for the benefit of the people. I also ask that the development indices. But there are many reasons why we score 72nd public not use this act to fulfil any personal agendas or motivations. place in the index above. The measurement of public sector efficiency is one of the major contributors to this low ranking. In this country Q. How do we move forward as a country which has ensured the instead of a strong work ethic we have a culture of avoiding work. right to information as we celebrate the International Day of the right Thus to have a great public sector, we must create an efficient public to access information? service. We need a systematic approach for this and it is because we do not have such a system that the government service is at its All government officials have been given an open invitation to connect current state. with the program on celebrating the International Day on the Right to Access Information to be held on 28 September. We have also asked Q. How can efficiency be increased with the implementation of the all government officials to look at this Act in a positive manner. They Right to Information Act? have a responsibility and duty to do so. Information is a public good. Thus it is the government official’s duty to provide this information and It is the supply side of the public service that contributes to the imple- it is a protection of the public’s right. Commit to the public’s right to mentation of the Right to Information act. The demand side comes access information so that we can create a respectable government from the public. Here the supply side must be strong to deliver the service. This is the message we would like to deliver on the Interna- information demanded by the public. In the process; the collection, tional Day on the Right to Access Information. storage and systemization of information happens and we are able to create a formal structure to it. Thus the government service is able to deliver on its responsibility of supplying much needed information. Here we are also able to protect an institution’s transparency and ac- Pramitha Randali Pabasara countability. I think ensuring the right to information is a culture. A cul- International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 8-9 I It is the citizen that brings to effect the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media N Right to Information Act There has been no government institution, semi government in- take all possible steps to provide solutions to the public in these T stitution or public commission which is not working in accordance cases. Right to information Act with this Act. According to this Act, the Presidential Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, the Office of the Speaker, the Q. We recently had a commotion in the Northern Provincial E Supreme Court including the entirety of the justice system and Council because they refused to provide information on the for- The current progress in the the whole government machinery is bound to provide informa- eign trips of their councillors. Can they reject such a request for R tion. At the same time all public contractors who have signed an information? agreement with the government, businesses in partnership with implementation the government and businesses operating under a government As stated earlier, no government body has refused to comply with V license are bound to provide information. Similarly any private the request for information. The problem cropped up in the North- organization, higher education institute or university which is ern Provincial Council because they stated that information on 1) Establish RTI resource centre, and assign staff I funded by the government is bound by the act. the councillors foreign trips could not be given as it was protected under the privileges of a council member. But they should have a. Stakeholder consultation program conducted with the participation of RTI exper- Q. How many citizen appeals has the Commission received so a policy document or accepted standing orders on the privileges E tise, journalists and civil activities to get ideas on resource centre. far and what steps were taken to resolve them? accorded to councillors. If there is no such policy document, the privileges of the councillors cannot be protected. Thus you can Consultant was recruited to prepare proposal of resource centre (funded by USAID) W As of September 18 2018, the Commission has received 951 ap- question the actions of council members according to the provi- peals. We have completed the hearing of 690 appeals in the last sions of the Right to Information Act. The Parliamentary Powers 18 months. Of them 420 have been given final judgements. We and Privileges Act protects the privileges of Members of Parlia- 2) Develop a policy on rolling out proactive disclosure across are in the process of investigating the remaining appeals. On av- ment but because provincial councilors have no such act, it was Piyatissa Ranasinghe erage we receive around 85-90 appeals every month. We docu- ordered that information on their foreign trips be made public. ministries ment, investigate and present all those appeals to be heard by a. Piolet project was intiatated with Ministry of vocational training, Ministry of home Director General the Commission and they are provided with a date for their hear- Q. How cooperative is the government machinery when it comes ing. Normally the Commission would meet 3-4 times a week and to implementing the Right to Information Act? affairs and Kotte Municipal council. (Funded by UNDP) Right to Information Commission we would call on both parties to hear around 10-15 cases. Some appeals are resolved within the day whilst others take a few days It is normal to have issues crop up in the early stages of imple- for a solution to be found. The main reason for this is that either menting an act. It is difficult for our officials to switch from a cul- 3) Preparation of RTI trainers pool to control RTI awareness both or one of the parties do not turn up on the day of the hearing ture of hiding information to one of providing information. Thus I Q. Could you explain the role of the Right to Information Com- so the appeal gets postponed. Thus it is important that both par- expect the situation to improve with time. I see our government programs mission which has been established for the purpose of imple- ties be committed to the process. machinery in a very positive state towards providing access to a. Knowledge sharing sessions were conducted to re-polish RTI trainer’s knowledge menting and protecting the right to information? information. Q. If you were to categorize the various appeals received by the (Funded by USAID) The RIght to Information Commission came into effect with para- Commission, what would the categories look like? Q. What is the message you would like to deliver to our citizens graph 15 T (15 E) of the 2016 No 12 Right to Information Act. on the right to information? It explains how the Commission would act when appeals are Of all the appeals we receive, the majority are administrative and 4) Conduction of training programs for Information officers directed to and heard by the Commission under paragraph 32 institution based. They are around 30 percent of the total and I feel that the general public are not using the act much to get in- of the Act. Thus there are three main duties entrusted with the mostly concern promotions, transfers, salaries, pensions or ex- formation on development work and government services which a. Resource materials and resource persons provided as per the requests of public Commission, they are; to hear and decide on appeals related to ams. In addition 17 percent of what we receive are on land and operate on their tax money. They are mostly interested in private authorities to conduct training programs. information accessed by the public, to guide and advice public property issues, 8 percent on environmental issues and a small matters or that which has an immediate impact on them, there officials on the general workings of the act and to increase aware- number of other appeals. If we are to look at these appeals on an is less interest in the public good. The general public should be ness and train public officials on the act and to resolve any issues institution basis; most come from the social service, education, especially interested in developing public services delivered to Continued on Page 10….. they may have with regard to it. health and cooperative sectors. In the university system, most them using government finances. We also need the commitment appeals come from the Wayamba and Jaffna Universities. When of our civil society groups towards this. Our civil society groups Q. Have the required number of information officers been ap- it comes to Departments, the Police department has the highest at the village especially need to work with civil society to find out pointed? number of appeals against them. It is followed by the Agrarian more information on public services and goods. We also need a Services, Agriculture and Animal Production, Irrigation and Ex- program to get those in the grassroots more interested in this. We The full responsibility to appoint an information officer to all gov- ams Departments. need to launch a better awareness campaign for that. The right to ernment institutions falls on the Ministry of Mass Media and Fi- information is a right that needs to be exercised by our citizens. nance which is the executor of the Act. As of now the task of train- Q. Could you speak of the nature of the appeals received? It is not the government official who will implement this act. Thus ing and appointing information officers is 99 percent complete, I ask the general public that they execute and use this act rightly thus the Act is completely effective in the country. Much of the appeals directed towards the Commission are against for the betterment of our country. the relevant information officer appointed by the authorities. Not Q. Do you have any public officials or government institutions having given information during the specified time period, not ac- Daya Sri Narendra Rajapaksa M.A. which have not delivered on their responsibility to provide access cepting the request for information, rejecting the application for Director (Media) to information in accordance with this act? information or the citizen not being satisfied by the information Ministry of Industry and Commerce provided are some of the general complaints we receive. So we International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 10

5)Reprint of RTI hand book, training guide 12) Encouraging civil society organizations I and training module (CSOs) to organize and conduct awareness a. 5000 of RTI hand books were reprinted. Tamil raising programs in the rural areas including N version of RTI hand book prepared. by holding RTI clinics a. Quartly awareness program conduct to discuss F 6) Conduction of awareness programs for progress and identity future requirements. Ground level government officers and lead- O ers of community - based organizations 13) Publication of RTI Newsletter a. Completed awareness programs in divisional a. RTI newsletter which issued by RTI unit was con- R secretariats in Gampaha district and initiated train- verted to official newspaper. RTI official newspaper ing in North central and Nuwara Eliya districts ‘‘Pawatha’’ monthly published with Dinamina and M Thinakaran papers. 7) Conduction of networking sessions of in- A formation officers 14) Promotion Materials (Hand bills, posters) a. Southern, North, Western and Central province a. 04 types of leaflets and small booklet prepared T networking sessions were complete in year 2017 and 5,00,000 copies printed in Sinhala and Tamil I b. Sabaragamuwa, Estern and North Central prov- medium to distribute among general public. 02 ince were complete in year 2018 posters created and distribute among all divisional, O district secretariats and police stations to display 8) Negotiate with the National Institute of Ed- details of information officers, designate officer and N ucaion to introduce RTI literacy into school RTI request process. curricular a. Discussions conducted o include RTI as subject 15) Commemorate International RTI Day to selected subjects in Grade 8,9,10,11 and 12 in a. Declaration of RTI week (Cabinet apptoval has A the year 2020. RTI training for political teachers given and circular issued to declare RTI week) C trainers were complete. 9) Negotiate with relevant higher education T institutions to include RTI into journalism and Sudharma Karunaratne media education Assistant Secretary - Ministry of Finance and Mass Media a. Discussions conducted with vice chancellors and Edited by - Ishani Arunodhika Wickramage relevant ministries

10) Develop an on-line RTI certificate course a. Introduced an online RTI train- ing course by SLIDA for govern- ment officials. (Funded by UNDP)

11) Enhance RTI website and Ministry of Mass Media web- site as an educational re- source base for RTI a. Developed RTI website as an educational resource base for RTI. Proposals were prepared to restructure RTI and Mass Media websites. International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 11 I Where we belong in the world N Sri Lanka rated third among countries who have ensured the right to information T E R N A T I O Country Rating Results Significant Differences in Caribbean RTI Rating Scores - 30 June, 2015 N Mexico 136 00 Serbia 135 00 There are significant discrepancies in protection for the right to A Sri Lanka 131 Austria 33 information (RTI) in two countries in the Caribbean region. The RTI TOP 10 Slovenia 129 Liechtenstein 39 India 128 Philippines 46 Rating found that the Cayman L Islands’ Freedom of Information

Albania 127 BOTTOM 10 Tajikistan 49 Law scored comparatively well, with Croatia 126 Iran 50 112 points out of a possible score of 150, which would be tied for 13th Liberia 124 Jordan 53 position globally compared to El Salvador 122 Germany 54 national. Sierra Leone 122 Taiwan 57 World he International Day for the Universal Ac- 2018 is the third time the Day is being celebrated Information Day on Tcess to Information is celebrated on Sep- after the intervention of UNESCO. Conferences tember 28 of every year since 2016. and events are being held at the UNESCO 28 September headquarters in Paris as well as several cities It is promoted by the United Nations Educa- around the world to commemorate the occa- tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UN- sion. The aims of these events are to propagate ESCO), which is a UN agency which Sri Lanka the right to information around the world and to is a member of. The main aim of this day is to promote the access to information via informa- promote all forms of legal, technical and institu- tion technology. In 2015, Sustainable Develop- tional assistance towards access to information. ment Goals were adopted at the United Nations Special emphasis is laid on laws and regula- and Goals 16 and10 aspire to provide access to tions which guarantee public access to govern- information to all around the world by or before ment information. 2030. Sri Lanka which hopes to celebrate not only the International Day for Universal Access Prior to UNESCO declaring this day on an inter- to Information but will also celebrate a week in governmental level, civil society groups around honour of it, thus becoming active partners in the world celebrated 28 September as the day this global endeavor. for ‘access to information’. It was the Organiza- tion of African Unity (OAU) which moved the UN Nalaka Gunawardena to give it official recognition. Communications Consultant International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 12 I N F O R M A T I

O and government officers aware of the Act. Thus we see many civil society activists come forward to reap the benefits of the N Civil society Act. must be empowered But when studying the last two years, we see a larger number of politicians, civil organizations and media personnel using to ask for information this Act more than the general public. And more often than not A they use this information to fulfil certain political agendas. At the same time we see civil society using this information to resolve C their personal or public issues within their own village as a col- “Information is oxygen to democracy” lective or individually. T This saying simply says as life cannot survive without oxygen, a democracy cannot survive without access to information. This Examples of when the Right to Information Act helped people shows how important it is for people to have access to informa- were; when the villagers of Rotawela used it to get a new prin- tion. The United Nations, by stating that the ‘Right to Information ciple for the village school, when the women of Rathmalyaya was a fundamental right” shows that it is central in all the free- used it to get water for their village, to have the postal service doms the UN promotes and fights for. Hence according to the arrive at villages never serviced before, roads to villages, water organization, the right to access information should be granted and public utilities, to resolve land issues, to admit a child to equally to all societies around the world. school and when it helped resolve many personal issues that Since ancient times, it has been accepted that this right is an people faced on a day to day basis. But at times we also saw important feature of democracy and was espoused by Greek the act take a retarded or backward state of growth. The main philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato. reason for this is that our citizens are not yet using the Act to The philosophers state that “It is a basic feature of democracy to the fullest. reveal all government and public information to the people and It however must be noted that the government has taken con- to make them aware of that information”. siderable measures to make the public aware of the Act and its All these ideas highlight that the right to access information by benefits. It is also important here that civil society members in- the general public is a basic human right that cannot be pre- tervene and help take the Act from village to village. Thus all civil vented, controlled, suppressed or censored. society organizations have to come forward to create a program Thus it is the responsibility and duty of all of us to empower civil that is relevant, suitable for those in the grassroots and the vil- society organizations to make use of this right to the fullest. lages, attractive and also one that is practical so that more take up the idea of right to information. Two years ago, the right to information was made legal to the people through the Right to Information Act No 12 of 2016. In Daya Sri Narendra Rajapaksa M.A. the last two years the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media has Director (Media) undertaken a tremendous amount of work to make civil society Ministry of Industry and Commerce International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 13 Jayawardena has written stories that are of public importance based on the information he received through the RTI requests with supporting evidence from his own investigative findings. I These include stories on whether protected land is being re- leased for any other purpose, about the places in which unlawful N sand mining occur and areas where land grabbing have occurred. Thus he has been able to highlight the misuse of state resources through the use of the RTI law. F Another talented journalist who has used the RTI act to under- stand the background to environmental issues and reveal the O facts behind many problems is Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi. He has been mainly writing on issues in the Southern Province and working on the ground in the relevant areas.Hettiarachchi R has been successful in writing stories on the human-elephant conflict, drought related issues and other environmental issues to M both international and national media in addition to photographing them. In the meantime North Central Province based journalist Sarath A ManulaWickrema has used the RTI to find out about financial irregularities, misuse of public property and other corrupt activi- T ties in his area. Wickrema who is also a social activist said that the RTI law was an important tool to eventually rid corruption, he was speaking at a workshop for journalists held in Anuradhapura I Journalists in mid- September of this year. As an example he highlighted how he was able to reveal corruption in the purchasing of books O who have used by the North Central Provincial Council Library Services Board, between 2010-2017 through the information he received from an RTI for the RTI request. At the same time he was able to find out about how N certain schools in that area were not holding classes for Grade 13 students but teachers of those classes were being paid neverthe- less. These days he is looking for information on minor lakes public good and roads which only exist in paper but not in reality. Several A s of April 2015, the right to information became a fundamental senior technical officers have certified that they have successfully Aright of all citizens. The legal framework to exercise that right completed the construction of these lakes and roads having used was given by the Right to Information Act No 12 of 2016. Journal- millions in public funds but few seem to exist in reality. C ists and civil society activists are among those who have mainly In the North, it is the Jaffna based Udayan Daily newspaper jour- been using this act for the public good. Let us find out how these nalist, DilipAmudan who is in the forefront of this process. He has T journalists have been using the right to information. been continuously filing for RTI requests and writing investigative Journalists are professionals who obtain information, verify it and pieces using that information. Further he has also appealed to thereafter publish it to the people. The reporting of the effective- the RTI Commission on multiple occasions when his requests ness of the right to information act in certain instances also come have not been entertained. A year ago, he filed an RTI request to under their purview. At the same time, journalists also have the find out about the businesses the army engaged in the Northern equal right to seek information from public authorities like any and Eastern Provinces. When he did not get this information, other ordinary citizen of the country. In the early months of the he appealed to the RTI Commission. The Commission accord- law, we saw that the media was reluctant to file applications for ing to the provisions of the act has the power to summon any information, ‘we have our own ways of finding official information’, public authority. Having listened to both parties, the Commission many would say whilst others stated, ‘we cannot wait for 14 days ordered that the army provide him with the information requested. until our information request is processed’. The Commission did not accept the premise that there was a But this has begun to slowly change. A study of the media in threat to national security if such information was made public. At all three languages show that there have been many instances the same time, the Commission pointed out that a public authority where stories were written as a result of a RTI application. They had no legal authority to inquire into the background of the per- have been able to uncover many stories of government irregulari- son requesting the information or as to what purpose they were ties, corruption and evasion of responsibility through their RTI doing so, prior to releasing the relevant information. requests. This is an important development not only to the field In addition to the four journalists mentioned above, there are of journalism but also to governance of the country. A few young many more journalists and social activists who are using the RTI journalists have been seen leading the way here. Lankadeepa for the public good. By recognizing their work and supporting reporter, Tharindu Jayawardena has stood out in the crowd. From them in their endeavours, we can contribute towards creating 2017 February to 2018 September 15 he has filed closed to 300 a more accountable system of governance and a society with requests for information from various government authorities. He minimum corruption. said that he has received responses to over 100 of them and the rest are being appealed for. He added that he has with the RTI Commission filed for 30 appeals against information officers who Nalaka Gunawardena have been named in accordance with the act and 8 appeals with Communications Consultant regards to not getting a response for the requests filed. International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 14

I Challenges and Opportunities N in the implementation F O of the RTI R A critical analysis of the opportunities and challenges in M implementing the Opportunities for the Right to Information Act implementation of the RTI act in A No 12 of 2016. Sri Lanka

T ● An Act that was passed as a result of civil society activism it. This allows us to share experiences among other countries and further improve the implementation process. I There was a strong demand from civil society organizations, human rights activists and the media that this act be intro- ● Sri Lanka a partner in the Open Government Partnership O duced. Thus it is a positive fact that the act receives high social In 2015 Sri Lanka signed on to the Open Government Partner- acceptance and likely to be implemented more. ship and promised to bring into effect the Right to Information Act, making this an ideal opportunity to ensure its success. N ● A people’s Act ● High Human Development Indices All benefits of the RTI Act is for the people. Unlike other acts, this only comes into effect with the enforcement of the people. We expect our citizens to make use of the Act better than As a result, we can hope that civil society would help and in- those in many other countries given that our people enjoy a A tervene to remove all obstacles in its path to implementation. much higher state of social development when compared to other countries in the region. C ● A result of a long term discussion Challenges to the T Whilst the RTI act came into force in 2016, the discussion with implementation of the RTI Act regard to it is one that is ongoing since 1996. The first draft bill on the right to information was approved in 2004. As this is an ● Public officials having to bear additional costs act which has been in discussion among the people for such a long time, it will help in its current phase of implementation. Public officials need to bear additional costs when providing, collecting, reporting and presenting information. They need to ● Political Will find finances to fund additional staff and office resources. This is a challenge when it comes to the full implementation of the The bill was passed into act with unanimous support in Par- RTI. liament. This shows that all political parties accept this act. And as the government took a very short period of time to ● Building a culture of making information available implement this act, it exhibits a strong political will towards its success. Through various government legislation and circulars we have turned our public officials into those who are not willing to re- ● An act present in many countries lease information easily. Officials who have got used to his cul- ture of not sharing find it a challenge to share information im- 112 countries around the world have this act as part of their mediately. It is a major challenge when implementing the Act law and all SAARC countries apart from Bhutan have adopted Continued on Page 15...

Coordination Coordination Guidance Preparation of Guidance J.W.S. Kithsiri - Director Planning and Zahrah Imtiaz digital media Dr R.H.S. Samaratunga Sudharma Karunaratne Creative Director Editor Production Secretary Assistant Secretary - Ministry of Finance Nushka Nafeel Graphics Team Ministry of Finance and Mass Media and Mass Media Samantha Karunasekera Managing Editor Design Assistance J.M. Thilaka Jayasundera Government Relations Dhanushka Bandara Uchitha Nishan Dhammika (Lake House) Additional Secretary Development Officer- Ministry of Finance Ilankoon / 0112 429297 / 077 3493785 Ministry of Finance and Mass Media and Mass Media Ashani Jayawardana Government Relations Dept. International RTI Day 2018 Friday, September 28, 2018 Continued from Page 14…. 15 information supported by the act.

I l The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector not being prepared N to release information Private enterprises and non-governmental organizations which come under the description of public corporations which serve F a public goodare yet to complete the process of appointing an information officer to their institutions and do not seem ready to O engage in the process of supplying information to the public. If we are to full enjoy all clauses under the Act, the citizens need l •The lack awareness in the provision and to have access to information in these sectors too. R asking of information The above mentioned challenges are not impossible to over- come. And when one looks at the speciality of the act and the M The asking for information under the right to information to a opportunities for its implementation, I believe we can be suc- certain extent is quite technical. You have to pay much atten- cessful in implementing the act to the fullest. A tion to the way in which you fill the application form (especially the description of the information you need) and the institution Attorney-at-Law to which you need to direct the request to. You also need to pay attention to the relevant information officer and the types of Jagath Liyanarachchi T Director- National Media Centre I l The best Right to Information Act in The specialities of the O Asia The Sri Lankan Right to Information act boasts of the strong- est legal framework in Asia and of the 112 countries which Sri Lankan Right to N have adopted RTI, the Sri Lankan act is ranked the third most powerful in the world. Information Act

l Certain sections of the private sector too are covered by the act l The RTI Commission has no power to A Many RTI acts only cover the government sector. But our RTI mete out punishment act covers certain sections of the private sector which come un- RTI Commissions established through the RTI act in many C der public corporations or those what have dealings with the countries have the power to hand out punishments, especially government (refer to the description of public corporation under in the form of fines but the RTI Commission in Sri Lanka has no paragraph 43 of the act). This is the only RTI act in South Asia such power through the act. T which allows for sections of the private sector to be covered. l Senior government officers being ap- l •The act does not exempt any public pointed as information officers authority Though the act does not specify who should be appointed as an Some RTI acts around the world have exempted certain public information officer, in our country, the second senior most gov- authorities from the act. Having done this, these acts provide ernment official in an institution has been appointed to be its in- an annexure of those organizations which have been exempted formation officer. This is a speciality not seen in many countries. and citizens are only allowed to submit an application to them if there is a human rights violation or if they need to find informa- l The act coming into force within six tion of any corrupt activities. But the Sri Lankan months of enactment RTI act covers all government institutions. Many countries around the world usually took one or two years to fully implement the provisions of the RTI act they had adopt- l There are no information ed. At times this enforcement period was further lengthened. that is banned from the act But when it came to our act, the subject Minister had mentioned There is no information which has banned in the gazette notice of the act that it should come into full effect access to it by the RTI act. The act only within six months of being enacted. Thus he had taken steps to specifies instances in which a ‘request for implement the act within the first six months. We now belong to information can be rejected’. the group of countries which were able to fully implement the act within the shortest of time periods l The act includes non- governmental organiza- tions The Sri Lankan RTI act apart from that of Bangladesh is the only other Attorney-at-Law act in South Asia which covers ac- Jagath Liyanarachchi cess to information in non-govern- Director- National Media Centre mental organizations. International RTI Day 2018 16 Friday, September 28, 2018

RTI information Week An awareness campaign for citizens around the country

he Ministry of Finance and Mass Media fulfilling its obligation this act, the people need to move beyond asking for information Ttowards the full implementation of the RTI act has undertaken that only affects them and pursue information which would benefit many programs and initiatives to strengthen the use of the act. A the overall public and help change way the systems operate in the part of this program has been to formulate common governmental country. To help realize this, the Ministry has declared 2018 as the procedures to adopt the act, gazetting of regulations, the appoint- ‘year of creating public awareness’ and has rolled out and planned ment of information officers to all government institutions around the several programs this year to aid this endeavour; this includes sev- country, training of officers, training of trainers, and the conducting eral programs which would be held to mark the International Day for of various awareness programs and campaigns to inform the public the Universal Access to Information falling on 28 September. of the provisions of the act and how it can be used. However it has been noticed that if the country is to fully benefit from

The inaugural event of the ‘information week’ would be held on 2018.09.21 at the Ministry premises. In connection to this, street drama performances would be held at the premises of the Colombo National Hospital and the Fort Railway Station. A short film festival under the theme of ‘RTI Film Day’ has also been organized to be shown at the Tharangani Cinema hall on the day.

Street dramas to be held in the cities of Gampaha and Negombo on 2018.09.23.

A mobile service to increase public awareness on the right to information for citizens in the Jaffna dis- trict would operate on 2018.09.24.

The finale of the all island school debate and essay competition on the right to information, one of the main events of the program would be held on 2018.09.25 and the winners of the competitions would be chosen on the day.

On 2018.09.26 a session would be held for civil society members to express the views of the public on the act at the Government Information Department auditorium and an awareness session on the act for members of the public accounts committee which evaluate various governmental departments would be held at the Sri Lankan Parliament.

On 2018.09.27 results of a research conducted on the right to information act would be released and a program to share experiences among information trainers in the South Asian region would be held

On 2018.08.28 the International Conference would be held at the NelumPokuna National Theatre and a ‘Special Issues of Pavatha’ would be released.

Printed & Published by The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., at No.35, D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo 10 on Friday, September 28, 2018