Manusher Jonno: Spearheading the RTI Campaign in Bangladesh

Established in 2002, Manusher Jonno (MJ) now operates all over Bangladesh through its 112 partner organisations. For the last one year, MJ has been facilitating and coordinating with various civil society organisations to promote right to information (RTI) issues in Bangladesh. In 1999, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), with the help of Ain O Salish Kendro, a local human rights based organisation, arranged a three-day seminar in Dhaka to analyse the situation in South Asian countries with respect to access to information legislation. Since then, many NGOs, civil society members, media persons, lawyers, and academicians have been involved in promoting issues related to people’s right to information but such initiatives have been very scattered and sporadic.

Based on its five broad thematic areas, MJ’s partner’s activities have been grouped into nine sub-thematic areas with right to information being one of the major sub-groupings. Currently, seven partner organisations are working directly on this topic. Based on its partnership and implementation experiences, MJ feels that access to information is one of the most important issues to address in order to affect change in the lives of people, especially in the disadvantaged and the marginalised sections of the community. MJ also recognises that non-availability of information has not only become a major impediment to implementing programmes undertaken by partner organisations to ameliorate the condition of disadvantaged groups in society, but that it also acts as a hurdle in ushering in democracy and development.

Furthermore, in a country like Bangladesh where violations are rampant and where ordinary citizens have become vulnerable to the failings of the state and the forces of vested interest groups, a legal safety net is necessary to establish people’s right to information, which impacts every aspect of people’s life and liberty. MJ, along with its partner organisations, has taken the initiative to bring together all those working on RTI to create a joint force of all efforts that have so far been undertaken.

To get this process underway, MJ has undertaken several initiatives and one of these includes conducting a rapid analysis of the present situation of right to information in the country. The fundamental aim of the study was to understand how people perceive the concept of the right to information, as well as the perceived barriers and critical areas relating to access to information. The report also looked into who were believed to be the main actors in promoting access to information in Bangladesh.

The findings of the report revealed that the existing perception about RTI was much more related to freedom of information with respect to the media than right to information as a development tool.

A keynote paper to address the present situation was presented by MJ at a seminar on “situational analysis of right to information in Bangladesh: challenges and realities” on 5 September 2005, where members of diverse civil society groups were present to address the issue. Presiding as the chief guest of the seminar, the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs agreed that an RTI law was needed and a working paper prepared by the Law Commission was being considered by the Government.

Subsequently, a dialogue session with the lawmakers was held in the month of October during which it was agreed that a right to information law was the need of the hour for a vibrant democracy. This was followed by a two-day conference titled “Right to Information: National & Regional Perspectives” in December 2005 during which participants from all over South Asia came together to share local, regional and national experiences. The Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary, Dr. Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, who attended the seminar as the chief guest, pledged to do his best for the enactment of the Right to Information Act, which he considers is a must for poverty alleviation and bringing transparency and accountability to the Government.

What is presently most important in Bangladesh is to establish people’s right to information as a fundamental right by establishing a new law. In this context, MJ has developed a network with CHRI to carry on its campaign for an access law in Bangladesh. Together we have undertaken some measures in RTI related issues. For example, MJ will be translating CHRI’s 2003 CHOGM report “Open Sesame: Looking for the Right to Information in the Commonwealth” into Bengali to fit the context of Bangladesh. Also, an intern from MJ has spent ten days training at CHRI in March 2006, which provided MJ with insight on developing campaigns and advocacy strategies.

The current situation in Bangladesh requires that focus be placed on increasing the demand for information requests from the grassroots, as well as from organisations working at the community level. This will help people understand the need for such a law, and to know how and why this law will affect their lives. Most people in Bangladesh are still not aware of this fundamental right, and as such there is an urgent need to raise awareness on the subject. It is only then that one can truly embark on a national campaign for an access regime.

Secondly, the demand for this basic right and advocacy with the Government, decision makers, lawmakers and other stakeholders should go hand in hand. The deep-rooted culture of secrecy amongst government officials and the restrictive rules and regulations have to be removed to ensure open government.

Thirdly, enactment of the law should be done through a wide consultative process so that civil society and ordinary citizens can participate in the drafting process. In this connection, MJ took the initiative to form three core groups comprising academicians, researchers, lawyers, human rights activists, civil society and the media.

A core group for law will review the working paper prepared by the Law Commission and suggest necessary amendments based on the critique of the working paper and maximum disclosure principles furnished by CHRI. A core group for advocacy will plan the campaign targeting the policy makers and the political parties and the third core group will be involved in the mass mobilisation for awareness building, with a view to creating a demand for an access law.

Challenges

In spite of all these efforts, formulating and enacting an RTI Act is not easy. Although it is encouraging that the Law Commission has drafted a working paper on “Right to Information Act 2002”, it is feared that the Act may be ambiguous since there has been no consultation with wider civil society networks and other stakeholders. Avoiding such consultation raises the concern that if other restrictive laws prevail then the Act will ultimately become less effective or rendered completely meaningless. Recently, a leading national daily “The Daily Star” had reported that the Minister for Information himself is unaware of the working paper being prepared by the Law Commission. On the other hand, the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs said that based on the working paper, his Ministry has prepared a draft Right to Information Act and has sent it to the Information Ministry. It is a pity that the Government has not circulated the draft Act for comments, which only shows the Government’s unwillingness to process the draft into a Bill. However given this scenario, one must not lose hope as 2007 is the national election year for Bangladesh and political parties can advance RTI issues as their political agenda.

Manusher Junno is non-profit, non-political organisation that provides funds and technical support to Human Rights and Good Governance initiatives in Bangladesh.