Rights groups challenge Iraqi bill curbing access to information

Shafaq News – Baghdad (Updated on September 17 at 14:57)

The Parliament’s preparations for the second reading of the draft Right to Access Information Law risk eroding the essence of the right if endorsed without transparent and thorough revisions, the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) warned on Wednesday.

In February, the Iraqi Parliament completed the first reading of the Right of Access to Information Law. The bill was previously approved by the Iraqi Cabinet on October 4, 2023, and forwarded to Parliament for further consideration.

In a statement, IOHR stressed that the draft had not been developed in consultation with civil society, journalists’ unions, or academics, cautioning that this exclusion undermines its legitimacy. It also described the definition of “information” as too narrow, restricted to specific documents, while excluding electronic correspondence and internal recommendations.

The observatory further criticized wide exemptions covering defense, security, foreign policy, and public tenders, alongside weak appeal mechanisms and vague punitive clauses that could be used against journalists and activists.

Meanwhile, the al-Nakhil Center for Press Freedoms denounced what it described as attempts to “push laws through in secrecy,” like earlier efforts with the Right to Protest Law, urging Parliament’s Culture and Human Rights Committees to revise the bill in a way that ensures real access to information and to publish a clear version of the draft for public review before any vote.

Al-Nakhil explained that the bill blocks access to at least 13 categories of information, including public contracts, and grants officials broad discretion to deny disclosure. It also pointed to provisions imposing prison sentences and fines for revealing classified material, warning that such measures could deter investigations into corruption and economic wrongdoing.

Speaking with Shafaq News, lawmaker Suzan Mansour from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a leading party in the Kurdistan Region, warned that the bill, despite its stated aim of supporting journalists, would curb their ability to investigate corruption, confirming that such limits amount to “fighting the Fourth Estate.”