Human Rights and Civil Society · Transparency & accountability

IFAI president wants to reform freedom of information laws

Jacqueline Peschard, the president of the Federal Institute for Access to Public Information (IFAI) urged Mexico’s Congress to consider ways to make government agencies and elected officials more accountable for their actions by requiring them to keep better track of their records.Peschardsaid that attempts to collect information from federal agencies and officials have resulted in 5,589 cases in which the requests have been rejected on the grounds that the documents do not exist.

The agencies that are most likely to say they have no documentation include the Mexican Attorney General’s office and the Secretary of Public Function. Peschard told El Universal that the only way to avoid these kinds of responses is to construct norms for preserving documents and to expand the definition of documents to include audio, video, plans and photos.

SOURCE:

Velasco, Elizabeth. “El IFAI solicita a nuevos diputados reformar ley de acceso a la informacion.” La Jornada. August 31, 2009

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