Submit a thousand signatures to amend the “Access to Information Law”

Posted on[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[size=52]Submit a thousand signatures to amend the “Access to Information Law”[/size]

[size=45]The Babel Tower Organization revealed that it submitted a thousand signatures from journalists and lawyers to four parliamentary committees in order to amend the draft law on the right to access information and proceed with its legislation.[/size]
[size=45]The organization said in a statement that “the collected signatures campaign was submitted, along with a copy of the proposals and amendments, by the organization’s legal team to a number of parliamentary committees, including human rights, culture and media, integrity and legality in the House of Representatives, and a copy of it was delivered to the parliament presidency.”[/size]
[size=45]She added, "The purpose of this is to make the amendments that were submitted to the draft project before voting on it."[/size]
[size=45]The organization quoted the head of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, Arshad Al-Salihi, as saying: “We support voting on the draft law on the right to access information, and listening to the opinions and suggestions of civil society organizations.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Salihi said, while receiving a copy of the legal proposals and amendments from the Babel Tower Organization team, that “the law is important, and we must coordinate and cooperate with journalists and civil organizations, and take their opinions and comments, as well as the opinions of legal experts, in order to legislate a law that protects public money, combats corruption, and guarantees the rights and duties of members of society.”[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the Babel Tower Organization has been seeking since 2017 to defend and demand voting for the Right to Information Law due to its importance in reducing corruption, and that its campaign for the year 2024 included collecting the signatures of a thousand journalists and lawyers and officially submitting them to the relevant parliamentary committees to demand amendments and voting on the draft law.[/size]
[size=45]On Wednesday, February 14, 2024, the House of Representatives completed the first reading of the Access to Information Bill.[/size]
[size=45]On October 4, 2023, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved the draft law on the right to access information and referred it to the Council of Representatives for the purpose of legislation.[/size]
[size=45]At the time, the Nakheel Center for Press Rights and Freedoms called on the Speaker of the House of Representatives and members of the House to take into account the essential observations submitted by journalists and human rights activists demanding the inclusion of a full chapter in the Right to Information Law related to journalism and the work of journalists, given that journalists represent trained cadres capable of dealing with information, collecting, writing and interpreting it.[/size]
[size=45][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]