9 Feb 2021 | News and features, Statements
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To:
The Right Honourable William Wragg MP, Chair, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
The Right Honourable Julian Knight MP, Chair, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
CC
The Right Honourable Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Right Honourable Chloe Smith, Minister for the Cabinet Office
Dunja Mijatovic, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner
Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression
Elizabeth Denham, UK Information Commissioner
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon; UK Foreign Office
Kanbar Hossein Bor; UK Foreign Office
We are writing to you to raise serious concerns about the difficulties that journalists, researchers and members of the public currently experience when trying to use FOI legislation, across government.
As you know, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 sets standards for openness and transparency from government, and is a critical tool for ensuring that journalists and members of the public can scrutinise the workings of government.
We have, however, become increasingly concerned about the way in which the legislation is being interpreted and implemented. As the new openDemocracy report ‘Art of Darkness’ makes clear, FOI response rates are at the lowest level since the introduction of the Act 20 years ago.
The report also points to increasing evidence of poor practices across government, such as the use of ‘administrative silence’ to stonewall requests.
In addition, it was recently reported that the Cabinet Office is operating a ‘Clearing House’ unit in which FOI responses are centrally coordinated, undermining the applicant-blind principle of the Act. This raises serious questions about whether information requests by journalists and researchers are being treated and managed differently.
The new report also shows that the regulator charged with implementing Freedom of Information legislation – the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – has seen its budget cut by 41 per cent over the last decade while its FOI complaint caseload has increased by 46 per cent in the same period.
We believe that there are now strong grounds for a review of the UK government’s treatment of and policies for dealing with Freedom of Information requests, and would urge the minister to address these concerns. We urge you to take the following steps as a matter of priority:
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Open an inquiry into the operation of the Clearing House, which comprehensively investigates whether its operation is GDPR-compliant, whether journalists and other users of the Act are being monitored and/or blacklisted, and whether this is illegal and/or undermines the applicant-blind principle of the Act.
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Consider the merits of introducing an ‘administrative silence’ rule whereby a failure to respond to a request within the requisite time period is deemed to be a refusal and can be appealed in full to the ICO.
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Recognise the national interest of an independent and fully funded regulator of information rights by considering the ICO’s critical lack of funding, and making the regulator accountable to and funded by parliament.
Despite recommendations from the ICO, the government has also declined to expand the FOI Act to cover public contracts to private firms – and has failed to deliver on its own pledges to increase the proactive publication of contracting data.
Given the recent National Audit Office report’s criticism about the lack of transparency in government Covid contracting, it is high time that this recommendation was followed through – and that further measures as outlined above are taken to protect and strengthen the public’s right to access information.
Yours,
Mary Fitzgerald, Editor in Chief, openDemocracy
Katharine Viner, Editor in Chief, The Guardian
John Witherow, Editor, The Times
Emma Tucker, Editor, The Sunday Times
Chris Evans, Editor, The Daily Telegraph
Roula Khalaf, Editor, The Financial Times
Alison Phillips, Editor, Daily Mirror
Paul Dacre, Editor-in-Chief, Associated Newspapers, former Editor, Daily Mail
Alan Rusbridger, former Editor in Chief, The Guardian
Lionel Barber, former Editor, Financial Times
Veronica Wadley, Chair of Arts Council London; former Editor, Evening Standard
David Davis MP
Alex Graham, Chair of the Scott Trust
Ian Murray, Executive Director, Society of Editors
Sir Alan Moses, former Chair, IPSO
Anne Lapping CBE, former Deputy Chair, IPSO
Philip Pullman, author
Baroness Janet Whitaker
Baroness Tessa Blackstone
Ruth Smeeth, Chief Executive, Index on Censorship
Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive, Transparency International
Daniel Gorman, Director, English PEN
Menna Elfyn, President of Wales PEN Cymru
Carl MacDougall, President of Scottish PEN
Rebecca Vincent, Director of International Campaigns, Reporters Without Borders
Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary, National Union of Journalists
Sian Jones, President, National Union of Journalists
Jodie Ginsberg, Chief Executive Officer, Internews Europe
John Sauven, Executive Director, Greenpeace
Rachel Oldroyd, Managing Editor, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Jonathan Heawood, Public Interest News Foundation
Anthony Barnett, Founding Director, Charter 88
Chris Blackhurst, former Editor, The Independent
Suzanna Taverne, Chair, openDemocracy
Philippe Sands QC
George Peretz QC
David Leigh, investigative journalist
Robert Peston, journalist and author
Peter Oborne, journalist and author
Nick Cohen, journalist and author
David Aaronovitch, journalist and author
Michael Crick, journalist and author
Ian Cobain, investigative journalist
Tom Bower, investigative journalist
Aditya Chakrabortty, Senior Economics Commentator, The Guardian
Jason Beattie, Assistant Editor, the Daily Mirror
Rowland Manthorpe, Technology Correspondent, Sky News
Cynthia O’Murchu, Investigative Reporter, Financial Times
Tom Warren, Investigative Reporter, BuzzFeed News
Christopher Hird, Founder and Managing Director, Dartmouth Films
Meirion Jones, Investigations Editor, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
James Ball, Global Editor, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Oliver Bullough, journalist and author
Henry Porter, journalist and author
Peter Geoghegan, Investigations Editor, openDemocracy
Margot Gibbs, Senior Reporter, Finance Uncovered
Lionel Faull, Chief Reporter, Finance Uncovered
Chris Cook, Contributing editor, Tortoise
Brian Cathcart, Professor of Journalism, Kingston University
Mark Cridge, Chief Executive, mySociety
Dr Susan Hawley, Executive Director, Spotlight on Corruption
Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe
Miriam Turner and Hugh Knowles, co-CEOs, Friends of the Earth
Mike Davis, Executive Director, Global Witness
Silkie Carlo, Director, Big Brother Watch
Natalie Fenton, Professor of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London
Dr Lutz Kinkel, the Managing Director of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Scott Griffen, Deputy Director of International Press Institute
Granville Williams, Editor, Media North
Alison Moore, journalist and editor
Tim Gopsil, Former Editor, Free Press and the Journalist magazine
Dave West, Deputy Editor, Health Services Journal
Dr Sam Raphael, Director, UK Unredacted and University of Westminster
Leigh Baldwin and Marcus Leroux, SourceMaterial
Vicky Cann, Corporate Europe Observatory
Barnaby Pace, Senior Campaigner, Global Witness
Lisa Clark, Scottish PEN Project Manager
Nick Craven, journalist
Caroline Molloy, Editor, openDemocracy UK
Jenna Corderoy, Investigative Reporter, openDemocracy
Jamie Beagent, Partner, Leigh Day
Sean Humber, Partner, Leigh Day
Harminder Bains, Partner, Leigh Day
Thomas Jervis, Partner, Leigh Day
Oliver Holland, Partner, Leigh Day
Merry Varney, Partner, Leigh Day
Daniel Easton, Partner, Leigh Day
Michael Newman, Partner, Leigh Day
Sarah Campbell, Partner, Leigh Day
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8 Feb 2021 | News and features, Statements, United States
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
February 8, 2021
Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson:
We, the undersigned press freedom, civil liberties, and international human rights advocacy organizations, write today to share our profound concern about the ongoing criminal and extradition proceedings relating to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, under the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
While our organizations have different perspectives on Mr. Assange and his organization, we share the view that the government’s indictment of him poses a grave threat to press freedom both in the United States and abroad. We urge you to drop the appeal of the decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court to reject the Trump administration’s extradition request.
We also urge you to dismiss the underlying indictment.
The indictment of Mr. Assange threatens press freedom because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in routinely—and that they must engage in in order to do the work the public needs them to do. Journalists at major news publications regularly speak with sources, ask for clarification or more documentation, and receive and publish documents the government considers secret. In our view, such a precedent in this case could effectively criminalize these common journalistic practices.
In addition, some of the charges included in the indictment turn entirely on Mr. Assange’s decision to publish classified information. News organizations frequently and necessarily publish classified information in order to inform the public of matters of profound public significance.
We appreciate that the government has a legitimate interest in protecting bona fide national security interests, but the proceedings against Mr. Assange jeopardize journalism that is crucial to democracy.
The Trump administration positioned itself as an antagonist to the institution of a free andunfettered press in numerous ways. Its abuse of its prosecutorial powers was among the most disturbing. We are deeply concerned about the way that a precedent created by prosecuting Assange could be leveraged—perhaps by a future administration—against publishers and journalists of all stripes. Major news organizations share this concern, which is why the announcement of charges against Assange in May 2019 was met with vociferous and nearly universal condemnation from virtually every major American news outlet, even though many of those news outlets have criticized Mr. Assange in the past.
It is our understanding that senior officials in the Obama administration shared this concern as well. Former Department of Justice spokesperson Matthew Miller told the Washington Post in 2013, “The problem the department has always had in investigating Julian Assange is there is no way to prosecute him for publishing information without the same theory being applied to journalists.”
It was reportedly the press freedom implications of any prosecution of Mr. Assange that led Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department to decide against indicting him after considering doing so.
It is unfortunately the case that press freedom is under threat globally. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we protect a robust and adversarial press—what Judge Murray Gurfein in the Pentagon Papers case memorably called a “cantankerous press, an obstinate press, an ubiquitous press” —in the United States and abroad.
With this end in mind, we respectfully urge you to forgo the appeal of Judge Baraitser’s ruling, and to dismiss the indictment of Mr. Assange.
Respectfully,
(in alphabetical order)
Access Now
American Civil Liberties Union
Amnesty International – USA
Center for Constitutional Rights
Committee to Protect Journalists
Defending Rights and Dissent
Demand Progress
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Fight for the Future
First Amendment Coalition
Free Press
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
National Coalition Against Censorship
Open The Government
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
PEN America
Project on Government Oversight
Reporters Without Borders
Roots Action
The Press Freedom Defense Fund of First Look Institute
Whistleblower & Source Protection Program (WHISPeR) at ExposeFacts[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
5 Feb 2021 | Belarus, News and features, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116175″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus on 7 February, the undersigned organisations working in the field of freedom of expression and media freedom call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists and media workers who continue to be arbitrarily detained.
Nearly six months since President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in what has been widely acknowledged and condemned as a fraudulent election, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya remains in exile and thousands of protesters continue to take to the streets of Minsk calling for his resignation.
The regime has made every effort to prevent its citizens from accessing independent information. News outlets have had their publishing licences revoked. Some have their equipment seized. Independent newspapers are banned from printing and barred from sales through the national state monopolist retailer.
As part of this effort, the authorities have also used violence, threats, and arbitrary detention to intimidate journalists and prevent them from doing their jobs. Reporters and photographers wearing press vests have been deliberately targeted by law enforcement. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), journalists were detained 480 times in 2020. They have spent over 1,200 days behind bars, often without being told what, if any, charges they face.
At least ten journalists and media workers remain in detention, among them are several of our friends and colleagues. They are: Katsiaryna Barysevich, Daria Chultsova, Yulia Slutskaya, Alla Sharko, Siarhei Alsheuski, Petr Slutski, Ksenia Lutskina, Andrei Aliaksandrau, and Aliaksandr Mikrukou.
As the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus approaches, we are calling for each and every journalist and media worker to be immediately and unconditionally released. We condemn the blatant violations to their human rights and once again remind the Belarusian authorities of their obligations under international law.
Signed:
Jessica Ní Mhainín, Senior Policy Research and Advocacy Officer, Index on Censorship
Dave Elseroad, Head of Advocacy and Geneva Office, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
Maria Ordzhonikidze, Director, Justice for Journalists Foundation
Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Sarah Clarke, Head of Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE 19
Laurens Hueting, Advocacy Officer, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk, Secretary General, International Association of Press Clubs (IAPC)
Marcin Lewicki, President, Press Club Polska
Daniela Kraus, General Secretary, Presseclub Concordia, Vienna
Andrei Bastunets, Chairperson, Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ)
Peter Spiegel, Press Freedom Committee Chair, Overseas Press Club of America (OPC)
Board of Frankfurter Presseclub
Board of Press Club Brussels Europe
Pierre Ruetschi, Executive Director, Geneva Press Club
Ryszard Bankowicz, President, Polish Club of International Columnists
S Venkat Narayan, President, FCC of South Asia, New Delhi, India
Uri Dromi, Director General, Jerusalem Press Club[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
