Hear Hear!
On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 1:06 PM, Satbir Singh <satbir.l.si...@gmail.com>wrote: > The debate about access to information has become even more important this > week as leaks revealed the extent to which the NSA and other intelligence > agencies have been eavesdropping on > citizens and non-citizens alike > . > > *Why does PRISM matter for > FOI > ?* > > 1. Because the leaked documentation highlights just how far even > democratic governments are willing and able to violate basic constitutional > norms and rights on such a massive scale when they are not exposed to > public scrutiny and oversight. It is estimated that up to three billion > telephone calls have been intercepted per day by the NSA. > 2. Because the basic foundation of the liberal democratic > state-society relationship is (a) we are supposed to know almost everything > about them; this is why they are called public servants and (b) they are > supposed to know very little about us; this is why we are called private > citizens. It seems that more and more government activity is slipping > behind the veil of national security and secrecy, while more and more of > our most personal information has become the purview of agencies most of us > has never heard of. New technologies are developed to simultaneously limit > access to important information and deepen the access of unaccountable > bodies into the private sphere. > > > As FOI advocates, we should all be concerned that such a massive > , wholesale > perversion of constitutional rights could > continue undetected > for almost a decade. Surely there has not been a stronger argument in > recent years for the adoption of the global principals on national security > and freedom of information. > > > > > -- > *Satbir Singh* > *Access to Information Programme > (South Asia & Africa)* > *Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative* > > B-117 Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi-27 > Tel: +91 (0) 8527232802 > > Email: sat...@humanrightsinitiative.org > > www.humanrightsinitiative.org > www.sartian.org > > twitter.com/satbirlsingh > twitter.com/chri_int > twitter.com/networksartian > > *The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative is an international NGO with a > mandate from the Commonwealth of Nations and consultative status at the > United Nations, working toward the practical realisation of human rights > in the countries of the Commonwealth.* > * > * > *"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act > **." **(George **Orwell)* > > > -- Lucas Amin Operations Director Request Initiative 27-29 Cursitor Street EC4A 1LT 07749 449765 http://requestinitiative.org
