{"id":141954,"date":"2015-03-30T02:08:23","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T20:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=141954"},"modified":"2015-03-30T02:37:41","modified_gmt":"2015-03-29T21:07:41","slug":"sri-lankas-proposed-constitutional-amendment-needs-improvement-article-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lankas-proposed-constitutional-amendment-needs-improvement-article-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Constitutional Amendment Needs Improvement: Article 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article 19 welcomes the proposed inclusion of a right to information provision as the Sri Lankan Parliament amends the country\u2019s Constitution. However, the London based freedom of expression watchdog urges Parliament to make sure that constitutional rights are available to all, not just citizens.<\/p>\n

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Article 19’s Executive Director Thomas Hughes<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s encouraging that the Sri Lankan government is serious about protecting the right to freedom of information and is joining the other countries of South Asia in having a full constitutional provision. However, the proposed provision only protects this right for citizens, so we urge the government to change the proposal to ensure that the right is available to all,\u201d said Thomas Hughes<\/span><\/a>, Article 19 Executive Director.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to international law human rights belong to all, not just those with citizenship. Rules restricting rights so that they only apply to citizens have been used elsewhere to prevent marginalised and economically disadvantaged people \u2013 many of whom cannot afford or are prevented from becoming citizens \u2013 from exercising their rights,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that the Sri Lankan government is amending the Constitution, it should make sure that the provision on the right to freedom of expression is expanded to apply to everybody, not just citizens\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

The proposed amendment creates a new article (Article 14A of the Constitution) which states: \u2018every citizen shall have the right of access to any information\u2019. It goes on to say that for any organisation to be able to request information, over three-quarters of its members must be citizens. This provision unnecessarily restricts the right to information to those people with citizenship of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

The Constitution also currently limits the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association and belief so that they are only protected for its citizens. However, freedom of expression and the right to information are fundamental rights for all. This is recognised by numerous international instruments, including:<\/p>\n