Lebanese Ministry of Information
Caretaker Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Friday told a show aired on Radio Lebanon that the Ministry of Information’s virtual conference on “The Role of the Media in Achieving Human Rights” coincides with the International Anti-Corruption Day, and the International Human Rights Day.
“We wanted today’s event to coincide with these two days, especially marking the issuance of the ‘Right to Information’ bill’s implementation decree on September 8, 2020. There is no longer any valid justification for stalling the implementation of this law, which was issued back in 2017 and has not been applied since that date,” the Minister explained, adding that today’s event will mainly broach the protection of human rights within Article 19 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Moreover, she capitalized on the need to shed light on the rights of citizens in Lebanon to know how to implement the aforementioned law, and to be aware of how the state’s collection and expenditures process takes place, as well as to be able to access information about the state’s duties that entail financial obligations.
“Citizens have the right to access said information because they pay taxes; this is in addition to information specified by the law, which citizens cannot access for security reasons. This helps us to highlight the source of imbalance in our society,” maintained Abdel Samad.
“Transparency is not always a matter of accountability; it is rather a means to highlight all the processes that take place in the country, and to rectify the points of imbalance and address them in order to build a state with the best administration and institutions,” she added.
Furthermore, Abdel Samad announced that the Ministry of Development would train employees in state institutions and departments on the provisions of the “Right to Information” law. She went on to stress the importance of telling the difference between “free and independent media” and “fake media” that make up news.
Abdel Samad then underscored every Lebanese citizen’s duty to help the Lebanese state, especially in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. “It is the citizen’s responsibility to protect himself/herself and others,” she added, underlining the importance of cooperation, partnership, and assistance in implementing the required measures.
Regarding the loopholes that prevent the implementation of the citizen’s right to information law, she replied: “Of course there are some loopholes in the law; however, it has managed to secure 50% transparency, and we can proceed with it until we get used to its application. Amendments to the current provisions can be made at a later stage.”
NNA
