Press

Transcription of live tweet session on the State of Right to Information in Mauritius

18/10/2017 By christina Leave a Comment

The State of the Right to Information in Mauritius in 2017
Transcription of live tweet session
organised by the African Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC)
with Christina Meetoo (@christinameetoo) and Abdoollah Earally (@AbdEarally)

Hashtag #AccessToInfo
This live tweet session was held on Tuesday 17 October 2017 from 15.00 to 16.30 (Mauritian time)

Tweets have been slightly edited for punctuation and typos.

For more information, read the full report and the Mauritius country report at: https://www.christinameetoo.com/2017/10/17/report-on-the-state-of-access-to-information-in-africa-2017/

Mauritius country report of State of Right to Information 2017

AFIC‏ @AFIC1
Question 1. @christinameetoo Which are the guarantees for ATI in Mauritius, at national and international level?

Christina Meetoo @christinameetoo:

There is no law on access to information in #Mauritius, thus no specific guarantee for access to information in Mauritius.
There is only a clause on freedom of expression in Constitution to guarantee freedom to receive & impart ideas and information.
This freedom is curtailed by restrictions linked to national security, privacy, public morality, public safety, health, etc.
And there’s an Official Secrets Act & a Human Resource Manual which prohibit civil servants from sharing information without authorisation.
In 2005 and 2015, winning coalitions have promised to introduce legislation on freedom of information (but not in 2010).
In 2013, government appointed consultant Geoffrey Robertson proposed FOI legislation, reform of media laws & media self-regulation.
In January 2016, Cabinet announced that a bill on FOI was being prepared.
In March 2016, the ACHPR country report committed to introduce FOI legislation, suggesting that the State Law Office is working on a draft.
But, there is little visibility so far on progress made.

Sarah‏ @sarahfkiw:
How far has this bill been? Why has it not yet been signed? #SDG16 #accesstoinformation #Mauritius #IDUAI @Gilbertsendugwa

Christina Meetoo @christinameetoo:

No bill has been presented yet. We are assuming that the State Law Office is working on a draft bill but we have no further information.
FOI legislation is very difficult step for political parties as it could result in constant scrutiny & questioning by mass media & citizens.
Our political parties are not used full transparency.

After Rutnah and Rahim, what next?

22/09/2017 By christina Leave a Comment

For those of you who have followed the political highlights in Mauritius, I believe that the lesson of the week is “Make haste slowly”. This is valid both for our politicians (“think twice before speaking nonsense”) and our media (“thoroughly investigate your sources before publishing”). As well as for ourselves, as commentators in the very public social media sphere. There’s always more than meets the eye. Both may have valid starting points (for one anger at press coverage, for the other incriminating evidence), but clearly both have failed to handle themselves properly.

In this age of quick bucks, quick communication, quick impact, quick everything, how can we build a sustainable livelihood together?

It is high time that the Morgan and Robertson reports be really examined with a level-headed, rational attitude.
For those who may not remember, Robertson made 3 broad recommendations:

Review of dated laws which affect the media (and communication in general) such as sedition, defamation, publication of false news.
Introduction of self-regulation of the media by a Media Commission under a revamped Media Trust
Introduction of Freedom of Information Legislation

The nitty-gritty details of some of his proposals may be subject to discussion but my personal opinion is that overall, these seem to be fair and balanced recommendations as they open the gates of FOI and advocate self-introspection for media.

Next week, there will be a launching of a report on access to information at the eLearning Africa Conference for the International Day for Universal Access to Information. I have contributed to the report for Mauritius and I can say that FOI seems to be on the way although more efforts need to be put in to lobby for it. Sooner or later, it will come because the State has made official commitments to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.

However, self-regulation does not seem to be on the agenda anywhere for the media. It is high time that it be.

Why do we need Freedom of Information?

30/09/2016 By christina 1 Comment

1. Why do we need freedom of information?
Freedom of information is a key ingredient of any country which purports to be a democracy. Having access to reliable information which is as complete as possible allows people to make rational decisions (e.g. who to vote for, which policies to support). FOI also deters political decision-makers from indulging in corrupt acts as these could be more easily detected and exposed in the public sphere.

2. What should it consist of?
Freedom of information encompasses press freedom but is not limited to this. The media are deemed to be important facilitators in the public sphere, like some sort of “intellectuals within the city”. In this tech-oriented world, FOI means giving access to all government files which are of public interest (excluding rare cases of national security issues). More importantly, we should ensure that such data is accessible in open formats which allow media people as well as ordinary citizens to scrutinise and analyse them.

3. Who does it benefit?

Democracy. All citizens.

4. How does it work abroad?
There are around 90 countries which have some form of FOI (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_information_laws_by_country). Normally, this means that any citizen should be able to either consult or get a copy of documents from public administrations. As Robertson explained in his preliminary report, it’s a pretty complex administration and it would take time to implement FOI if the law is indeed proposed and accepted. You would need to train civil servants and review the whole information system. And in some countries, FOI legislation has loopholes or is not necessarily well implemented for all sorts of reasons (technical issues, bureaucracy, obfuscation, etc) . Nevertheless, as it’s an important right in a democracy, we need to start working on it in Mauritius. Unfortunately, none of our politicians are currently committed to propose and implement FOI as it goes against their DNA. Civil society should lobby for it.

5. How will the people benefit from it?
With FOI, investigative reporting and detection of corruption becomes easier. There is more transparency on how public money (i.e. taxpayers’ money) is used. Hopefully, this should lead to more efficiency.

6. How does its absence refrain liberty and democracy?
Veils of secrecy always lead to even the most ethical persons to be prone to corruption once in power. FOI means more accountability and thus brings us nearer to the real definition of democracy (government by the people for the people).

7. Should we repeal the Official Secrecy Act?

FOI cannot exist if the Official Secrets Act and the Civil Service Manual, which forbids communication to the public and the press without higher authorisation, remain as they are. They are incompatible. Obviously, there are provisions for issues such as national security or trade secrets which would stay. But overall, the Official Secrets Act needs to be reviewed to remove the blanket culture of secrecy.

In an episode of Yes, Minister, Sir Humphrey states that the Official Secrets Act is “not there to protect secrets, but to protect officials”. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Secrets_Act)

Questions by Jameela Jadoo

This interview was done for News on Sunday in May 2014

Quel journalisme de service public?

10/11/2015 By christina Leave a Comment

Voici une copie du support utilisé dans ma présentation aujourd’hui lors du forum organisé par le Media Trust à l’Université de Maurice.

Les autres intervenants étaient Ashok Beeharry qui a brossé un large tableau de la situation de la MBC, Ritvik Neerbun qui a évoqué des anecdotes parlantes de l’histoire de la MBC et Jayen Chellum qui a défendu la cause des citoyens. Ashok et Ritvik ont parlé avec beaucoup de franchise de la malheureuse situation dans laquelle se trouve la radio télévision nationale. Le forum était modéré par Lindsay Riviere.

Sondage sur les médias et le genre

16/03/2015 By christina Leave a Comment

Je fais en ce moment une étude sur le genre et les médias et je souhaite avoir l’opinion des journalistes dans nos rédactions afin d’offrir une vision basée sur votre réalité au quotidien. Je souhaite vous donner la possibilité d’exprimer votre opinion à vous en tant que journaliste!

Si vous êtes journaliste, merci de bien vouloir répondre à ces quelques questions. Vous pouvez répondre aux questions ouvertes dans la langue de votre choix.

Cliquez ci-dessous la version qui vous convient:

English version: http://goo.gl/forms/9tUADbDvI1
Version française: http://goo.gl/forms/TzAAsRmT63

Si vous souhaitez partager votre expérience ou des opinions sur ce sujet, n’hésitez pas à me contacter (ou ). Merci aussi de partager avec vos collègues ou amis qui pourraient participer à ce sondage.

Toutes vos réponses seront traitées en toute confidentialité. Vous pourrez accéder aux résultats globaux du sondage à partir de ce formulaire.

Merci infiniment pour votre collaboration!

Cordialement,

Christina Chan-Meetoo

Launch of Book ‘Ethical Journalism and Gender-Sensitive Reporting’ and ‘A Gender Code of Ethics for the Media’

04/06/2013 By christina 18 Comments

The University of Mauritius
Faculty of Social Studies and Humanities
in collaboration with UNESCO-IPDC

requests the pleasure of your company at the

Launching Ceremony
of the book ‘Ethical Journalism and Gender-Sensitive Reporting’
and of A Gender Code of Ethics for the Media

on Monday 10th June 2013 at 13 00 hrs at the R. Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre (RBLT), University of Mauritius

Guests are kindly requested to be seated by 12 50 hrs
RSVP: or

Please note that a free copy of the book (including the code) will be subsequently distributed to all journalists and media houses. A registration list will have to be completed on the day of the launching.

Feel free to share this invitation

Programme

13.00 Welcome Remarks by Mrs Christina Chan-Meetoo, editor and convenor
13.05 Assoc. Prof. Jocelyn Chan Low, Dean, FSSH
13.10 Prof Soodursun Jugessur, GOSK, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council
13.20 Hon. Dr R. Jeetah, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research & Technology
13.35 Hon (Mrs.) M. F. M. Martin, Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare.
13.50 Launching of the book by Hon. Jeetah and of the code by Hon. Martin
13.55 Refreshments
Registration of journalists for copies of books

About the Authors

Table of Content