Access to Information and Proactive Transparency Policy (AIPTP)

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) begins the public consultation process by inviting civil society organizations, international organizations, States, academia, specialists, and citizens in general on access to information and proactive transparency. 

The consultation is carried out through the online form and aims to identify topics or content that can strengthen efforts in this area.  Once the consultation process is concluded, the responses received will be systematized and adjustments will be made as deemed necessary and appropriate, taking into consideration the regulatory and institutional framework of the Organization of American States.

Background

Following the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, prepared by the IACHR's Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, the right of access to information is understood as the right of every person to obtain, investigate and transmit information through any channel of communication without discrimination of any kind. Its exercise is an element key to creating a culture of transparency in which the construction and participation of people are encouraged by providing them with tools that allow them to propose, intervene, follow up on community projects, and hold officials accountable for the decisions they make in the performance of their duties.

 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, aware of the importance of guaranteeing the right of access to information for users, has developed its Access to Information and Proactive Transparency Policy (AIPTP), whose content conforms to the following: American Convention on Human Rights, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, OAS Resolution AG/RES. 2607 (XL-O/10), which approved the Inter-American Model Law on Access to Public Information; Resolution AG/RES. 2885 (XLVI-O/16) on the Inter-American Program on Access to Public Information; Executive Order No. 12-02, adopting the Access to Information Policy of the Organization of American States; as well as the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression; Resolution No. 2/09 of the IACHR on Documents and Historical Archives of the Commission; and Program Number 24 of the Strategic Plan 2023-2027 of the IACHR in which it reaffirms the Commission's commitment to the implementation of a policy of access to information that helps to overcome barriers, expanding and diversifying access to users.

The AIPTP aims to regulate the conditions under which users are guaranteed that the right to access to information is upheld and received. Further, it wishes to assure that information generated by the IACHR related to its principal function of promoting the observance and defense of human rights, as well as that which has to do with the Executive Secretariat services it performs for the Commission, including the production of reports, resolutions, studies, correspondence and those documents that make up the files of the matters before the Commission, are also under regulated conditions. The AIPTP is a tool that will further strengthen the culture of active transparency and access to information at the IACHR since the implementation of its principles, procedures, exceptions, and obligations will help ensure that users have the guarantee that the exercise of their right of access to information is as broad and open as possible.

Based on ideas, the Commission is undertaking the public consultation process by inviting civil society organizations, international agencies, States, academia, specialists, and citizens. This consultation consists of responding to the electronic form designed to identify topics or content that can strengthen the efforts made by the Commission through its Executive Secretary. Once the consultation process has concluded, the IACHR will systematize the responses received and make the adjustments it deems necessary and appropriate, taking into consideration the regulatory and institutional framework of the Organization of American States.