To
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 14. April 2013

Copy: Permanent Mission of Sweden in Geneva, Mission Permanente de la Finlande Geneva, Permanent Mission of the United States of America to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations Office in Geneva, UNESCO, info@upr-info.org, civilsociety@ohchr.org


I refer to the letter of 27. March 2013, which has not been answered.

OHCHR (UPR Secretariat?) ignores the human right of access to information and censors the contribution of the Baltic Sea NGO Forum.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression has recognized the human right of access to information e. g. in E/CN.4/1998/40 28 January 1998, UN, OSCE and AOS Joint Declaration of 26. November 1999, E/CN.4/2000/63 18 January 2000, UN, OSCE and AOS Joint Declaration of 6. December 2004 and A/HRC/14/23 20 April 2010. This is confirmed by the  "General Comment No. 34 on Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" and successful individual Complains to UN Human Rights Committee.

more than 120 states (http://right2info.org/laws) with more then 5.9 billion inhabitants i. e. 84 % of the worlds population adopted FOI laws or provisions in constitutions. 5 German states with half of the population lack FOI laws. How is this possible? This is e.g. possible by OHCHR ignoring this human right in its stakeholders' summary.

There are 269 hits (Accessed January 2013) on "Access to Information" in the UPR-Info.org database e. g. freedom of information laws are mentioned for Canada, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, France, Germany, Kenya, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, and the REPUBLIC OF DJIBOUTI submitted by ARTICLE 19. UNESCO has recommended Freedom of Information laws to all states reviewed during the 16. UPR session. Austria recommended to Bahrain (A/HRC/WG.6/13/L.4): "Enact a progressive, substantive Freedom of Information law". Djibouti and Ghana got same suggestion.

I urge the OHCHR to fulfil its obligations and do the job you are paid for.

Yours sincerely,

--
Walter Keim
Netizen: http://walter.keim.googlepages.com
UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR):
http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/foi-upr-de.htm
Will CoE Support the Human Right of Access to Information
in Germany? http://t.co/AavLgnOnz2
Is it possible to enforce access to information in Bavaria?
http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/enforce_access_to_information.html

Development:
Development:
  1. 100 countries with RTI law: http://www.freedominfo.org/2014/02/rti-law-passes-bhutan-100th-international-law/

Subject: Re: Baltic Sea NGO Forum - UPR submission - Germany - Session 16: not included in summary of stakeholders' information
From: Walter Keim <walter.keim@gmail.com>
Date: 27/03/2013 09:38
To: UPR submissions OHCHR <UPRsubmissions@ohchr.org>
CC: Toby Mendel <toby@law-democracy.org>, Kjeld Aakjaer Baltic Sea NGO Forum <k.aakjaer@it.dk>, "Helen Darbishire access-info.org" <helen@access-info.org>, Sandra Coliver <scoliver@justiceinitiative.org>, David Banisar <banisar@article19.org>

Dear Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,

thank you for registering and forwarding the Baltic Sea NGO Forum - UPR submission - Germany ( http://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF-Dateien/UN-Dokumente/UPR_zu_Deutschland/UPR2013_germany_BSeaNGOForum_en.pdf  ) to repeal criminalisation of defamation, bring the Access to Information Act (ATI) in line with international standards and adopt ATI laws in 5 federal states i. e. for half of the population.

However this contribution and the suggestions are not mentioned in OHCHRs summary of 23 stakeholders' information A/HRC/WG.6/16/DEU/3 (see http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/DESession16.aspx )

What happened? Please explain.

Will the full text version of the submission be published here?: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRDEStakeholdersInfoS16.aspx

I would like to draw your attention to the summary of stakeholders' information for Canada: A/HRC/WG.6/16/CAN/3

"54.    Joint submission 4 (JS4) recommended Canada (...) repeal Sections 299-304 of the Criminal Code, which criminalize defamation, bring the Access to Information Act in line with international standards; and recognize a freestanding constitutional right to information."

This shows that the human right of  Access to Information is subject to UPR.

OHCHRs contribution is important because EU, CoE and OSCE do not help. 

I am looking forward to your answer.

Sincerely, 
--
Walter Keim
Netizen: http://walter.keim.googlepages.com
Is it possible to enforce access to information in Bavaria?
http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/enforce_access_to_information.html
20/09/2012 11:32, "UPR submissions OHCHR" wrote:
Dear Madam/Sir,
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights kindly acknowledges receipt of your submission to the 16th Session of the Universal Periodic Review, which will be registered and forwarded to the relevant colleagues.

For further information on the UPR process and additional technical guidance please see the following link: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx

We thank you for your contribution.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights



From:        Walter Keim <walter.keim@gmail.com>
To:        uprsubmissions@ohchr.org, "Anders Bergstrom, Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <anders.bergstrom@norden.se>,
Cc:        "Anna Lena Pohl, Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <anna-lena.pohl@hu-berlin.de>, "Asdis Hannesdottir, Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <asdis@norden.is>, "Carl Erik Foverskov, Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <cefov@vip.cybercity.dk>, Gunnar Lassinantti Baltic Sea NGO Forum <gunnar.lassinantti@telia.com>, Jens William Grav Baltic Sea NGO <jwg@mail.dk>, Kjeld Aakjaer Baltic Sea NGO Forum <k.aakjaer@it.dk>, "Krister Hanne, Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <krister.hanne@hu-berlin.de>, "markku.karkkainen Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <markku.karkkainen@venajaseura.com>, "Merja Hannus, Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <merja.hannus@venajaseura.com>, "Rolf Solvang, Welfare Alliance, Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <rolf@velferdsalliansen.no>, "stefan.melle Baltic Sea NGO Forum" <stefan.melle@austausch.org>
Date:        17/09/2012 17:56
Subject:        Baltic Sea NGO Forum - UPR submission - Germany - Session 16



OHCHR Civil Society Section (e-mail submission to uprsubmissions@ohchr.org only)
United Nations Office
8-14 avenue de la Paix
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

Copy: Baltic Sea NGO Forum

Dear Madam/Sir,

please find attached the pdf file "Baltic Sea NGO Forum: Submission for the Sixteenth Session
of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Germany" on Access to Information:
1.        88 states with approx. 5.5 billion inhabitants i. e. 78 % of the worlds population give better access to information then the federal Freedom of Information Law in Germany (http://www.rti-rating.org/country-data/).
2.        more than 115 states (http://right2info.org/laws) with more then 5.9 billion inhabitants i. e. 84 % of the worlds populationa dopted FOI laws or provisions in constitutions. 5 German states with half of the population lack FOI laws.

Thank you in advance.

Yours sincerely,
--
--
Walter Keim
Netizen: http://walter.keim.googlepages.com
Access to Information Baltic Sea NGO Forum: http://BSNF-ATI.tk/
Is it possible to enforce access to information in Bavaria?
http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/enforce_access_to_information.html



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