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Corruption In Tonga: Is Right To Information The Way Forward

Sunday: December 09, 2007

(By Claire Cronin, Consultant, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative)

 The 9th December is international Anti-Corruption day; two years since the United Nation’s Convention Against Corruption came into force. The day is dedicated to reminding the world of the devastating effects that bribery, fraud and the embezzlement of public funds can wreak on a county’s economic development and political stability and calls for all to come together and speak out against all forms of corruption. Signed by 140 countries worldwide, the Convention is the first legally binding global anti-corruption agreement which sets out concrete measures to guide State Parties towards a zero-tolerance stance on corruption.  

Corruption is defined by experts as the abuse of public power for private gain, its effects taint everything and affect everyone in the community. The effects of corruption are devastating for the community - not only does corruption divert essential funds from the people who need it most, but it also serves to fuel dissatisfaction which eventually leads to conflict. Corruption isolates members of the community, making them feel angry because public money is being wasted, or because they feel that those who are able to afford large bribes are more likely to be favoured by those who are in power. Wherever there are insufficient systems in place to ensure that government officials are accountable to the public for their expenditure and decision-making processes, there will be room for corrupt officials to act in self-interest rather than for the public good.

Corruption is a universal problem and Tonga is not immune from it. Not at least in the perception of its people.

Reviewed for the first time, the Kingdom achieved very poor results in Transparency International’s 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index, a tool which rates the perceived levels of corruption in 180 countries on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 reflecting the highest levels and 10 the lowest). Tonga scored a disappointing 1.7 demonstrating the fact that citizen’s trust in their government is at an all time low.

Although Tonga has traditionally been a peaceful nation founded on the principles of mutual respect and shared values, recent political events testify to an increasingly sentiment that the public is being alienated from Government decision making processes. One need only look to the events of November 2006 when 10,000 of Tongatupa’s 66,500 residents took to the streets to fight for democratic reforms and the need for accountability, public participation and greater respect for human rights.

 

One of the most effective tools in opening up channels of communication between the Government - and an integral element for fighting corruption – is for countries to adopt access to information laws. These guarantee the right of the public to access government held information.  This right has long been recognized as essential to realizing all other rights. The right to know was heralded in 1946 by the UN General Assembly as “a fundamental human right and a touchstone of all freedoms to the United Nations in consecrated.” More recently the Pacific Plan also highlights transparency and information as a key element in its good governance pillar. If well implemented, a strong access to information law can serve to challenge the cultures of secrecy in which corrupt practices thrive, quelling public dissatisfaction by transferring some of the government’s knowledge and power back into the hands of the people. By enabling citizens to hold officials accountable for their actions, access to information laws can be a crucial step towards increased levels of public participation and the entrenchment of democratic norms.

 

One size may not fit all, but experiences from around the world show that there are some minimum common ingredients that shape a really good and effective access to information law.  The first element is that the law must make it clear that the public has a right to ask for all information from the government. Then the government must have a corresponding duty to provide information and consequences must flow for not providing information or for impeding information flow. Finally there must be a positive obligation on the authorities to publish information of public interest on their own at regular intervals even without being asked. Although exemptions to disclosure will always exist, they should be subject to an overriding principle that all information should be disclosed, unless the harm caused by disclosure is greater than the public interest in accessing the information. Access to information must also be made easy. Processes must be user-friendly and designed to be cheap, quick and simple. Finally there must be arrangements in place to re-train public officials to make them amenable to giving information and to educate the public about the new regime of information giving.

 

It is not for nothing that right to information has been recognized as the Oxygen of democracy. To date 71 Countries have enacted access to information laws. Tonga is not one of them. It has not as yet taken any steps towards developing its own access to information laws nor has it signed on to the Convention Against Corruption or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 of which protects the right to information. Today on international Anti-Corruption Day, it is important to encourage the Government to ratify these conventions and embrace more open channels of communication in order to lessen the likelihood of further conflict. The development of a right to information law would be a practical and tangible step towards tackling negative perceptions of corruption in Tonga, enabling increased public participation, and dispelling feelings of alienation amongst the public. Most importantly it would be a concrete message that the Government has taken note of discontent and is willing to respond to Tongan citizens seriously and to make themselves transparency to and accountable all in the best interests of this small and beautiful nation.