SECTOR 1 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 3.9 1.7 Public information is easily accessible, guaranteed by law, to all citizens. Several laws and pieces of legislation guarantee “every citizen” the right to information5. But the practice is equally a contradiction. The constitution, for example, says rights to freedom of information and communication can only be exercised within unspecified limits of the law. Both the constitution and other media laws leave such legal limits to broad interpretations, which are not usually in the interest of citizens. In the absence of any legal obligation to provide information to the public, public services and other institutions have found it easy to create and implement internal mechanisms that prevent full access to information. Most services require the authorisation of a superior, a long and uncertain process, before releasing information, even that which should normally be part of the public domain. “A public official can refuse to give a citizen information and there is literally nothing the citizen can do about it.” Vague secrecy laws exist both in the public service and in the military, where professional secrecy is mandatory. Information about “sensitive” subjects like petroleum and forestry revenue are also well-guarded secrets. Starved of information, citizens rely on the media and informal channels like “connected friends” to get information. They are also forced to rely on “doctored” information released by government departments and services. Most government actions such as decrees are, nonetheless, made public almost systematically. An “Access to Information Act” is in the process of being drafted but no one knows its content nor when it would become law. 5 80 Chartes des professionnels de l’information de la communication AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 2013