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Writer's pictureManushya Foundation
Sep 28, 2021

#RightToKnowDay: Right to Information & Why You Should Care!



#InternationalDayforUniversalAccesstoInformation #SaveSabWaiVillagers 🚨 Effective access to information cannot only prevent human rights violations but also help remedy them. Access to information can also help the fight against #Corruption! Help us spread the message and learn more about our important human rights!


❓ Do you know Nittaya from the #SaveSabWaiVillagers? She is a woman land rights defender who was unjustly criminalized under Thailand's unfair forest conservation laws, sent to prison, and ordered to vacate her land. But do you know her full story?


📍 In 2015, forest officers employed by the Sai Thong National Park (where Sab Wai village is situated) threatened Nittaya's illiterate mother Mrs. Thongpan to sign her name and names of her daughters on a blank piece of paper promising that by doing, they would be allowed to continue living on her land. Nittaya's mother had to sign - and the given signature was later used as proof of her consent to vacate the land.


🤷🏻‍♀️ Nittaya's mother didn't know about relevant regulations, laws, and her right to refuse to sign such "document". It is clear that the national park authorities intentionally abused her lack of education and literacy in order to manipulate her and evict her from her lands - violating her right to information.


👉 Every year we celebrate the International Day for Universal Access to Information to remind the world about the importance of this right. So why should you care? Effective access to information can:

  1. Help identify human rights violations;

  2. Uncover the complicity of government authorities or the private sector in corruption cases;

  3. Help grassroots communities address the rights violations they face or support their participation in decision-making processes.


In other words, it is a crucial right that prevents human rights violations, prevents corruption or even helps remedy them!


🗣️ Help us spread the message!


👉 Follow us on social media to learn more about access to information and its importance for human rights.

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