PILP to court over rejection of Wob request on arms exports

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July 13, 2021
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs (BZ) has decided not to disclose any source of information about a license for arms exports to Egypt. This makes it impossible to review how this permit was arrived at, and whether sufficient weight was given to human rights. PILP therefore appealed to the court.

PILP submitted a request last August under the Government Information (Public Access) Act to request information about a permit for arms exports to Egypt. This request was denied, on the grounds that the information requested would be covered by Customs’ professional secrecy. PILP was not allowed to see any of the documents.

PILP objected to the rejection, see this news item about it. The objection explained (among other things) why the requested information was not covered by Customs’ professional secrecy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs then issued a decision on the objection. This again states that no document will be made public.

Public access to government information is of great importance for the proper functioning of our democratic rule of law. In a controversial topic such as arms exports, where human rights are at stake, transparency is all the more important. NGOs, such as PILP and our allies, fulfill the role of public watchdog in this, according to the European Court of Human Rights. When the minister refuses to provide any insight into decision-making on arms exports, NGOs cannot properly fulfill this monitoring role.

According to PILP, the decision of the Minister of BZ is incorrect, carelessly made and not (sufficiently) motivated on several points. We have therefore filed an appeal with the court. Read our appeal here.

For more information on arms exports and human rights, click here.

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