Aristotel je jednom napisao: “Svi ljudi po prirodi žele znati”. Znanje utječe na naše razmišljanje, rasuđivanje i način na koji se izražavamo. Većinu vremena donosimo odluke na temelju činjenica i onoga što znamo. Kako živimo u društvu u kojem smo međusobno ovisni, važno nam je znati što se događa oko nas kako bismo nešto poduzeli za svoju sigurnost i razvoj. Međunarodni dan prava na pristup informacijama je dan kada moramo osvijestiti svoje pravo na traženje informacija i pristup točnim informacijama. Dan je prvi put pokrenuo UNESCO 2002. godine, nakon čega su ga prihvatila i razvila mnoga međunarodna civilna društva. Iz tih je razloga UNESCO 2015. godine proglasio 28. rujna Međunarodnim danom prava na pristup informacijama.

Međunarodni dan prava na pristup informacijama rođen je iz akcije afričkih civilnih društava koja su zahtijevala transparentnost. Pravo građanina da zna djelovat će kao provjera vladinih radnji i provedbe zakona. Međunarodni dan prava na pristup informacijama ne samo da osnažuje građane da aktivno sudjeluju u političkom sustavu svoje zemlje, već također promiče slobodu tiska, olakšavajući širenje informacija.

Kako se vremena mijenjaju, mijenja se i "čin" pronalaženja informacija. Uz utjecaj lobista i političara na medije poput novina ili televizijskih kanala, ljudi se ponekad pitaju koliko su vijesti nepristrane. A ponekad, postoje neki ljudi koji su spremni ugroziti vlastitu sigurnost za pravo ljudi da znaju. Julian Assange, osnivač Wikileaksa, australski urednik, izdavač, aktivist i novinar jednom je rekao:

“Morate početi s istinom. Istina je jedini način da bilo gdje stignemo. Jer svako donošenje odluka koje se temelji na lažima ili neznanju ne može dovesti do dobrog zaključka.”

Julian je poznat po videosnimkama koje je objavio Wikileaks na kojima se vidi kako “vojnici Sjedinjenih Američkih Država ubijaju 18 civila iz helikoptera u Iraku”, kao novinare Reutersa. Kasnije su također objavili 391.832 terenska izvješća vojske Sjedinjenih Država iz rata u Iraku, između datuma 2004.-2009. Julian je rekao kako se nada da će objava "ispraviti dio tog napada na istinu koji se dogodio prije rata, tijekom rata i koji se nastavio nakon rata."

Puno zemalja u svijetu nagovaralo je svoje ljude na ratove koji su se mogli izbjeći. Puno je ljudi umrlo zbog dezinformacija i skrivanja istine. Ljudi poput Juliana Assangea, Aarona Schwartza, Edwarda Snowdena, Alexandre Elbakyan bore se za naše pravo da znamo, za naše pravo na pristup istini kako vlada ne bi nama manipulirala, bez da znamo pozadinsku istinu. Edward Snowden pokazao je svijetu kako Agencija za nacionalnu sigurnost (NSA) prati ljude putem telefonskih poziva, e-mailova, web kamera građana. Takve činjenice moraju se otkriti jer ono što ne znamo ne možemo ni izbjeći. Hvala ovim ljudima koji brane pravo ljudi da znaju stavljajući svoje živote u rizik. Ljudi zaslužuju znati istinu.

 

 

 

 

 

Aristotle once wrote, “All men by nature desire to know”. Knowledge influences our thinking, reasoning, and the way we express ourselves. Most of the time, we make decisions based on facts and what we know. As we live in a society where we are interdependent, it is important for us to know what is going on around us in order to take action for our safety and development. International Right to Know Day is a day when we acknowledge our right to seek and access  to true information. The day was first initiated by a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conference in 2002, after which it was adopted and developed by many international civil societies. In 2015, 28 September was declared as International Right to Know Day by UNESCO, for these reasons.

The International Right to Know Day was born out of action by African civil societies demanding transparency. A citizen's right to know will act as a check for government actions and law enforcement. The Right to Know Day not only empowers citizens to participate actively in their country's political system, but also promotes freedom of the press, facilitating the dissemination of information.

As the times change, the “act” of finding information also changes. With the lobbyist and politicians effect on the media like the newspapers or the television channels, sometimes people question how unbiased the news are. And sometimes, there are some people who are willing to jeopardise their own safety for the people’s right to know. Julian Assange, who is the founder of Wikileaks,   an Australian editor, publisher, activist and journalist once said,

“You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.”

Julian is known for the videos that was released on Wikileaks that is showing “United States soldiers fatally shooting 18 civilians from a helicopter in Iraq”, as well as the Reuters journalists. Later, they also published 391,832 United States Army field reports from the Iraq War, between the dates 2004-2009. Julian said that he hopes the publication would "correct some of that attack on the truth that occurred before the war, during the war, and which has continued after the war.”

A lot of countries in the world persuaded their people into wars that could have avoided. A lot of people died because of misinformation and hiding of the truth. People like Julian Assange, Aaron Schwartz, Edward Snowden, Alexandra Elbakyan are fighting for our right to know, for our right to access the truth and so that we are not being manipulated by the hands of the governments, without ever knowing the truth behind the actions. Edward Snowden showed to the world how National Security Agency (NSA) was monitoring people through phone calls, emails, webcams of its own citizens. These type of actions by the governments needs to be brought into the daylight, for what we do not know, we cannot avoid. Thank you to these people who are defending people’s right to know by putting their own lives into the frontline. People deserve to know the truth.