Legislators mulling a draft emergency response law Monday called
for stronger sanctions on government officials who cover up or
delay the release of information during public emergencies.
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They said violators should face criminal penalties.
The current draft law, tabled at the 28th session of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) for a
second reading, only includes disciplinary or administrative
punishments for officials who delay or cover up information.
But committee member Nan Zhenzhong said the sanctions are too
mild.
"Efforts to delay the release of information or cover up an
emergency often result in serious public crises," he said. "Any
official responsible for such actions must bear criminal
responsibility for dereliction of duty."
The Criminal Law says officials found guilty of dereliction
crimes can receive prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Nan said the proposed stipulation was also in line with the new
regulation on openness with government information. The regulation
says officials who fail to release information that by law should
be made public should face criminal penalties.
Chen Shu, an NPC deputy, said administrative punishments would
not deter officials from covering up emergencies.
"Criminal penalties must be clearly spelt out," she said.
The SARS crisis in 2003 and the pollution of the Songhua River
in 2005 were mentioned in the review. In both cases, governments
came in for heavy criticism from home and abroad for delaying and
covering up information.
Also during the reading of the draft anti-monopoly law
yesterday, lawmakers attacked public service sector monopolies like
telecommunications and power generation, calling for more
competition.
Committee member Wang Maolin said the draft should have
provisions to restrict monopoly players in service sectors to
prevent them from manipulating prices for higher profits and
hurting the public interest.
(China Daily June 26, 2007)