The Council of Europe’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights held the second of two public hearings on mass surveillance and strengthening whistleblower protection on June 24th. At both hearings Edward Snowden gave evidence by video link and in the second hearing, Anna Myers, Expert Coordinator of the Whistleblowing International Network, also gave a statement.
Both witnesses pointed out that information declared pertinent to national security is typically excluded from anti-retaliation statutes and right to information laws. This exclusion, according to both witnesses, has had a serious negative impact on democratic accountability in Europe and around the world. In this regard, the Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information (formulated by 22 organizations and over 500 experts from more than 70 countries), which provides for a public interest defense, were timely when they were published last year. A public interest defense – through which a whistleblower can claim that the disclosure of the information at issue is in the public interest and the courts may decide whether this is true – is clearly vital where any unauthorized release of classified information or official secrets is automatically a crime. Moreover, such a defense is an important principle at the heart of whistleblower protection generally. It represents another perspective on free speech that is fundamental to effective whistleblower protection.
Bea Edwards is Executive & International Director of the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. She is also the author of The Rise of the American Corporate Security State.