NPR: U.N. Whistleblower – International Community Has Failed Darfur
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is backing off from its investigations in Darfur, allegedly due to the UN Security Council’s lack of action. GAP client and UN whistleblower Aicha Elbasri says this is just the “latest sign that the international community is abandoning the people of Darfur, despite a $1.4 billion a-year peacekeeping mission.” Elbasri left her post in Darfur out of frustration that the UN-African Union peacekeeping mission wasn’t reporting serious crimes by the Sudanese government back to headquarters.
Key Quote: AICHA EL BASRI: It’s an all-out war. It’s basically Arabs against each other, non-Arabs against each other. The government is beating everyone. It has militarized entire tribes. It has turned Darfur into hell.
…
We’ve promised these people help. We haven’t helped them. We’ve been, basically, watching their massacre at the hands of an ICC-indicted government. Shame on all of us.
Communities Digital News: The Rights of Whistleblowers vs. the Federal Government
This piece discusses the unfortunate tendency of institutions to protect their reputation instead of confront problems, which causes serious repercussions for whistleblowers. The article details the case of GAP client and air marshal whistleblower Robert MacLean, who blew the whistle on a 2003 TSA decision to cancel air marshal assignments on long-distance flights shortly after learning about a terrorist threat against U.S. airlines. The government’s retaliation against MacLean is one of many examples where officials sought to protect their public image rather than the whistleblower with the public interest in mind.
This piece details the new methods employed by companies to silence financial whistleblowers. In order to work around the Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections, many companies are using confidentiality agreements and arguments over legislation technicalities to prevent truth-tellers from safely reporting misconduct.