All Things Whistleblower: A GAP Blog

Happy Human Rights Day!

Today is the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately, at the same time that the United Nations is commemorating this declaration, it continues to deny its own employees the fundamental labor and due process rights provided in this document.

When adopted in 1948, the Declaration represented a codification of basic principles establishing an individual’s inalienable rights under any legitimate body of law:

• Article 2 states that “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind… Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty;”
• Article 6 states that “everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law;”
• Article 7 states that “all are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to equal protection of the law;”
• Article 8 states that “everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals;” and
• Article 10 states that “everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”

In 2006, a Redesign Panel composed of independent international jurists found that the UN justice system “fails to meet many basic standards of due process established in international human rights instruments.” UN employees are unable to raise grievances in national courts because of the sovereign immunity of the institution; they can only assert their rights through this flawed process. The UN General Assembly has committed to establishing a new, professionalized system by January 1, 2009, but it appears that because of ongoing delays, the new system will not be in operation by this deadline. It also appears that the new justice system may exclude certain classes of UN employees  and thus may not comply with Articles 2, 6, 7, 8 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (click here for more information).

It is critical that the UN implement a new justice system as soon as possible. However, it is also crucial that the principles espoused in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are honored in the development and implementation of this new system.

-- Shelley Walden

IG Report Substantiates GAP Client's Concerns

This front-page USA Today story from yesterday details how a report from the Inspector General of the Pentagon has found that military leaders were “aware of the threat posed by mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)” before the Iraq War, but failed to take adequate action.

This investigation was prompted by an internal Pentagon report by GAP client Franz Gayl, a retired marine officer, who has faced retaliation for criticizing the bureaucratic response to his recommendation of requesting more “MRAPs,” a vehicle better designed to protect troops against IEDs.

-- Dylan Blaylock

In the News Today

The National Security Administration (NSA), because of apparent actions taken in wiretapping an eventual convicted terrorist’s home, and then suppressing that action during his ensuing trial, may begin an internal inquiry into its own operations regarding President Bush’s secret program. This would be a first for the agency. From the New York Times:

If the N.S.A. inspector general begins an inquiry, analysts said, that could also signal a new willingness by the agency, under a new administration, to examine its own operations in the eavesdropping program.

President-elect Barack Obama was a critic of the Bush administration’s domestic spying program while he was in the Senate and on the campaign trail, and experts on intelligence matters are waiting to see whether he takes action early in his administration to rein in the program.

Accountability within national security agencies, while tricky, is paramount for our society to be truly free and democratic. Let’s see what the Obama administration does with the case.

Elsewhere in the federal government, two scientists who work within the safety division of the FDA have found that there is an increased risk of death from the usage of four popular asthma medications. Again from the NYT:

The two officials, who work in the safety division of the Food and Drug Administration, wrote in an assessment on the agency’s Web site on Friday that asthma sufferers of all ages should no longer take the medicines. A third drug-safety official concluded that Advair and Symbicort could be used by adults but that all four drugs should no longer be used by people age 17 and under.

--snip--

Once unheard of, public disagreements among agency experts have occurred on occasion in recent years. The agency is convening a committee of experts on Wednesday and Thursday to sort out the disagreement, which has divided not only the F.D.A. but also clinicians and experts for more than a decade.

Lastly, but also of extreme importance, is this editorial discussing how the international body in charge of regulating the total amount of fished bluefin tuna has set a limit that scientists fear may lead to the extinction of the species:

Under this new quota, there is a real danger that fishermen will catch most of the existing bluefin tuna within a very few years, causing a catastrophic collapse of the species. That is the conclusion of a new report by scientists studying bluefin populations in the waters governed by the tuna commission. They predict that the bluefin population in 2011 will be 75 percent lower than it was in 2005 and that current quotas will “allow the fishery to capture legally all of the adult fish.”

And that means goodbye bluefin. This issue should get more press right now – international over-fishing of food is a serious problem, and shortages of this magnitude due to human interaction will undoubtedly spread to other species.

-- Dylan Blaylock

On Animal Gas...

This article examines a tricky and important issue facing the meat industry: With consumption of beef and pork increasing substantially (and expected to keep doing so for quite some time), how can corporations attempt to combat the inevitable rise in methane that these animals naturally produce? These “farm emissions” are a primary issue being discussed by a gathering of environmental ministers from 187 countries.

You wouldn’t think, or maybe it was just me, that animal gas could muster a significant percentage of the harmful greenhouse gases that are hurting the atmosphere. But this is a serious problem. From the New York Times:

The trillions of farm animals around the world generate 18 percent of the emissions that are raising global temperatures, according to United Nations estimates, more even than from cars, buses and airplanes.

Yep. According to the UN, animal emissions are a bigger problem that car emissions. So what can the world do about? Well, some farmers are actually capturing the gas…

..a group of farmers-turned-environmentalists here at a smelly but impeccably clean research farm have a new take on making a silk purse from a sow’s ear: They cook manure from their 3,000 pigs to capture the methane trapped within it, and then use the gas to make electricity for the local power grid.

A good idea. But what can consumers do? Some activists are suggesting educational campaigns to let the public know that certain choices of meat are better than others. Another thought is to put the “carbon footprint” on meat labels, informing consumers about whether what they are buying is good for the environment. There is a great difference between the meats:

Producing a pound of beef creates 11 times as much greenhouse gas emission as a pound of chicken and 100 times more than a pound of carrots…

Food for thought.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Problems with the D.C. Fire Department

A GAP client, a D.C. Fire Captain, has suffered retaliation as a result of blowing the whistle on improper actions by the department taken in the wake of a major fire earlier this year. GAP filed suit on the client’s behalf last week to stop the department from forcing her to take an unjust psychological examination. This transcript story from ABC Washington has a video link to the video piece. From the transcript:

“She was made a scapegoat,” said Richard Condit, senior counsel for the Government Accountability project. Condit represents people claiming protection as whistleblowers, a category that now includes D.C. Fire and EMS Capt. Vanessa Coleman.
Condit believes the fire department blames Capt. Coleman for the fire spreading.
The fire report clearly states the blaze began in the basement. Condit says it was Capt. Coleman's initial responsibility with Engine Company 21 to check the basement, but she was re-directed to the third floor, according to recordings of the D.C. fire department's radio transmission.

ABC News 7 has been reporting recently on the numerous troubles inside the D.C. Fire Department. Two other firefighter/whistleblowers have been retaliated against for raising concerns about the Eastern Market fire last year (here’s a Washington City Paper article about that).

The current state of the D.C. Fire Department deserves more scrutiny. Hopefully more journalists, and the mayor and city counsel, will get interested. Check out GAP’s full press release regarding the suit here.

-- Dylan Blaylock

World Bank Cyber Non-Security

The World Bank, in the wake of media reports questioning its cyber security and a GAP letter asking for explanations of its current state, has taken responsibilities away from its Chief Information Officer, who headed such security.

Previous media reports show that the Bank’s records, which contain sensitive financial information from borrowing and donor countries, were repeatedly and illicitly accessed over the last year. At the same time, the Bank is trying to downplay the attacks, as it positions itself to assume a prominent role in addressing the global financial crisis. This cyber-breach situation raises troubling questions about its future effectiveness in dealing with the crisis. From FOX News:

“This is like locking the barn door after the horse – and the key – have been stolen,” said Bea Edwards, International Program Director for the Government Accountability Project (GAP). “It’s a cosmetic fix. The bank’s information system has been breached repeatedly for months, and may need a massive overhaul.”

We’ll see how this story further plays out, as we’ll be monitoring the Bank and listening to our sources inside it closely. More coverage here from the Financial Times. Here’s GAP’s full press release.

-- Dylan Blaylock