GAP is proud to announce that a newly formed organization, the International Whistleblower Archive (IWA), is now actively seeking historical documents from truth-tellers whose cases reveal important information about waste, fraud and abuse in government and business. Founded last year by longtime whistleblower advocate and counselor Donald R. Soeken along with a committee of lawyers, librarians, archivists, and whistleblowers, the Archive is designed to provide a secure repository for documents that describe the cases of whistleblowers in recent decades.
The Archive, which will be launched in Washington early next year, will serve as a permanent library for thousands of documents related to the cases of such well-known American whistleblowers as Ernie Fitzgerald, who reported massive fraudulent cost-overruns in Pentagon weapons programs, and FBI whistleblower Fred Whitehurst, who exposed evidence-rigging and other fraudulent practices at the Bureau’s major crime laboratory.
“It has taken us several years to get the Archive on a solid footing,” said Dr. Soeken, who is also the founder of a support group for whistleblowers – the Whistleblower Support Fund. “Now that we’re about to establish this important historical collection on a permanent basis, we want to get the word out to whistleblowers everywhere that we can safely store any and all of their digitalized court and other documents for future generations.” Dr. Soeken further noted that “It’s extremely important that these materials be gathered and effectively managed – since they represent a priceless resource for all those who will be seeking to defend and support our brave truth-tellers, far down into the future.”
Describing how the Archive will function, Dr. Soeken pointed out that the first step will be to digitize all pertinent whistleblowing-related documents in appropriate libraries and on the Internet. Such a step is essential for future generations to better understand the process of whistleblowing. “This is a huge step forward in protecting the legacy of America’s heroic whistleblowers,” concluded Dr. Soeken. “We need to begin collecting and storing these documents as soon as possible – and we also need volunteers who are interested in helping out with this crucially important project, or in helping to fund it through our nonprofit, tax-exempt foundation."
To learn more about the
International Whistleblower Archive and how you can contribute, contact Dr.
Soeken at [email protected], or call 301.953.7353
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