All Things Whistleblower: A GAP Blog

Wikileaks Shuts Down

Wikileaks.org, launched in 2007 as a website that allows for the anonymous uploading of sensitive documents, has temporarily shut down operations because of budget problems.

Wikileaks has published millions of documents, and fought off more than 100 legal challenges since its inception in 2007. It is famous for posting, among other things, the U.S. military manual for procedures at Guantánamo Bay, which included a list of inmates who would be off-limits for the Red Cross, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority's controversial blacklist of websites that would be banned under the federal government's Internet censoring policy (turning out to be online poker sites, YouTube links, and Wikipedia postings).

The groups’s officers announced its plan to shutter the site in December unless it raised enough funds to continue - but so far fundraising efforts have only netted $130,000, which amounts to a little more than half its annual costs - not including pay for staff.

A statement on the website claimed that Wikileaks had recently received hundreds of thousands of documents pertaining to "corrupt banks, the US detainee system, the Iraq war, China, the UN and many others," but no longer had the resources to release them.

Dead British Whistleblower’s “Suicide” Files Closed for 70 Years?

In a stunning move, all information pertaining to the alleged 2003 suicide of a British government scientist and UN weapons inspector must be kept secret for 70 years because of an eye-raising, seemingly unjustified order.

Several days before his death, David Kelly was revealed as a source of a BBC story claiming that evidence of Saddam Hussein's weapons had been exaggerated to justify an invasion. He blew the whistle, reportedly claiming that accounts of Iraqi weaponry had been "sexed up."

Kelly became caught in the crosshairs of a battle between the BBC, British Ministry of Defense, and the Office of the Prime Minister when his name was announced as a source for the story. Kelly had blown the whistle confidentially, and some claimed Prime Minister Tony Blair "used a [public] battle with the BBC to divert attention from the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." The Ministry of Defense also chose to confirm his name to journalists, despite a normal policy of not identifying civil servants. The head of the BBC, for its part, has been accused of hinting strongly to Kelly as the source of the story, in order to confirm that the source was high-placed in the preparation for the invasion of Iraq.

Kelly allegedly killed himself at his home on July 17, 2003, after suffering immensely following the publication of his name. Despite public knowledge that he was the whistleblower, the BBC finally publicly identified him as their source soon after.

The new order to keep information pertaining Kelly's death secret follows a 2003-2004 inquiry of the circumstances surrounding his death that cleared the British government of all wrongdoing and harshly criticized the BBC. However, several national newspapers accused the inquiry of participating in an "establishment whitewash," and not delivering the truth.

The chairman of the inquiry has not given any explanation for his order, nor has he commented on it publicly. The order means "vital evidence, including the results of Dr Kelly's post-mortem examination – which have never been made public – will remain under wraps until 2073, by which time anyone involved in the case will almost certainly be dead."  

The Possible End of Wikileaks; Big-Pharma Produced Films

Wikileaks.org, a website on which whistleblowers may anonymously break stories of government and corporate transgressions, has gone offline and will remain so while it looks for funding. The home page featured a message saying that Wikileaks had received "hundreds of thousands of pages from corrupt banks and other information pertaining to the Iraq war, China, the United Nations” and that it does not currently have the resources to release the documents. Wikileaks has featured thousands of sensitive documents regarding the September 11 attacks, Guantánamo Bay and the Church of Scientology, among others. Neil Gordon of the Project on Government Oversight commented on Wikileaks, saying: "We think there's nothing but good that can come from sites like Wikileaks. It provides places for whistleblowers to provide documents anonymously, which is often the only way you can uncover corruption."

In a controversial move, drug maker GlaxoSmithKline has decided to finance a documentary about eating habits in order to increase its sale of a weight loss drug they produce. While corporations often financially support films, as a rule they do not directly finance films with the hope of translating that support into profit. Some in the film industry are worried that the film will function more like a commercial for the weight loss drug and less like a documentary.

Whistleblower Archive Seeks “Priceless” Original Documents from Truth-Tellers

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

Iranian Whistleblower Killed

A doctor who blew the whistle on the torture of jailed protestors after this summers protests in Iran was killed when a lethal dose of heart medication was slipped into his salad, according to prosecutors. Many are claiming that he was killed after testifying about the torture.

The doctor worked at a notorious prison outside of Tehran where hundreds of protestors were taken in the crackdown following June's disputed presidential election. He later reported to a parliamentary committee that one young protester he treated died from heavy torture.

Opposition websites are claiming he was killed because he knew the conditions of a number of torture victims at the prison, including the son of a prominent conservative figure, which was the major factor that increased anger among even government supporters over the tortures.

Hundreds of protesters and opposition activists were arrested after protests following this summers disputed presidential election. The Iranian government has confirmed around 30 deaths occurred, while other estimates put the number closer to 70. More than 100 protesters, activists and pro-reform opposition have been put on trial and accused of coordinating or promoting the protests and/or and taking part in a scheme to depose the government.

Iranian Whistleblower Killed

A doctor who blew the whistle on the torture of jailed protestors after this summers protests in Iran was killed when a lethal dose of heart medication was slipped into his salad, according to prosecutors. Many are claiming that he was killed after testifying about the torture.

The doctor worked at a notorious prison outside of Tehran where hundreds of protestors were taken in the crackdown following June's disputed presidential election. He later reported to a parliamentary committee that one young protester he treated died from heavy torture.

Opposition websites are claiming he was killed because he knew the conditions of a number of torture victims at the prison, including the son of a prominent conservative figure, which was the major factor that increased anger among even government supporters over the tortures.

Hundreds of protesters and opposition activists were arrested after protests following this summers disputed presidential election. The Iranian government has confirmed around 30 deaths occurred, while other estimates put the number closer to 70. More than 100 protesters, activists and pro-reform opposition have been put on trial and accused of coordinating or promoting the protests and/or and taking part in a scheme to depose the government.

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