Whistleblowers and the power of '13'

13. Public Interest Defence for Whistleblowers

Official Secrets Act 1989

Read the relevant clause of the Freedom Bill

A public interest defence allows a defendant who disclosed classified or protected information to avoid criminal prosecution if they can establish that the public interest in disclosure of the information outweighs the public interest in non-disclosure. This protects whistleblowers on government misconducts from prosecution. The Official Secrets Act 1911 contained such a public interest defence. However, the Official Secrets Act 1989 removed such a right. Secret service employees, journalists and civil servants now face up to two years in prison and an unlimited fine for leaking information about defence and international relations among other subjects. The later Act was introduced after Clive Ponting, a civil servant, leaked documents showing that the Navy had attacked the Belgrano when it was sailing away from the battle zone during the Falklands war...


13 National Security Whistleblowers Write to President Obama

...A call to public service without needed whistleblower protection can only - at some future date - put at risk those most inspired by your leadership. We the undersigned feel we have a special bond with you and your Administration, given your long-standing support for federal employee free speech and against acts of bureaucratic retaliation against those who dare to “commit the truth.” We have been thrilled by your strong statement of support for whistleblowers, both during your presidential campaign and the transition:

Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled as they have been during the Bush administration. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.

In the years before your presidency, each one of us undertook a largely solitary battle in favor of the values we share with you and against the kind of wrongdoing that resulted in many of the American people flocking to your standard last year. And in doing so, each one of us, together with our families, and sometimes our friends and colleagues, have paid a heavy price for our ethical dissent.
While we national security whistleblowers made critical disclosures that exposed corruption and protected life at the expense of our own careers and financial security, our federal peers took the safe route by turning a "blind eye" and remaining silent, so that their careers could advance. 

The steps we are asking that you take are a necessary remediation for past wrongs and would be a clear signal to those now heeding your call for service that by adhering to the standards you have so clearly embraced, they will not become – as we did not so long ago – victims of bureaucratic wrongdoers, who may still feel that they can get away with continued misdeeds.

As the federal government of necessity grows in response to the many crises that you have inherited from your predecessor, the lack of protection currently afforded to whistleblowers means that federal workers – the front line in the fight against fraud and waste, and best guarantee that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and government works effectively – must either sit on the sidelines or, still forced to look over their shoulders for signs of reprisal, risk their careers.

Not only did the U.S. Office of Special Counsel fall into ridicule under the stewardship of George W. Bush appointee Scott Bloch. In the last nine years, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), charged with adjudicating federal worker claims, has found only one case of illegal retaliation in 56 decisions on the merits. And only three whistleblowers out of 212 prevailed in decisions on the merits in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals since October 1994, when the current whistleblower “protection” law last was modified.

We the undersigned, national security whistleblowers from agencies across the federal government, know the special vulnerability people like us have in trying to do right by our principles and by the country we love.  And we still do not have any real safeguards against retaliation. Instead, for protecting this nation, we and others face having our security clearances yanked, as well as a rosary of humiliation, demotions, threats, punitive polygraphs and myriad other intimidatory measures. To be sure, these are meant not only to destroy our careers – and in the process our physical and mental well being, our marriages and the tranquility necessary for nurturing our families in a wholesome environment. They also serve as a warning to others – that the price is high, too high, and the possibility for real vindication remote. Even if Inspectors General, Congressional committees, the reputable news media, or other outside groups are fully able to corroborate our complaints, wrongdoers are mostly allowed to retain their posts - and many even receive promotions. ...


Obama backs whistle-blowers but not in intell

...In related news, the Project on Government Oversight reported on May 13 that only seven state Web sites tracking the economic stimulus law spending include complete information for prospective whistle-blowers, including details on how to report suspected fraud, legal information and hotline phone numbers. Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine and Texas presented the most complete instructions. ...


Whistle-blower quits military, in hiding

The Navy officer who blew the whistle on the purported irregular disbursement of RP-US Balikatan funds in 2007 will not surrender to the military despite an order for her arrest, according to her elder sister.

Lt. Nancy Gadian Friday told her sister Nedina Diamante that she was bracing to be arrested but would not turn herself in.

[ ... ]

On the phone with the Inquirer on Thursday, Gadian said she had prepared herself for the consequences of accusing a number of generals, including retired Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, a former Westmincom chief, of helping themselves to a large portion of the 2007 Balikatan funds.

But she added that she was still concerned about the safety of her 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.

“I have received text messages that I'm being tracked down. I've expected this to happen and I'm taking precautions,” she said.

Gadian said she would continue what she had started and would not stop even if the charges against her were dropped.

“The interest of the entire organization or the country should not be sacrificed for just one person,” she said. ...


One small step for whistleblowers

...Banning "blacklists" is a small step in the right direction, albeit 13 years too late, but it is the Public Interest Disclosure Act that needs amending with such sharp teeth that those who whistleblow are promoted, not hounded out of employment. ...