“All that is needed for evil to prosper is for people of good will to do nothing”—Edmund Burke The

Whistle No. 80, October 2014

Newsletter of Whistleblowers Australia

Jean Lennane, 1940–2014

Articles

Battered plaintiffs Whistleblowing Jean Lennane Jean Lennane and loyalty

Whistleblowers can gain insights Whistleblowers Australia is sad to THERE are hired guns in other medical from Jonathan Haidt’s studies of report the death of Dr Jean specialties, but they appear to be most the foundations for morality. Lennane, long-time president and frequent, and most vicious, in psy- member of the national committee. chiatry — probably because, as a ‘soft’ Brian Martin Jean passed away in Canberra on science, lacking the hard evidence of X-rays and tissue examination, psy- 18 September 2014 following a WHISTLEBLOWERS speak out in the chiatry is more open to opinions, no short illness. public interest, for example to expose matter how outrageous. corruption, abuse or dangers to the A psychiatrist by profession, This is unfortunate for the victims Jean became a whistleblower when public. Although this should be seen as on two counts: firstly, a psychiatric a valuable service, whistleblowers are she worked as director of drug and diagnosis carries a severe stigma in our frequently treated as traitors, as guilty alcohol services at Rozelle Hospital society, and however sane the victim of something worse than the abuses in Sydney. She was dismissed in may in fact be, some mud can be and crimes they reveal. 1990 for publicly criticising cuts to expected to stick, particularly among mental health and drug and alcohol their enemies. It is thus an extremely services in the public health effective way to discredit the victim system, and this experience led her together with their complaints, and supposedly confidential reports are to become involved with the self- commonly overtly or covertly circu- help and mutual-help organisation lated where they can do most damage. for whistleblowers that became Secondly, a psychiatric examination, WBA. on a traumatic issue, is often traumatic Jean was enormously influential in itself because the patient is com- in shaping WBA. She worked tire- pelled to relive the trauma. This is lessly both on providing practical acceptable for the purpose of therapy, support to whistleblowers and in but purely for medico-legal purposes National security whistleblowers, adding significantly to the body of will almost inevitably add another such as Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, have been called traitors. academic research on the subject. injury to the psyche. If the psychiatrist is an abusive hired gun, and if the Whistleblowers who are teachers, In particular, her contributions to patient is forced by the system, as police officers, public servants or understanding of the medical many are, to see a number of them, the corporate executives may be called aspects of whistleblowing have additional injury can be severe. Also traitors, dobbers, snitches or other been highly important. She was most whistleblowers, and many Work- epithets. appalled by the abuse of psychiatry ers’ Compensation claimants, do de- Just as important as words are the as a means of silencing, dismissing velop psychiatric problems such as reprisals that whistleblowers experi- and punishing whistleblowers, and depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic ence, including ostracism, petty campaigned relentlessly within her stress disorder, for which they will harassment, demotions, referral to profession to combat this. need help, usually from a psychiatrist. psychiatrists and dismissal. To be targeted with such hostile actions sig- Jean is survived by her sons If the trust necessary for an effective therapeutic relationship has been nifies condemnation, even contempt. Richard and James. Contact them damaged or destroyed by a traumatic Where does this vitriol and hostility at [email protected]. earlier encounter with a hired gun psy- come from? chiatrist, the effect can be devastating, Also important is the role of by- The January 2015 issue of The Whistle and a condition that should have been standers, in particular the co-workers will include tributes to Jean. relatively easy to treat can become who might personally support the crippling. whistleblower but are unwilling to take a stand. Many of them are afraid they This is a brief extract from one of will become targets themselves; others Jean’s articles, available at always support management, some- http://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/docume times in the hope of rewards. It is nts/Lennane_battered.html reasonable to ask, where does the incredible power of the organisation come from?

2 The Whistle, #80, October 2014 The Righteous Mind people reach their views about the revealing confidential information). Insights can be gained from Jonathan world on the basis of gut instinct, and Haidt’s framework suggests that whis- Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind then their rational minds figure out tleblowers can gain support from some (New York: Pantheon Books, 2012). reasons to justify these views. foundations of morality but are up Haidt, a psychologist, set out to dis- against instinctive responses based on cover the biological bases of human others. morality. But first it is useful to At this point it is worth remember- explain Haidt’s picture of the mind. ing the rider-elephant metaphor. Few people sit around scrutinising the bases of their own morality. Rather, their ideas of right and wrong are intuitive: they react with their gut and then search for rational justifications for their feelings. So if someone’s moral- ity is strongly shaped by respect for authority, they may react emotionally against a co-worker who breaks ranks and then find reasons for their antagonism. Sometimes there are multiple This is not a pretty picture, especially sources of authority. For example, a for those who believe in the primacy of person can accept the authority of rationality, or believe that they person- church leaders or seek a higher author- ally follow reason rather than emotion. ity in the teachings of spiritual leaders The next step in Haidt’s analysis is such as Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed. discovering the foundations of moral- However, the rider-elephant factor ity. Through a variety of means, he enters in here: because most teachings arrived at six main foundations that can be interpreted in various ways, the shape people’s senses of right and rider can find ways of justifying the wrong: care, liberty, fairness, loyalty, elephant’s actions. For example, even Imagine that your mind has two main authority and sanctity. Haidt used when religious texts oppose killing, components. The first is a rational, various tests to work out which of most religious leaders allow participa- calculating operator that can examine these values influence judgements in tion in war, using various rationalisa- courses of action and logically con- US people. He found that “liberals” tions. sider principles of behaviour. This is (who might be called progressives in However, it seems too simple to say how most people think of themselves. Australia) rely especially on care, that whistleblowers put a priority on Haidt calls this component the “rider.” liberty and fairness, whereas conser- care, fairness and liberty (moral priori- The second part of the mind is an vatives rely more equally on all of the ties for liberals) whereas bosses put a intuitive operator that makes judge- foundations. This helps explain some priority on loyalty and authority ments on the basis of gut instinct, of the political differences in the US. (which influence conservatives more without consideration for facts or Most of these foundations are than liberals). Whistleblowers vary logic. This part is filled with passions relevant to whistleblowers. One key greatly in their beliefs; many are the and commitments, which the rider foundation, care, means looking after epitome of the loyal employee. might consider biased and impulsive. those in need, for example children Furthermore, what about all the Haidt calls this second part of the mind and people suffering misfortune. When bystanders, who by their inaction the “elephant.” The elephant makes whistleblowers speak out about abuse support bosses and let whistleblowers day-to-day life possible; its quick of children or shortcomings in health cop it? They are bound to include responses are often sensible — but not services, they are implicitly appealing people driven by a variety of moral always. to the care foundation for morality. precepts. Haidt uses the metaphors of the Another foundation, fairness, is rele- rider and the elephant to highlight a vant for those who speak out about key insight from studies of the mind: corruption, including bribery, theft and for many purposes, rational evaluation nepotism. These are all violations of is unable to restrain instinctive re- fairness. sponses. The elephant is too large and So far so good. But whistleblowers powerful to be controlled by the rider. come up against some of the other Haidt, through careful assessment of foundations. They are seen to be psychological research, concludes that disloyal (to their employers), under- in most cases the primary role of the mining authority (of their bosses) and rider is to figure out ways to justify sometimes transgressing on things what the elephant does. In other words, considered sacred (such as when

The Whistle, #80, October 2014 3 Various researchers have tried to of bosses or church leaders. This hazards to the public, emphasise figure out what, psychologically, deference can also be explained a fairness when speaking out about makes whistleblowers different from different way: people are afraid of the corruption, and emphasise liberty — others. Employers would love to know, consequences of bucking authority. resistance to domination — when so they could avoid hiring potential They might lose their job or, just as speaking out about threats from whistleblowers or, having hired one, worrying, be subject to reprisals such government or corporate power. keep them away from sensitive as reprimands, harassment and ostra- Those three foundations are the easy information. Given the lack of any cism. It might seem that fear is a ones for whistleblowers, namely ones reliable psychological tests to detect fundamental factor in this dimension where they have a natural advantage. potential whistleblowers, it is safe to of morality. The other three foundations are more assume that psychology is not the key challenging: loyalty, authority and to understanding whistleblowing. This Loyalty to what? sanctity. is especially the case for inadvertent For me, this raises another question. Loyalty to the employer is whistleblowers, the workers who re- Why should the two factors of loyalty commonly expected. Whistleblowers port a problem, are totally surprised and authority be tied to the organisa- violate this sense of loyalty: they are when they experience reprisals, and tion where a person works? In terms of seen as traitors. Are there other ways afterwards say “I was just doing my evolution, humans lived in groups to assign loyalty to which whistle- job.” There are psychological factors whose very survival often depended on blowers could appeal? One possibility involved in this, for example honesty banding together. Dissent was poten- is loyalty to the mission of the organi- and conscientiousness, but no obvious tially dangerous, so it could have been sation, not to the organisation itself. Of connection to the foundations of advantageous to attack or expel those course organisational leaders say they morality traced by Haidt. Or is there? who challenged the group’s leaders or are pursuing the mission, so distin- threatened its cohesion. guishing between the mission and the Care versus loyalty? However, many groups today are a organisation is hard to sell. Sexual abuse is a violation of the far cry from the groups in human morality of care: those who are vulner- prehistory, which were often quite able need to be protected. Speaking out small and probably never much more about the abuse, on the other hand, than a few hundred people in size. challenges authority and loyalty. Working for a government or corpora- Consider, for example, sexual abuse tion with thousands of employees is by clergy. The disturbing reality is that not the same, neither in scale nor in the many people in churches knew about it danger to the organisation of a bit of but took little or no action. This can be dissent. interpreted as loyalty and authority This suggests to me that although taking precedence over care. On the loyalty is a key factor in morality, how other hand, the response of many loyalty is assigned remains open. members of the public, when they Inside a school, for example, a pupil learned about the abuse, was com- might be loyal to a peer group, a pletely different: many were horrified sporting team, a teacher or the school and disgusted. As outsiders, their as a whole. In a corporation, a worker conceptions of loyalty were potentially might be loyal to a work team, a union, quite different. They may have had no professional peers in the field, a particular connection to the church, or particular boss or the company as a Another possibility of an alternative perhaps had their own loyalty, for whole. The possibility that loyalty is loyalty is to other workers, especially example to their children. not automatic suggests that it is worth when they are supportive of each But what about authority? Those looking at the methods by which other, as in work teams or unions. who are not directly subject to a organisations foster it. Instead of speaking out as an individ- particular authority may not think ual, a worker concerned about abuses deference to it is so important. This Changing gut reactions to could instead build networks and observation is compatible with the whistleblowing alliances first, gaining support in order advice that whistleblowers can gain It’s worth considering each of Haidt’s to promote collective action. This is greatest support from other whistle- six foundations for morality and not easy, but does have a prospect of blowers and from members of the asking, what can be done, by whistle- fostering a different assignment of public, for example through media blowers and their supporters, to change loyalties. stories. gut reactions to whistleblowing so it is Then there is authority, a moral So morality based on authority more valued? The foundations of care, foundation that whistleblowers almost seems, at least when it applies to fairness and liberty are ones that inevitably challenge. Questioning the whistleblowers, to be quite specific: should create favourable attitudes boss’s authority is difficult, whether by deference to authority takes prece- towards whistleblowers. The message direct confrontation or by reporting dence mainly when people are directly is to continually emphasise care for problems to the boss’s boss, higher subject to the authority, as in the case others when speaking out about officials or watchdog bodies. Is there

4 The Whistle, #80, October 2014 any different line of authority that can stigmatise them. There is protection in will always converge to the less risky be an alternative source of legitimacy? numbers. portfolio which is loyalty to authority. One possibility is the authority of laws. Considering the various foundations Some specific comments from my If bosses are violating the law, they are of morality thus provides some direc- own experience violating legal authority. The trouble is tion for whistleblowers and their 1. For me, fairness was always the that by the time legal sanctions are supporters. important factor. In both whistle- applied — if they ever are — it is too • When appropriate, emphasise blowing cases, I chose fairness late for the whistleblower. After all, violations of care, fairness, and over loyalty to an unfair authority. corrupt operators do not declare they liberty. And it correlates with my political are breaking the law. Indeed, they • Search for alternative bases for leanings which are progressive. Of commonly allege that whistleblowers loyalty and authority. course, there was also a sense of are criminals, by violating terms of • Try to assign stigma to wrong- professional responsibility, that a employment, confidentiality agree- doers. professor should act in the long- ments and the like. • Be prepared for the tactics used to term interests of the institution and One of the advantages of whistle- turn these moral foundations of higher education in general. blower laws is that they give legiti- against whistleblowers. Obviously, I took my professional macy to whistleblowers. Even though responsibilities too seriously. the laws may give little protection in Brian Martin is vice president of 2. The two cases I was involved with practice and, even worse, give a false Whistleblowers Australia and editor of highlighted the singularity of sense of security, their very existence The Whistle. whistleblowing, but from vastly may help undermine the assumption different starting points. In both that authority is always right. Comments from Kim Sawyer cases though, the institution tried [Kim was a whistleblower at two to replace the loyalty of colleagues Australian universities, and has been to me by loyalty to the institution. active on whistleblowing issues for This strategy emphasises the many years.] whistleblower and not the whis- Excellent analysis – corresponds to the tleblowing; the weaknesses of the thoughts I’ve had over a long period of whistleblower and not the founda- time. Haidt’s prescription of the rider- tional issues were highlighted. elephant dichotomy and the six 3. Another issue is the conflicting foundations of morality are insightful. loyalties within the whistle- Your application of those foundations blower. I had loyalty to both to whistleblowing is spot on. Two gen- universities, but the loyalty was

eral comments, and then some specific principally to the long-term, not to Finally there is sanctity, a moral comments from my experience. the short-term management. foundation of special significance to First, whistleblowing acts to elevate Whistleblowing involves a lot of many political conservatives. If the conflict between the foundations. It internal conflict for a whistle- corruption is stigmatised, then whistle- brings morality into focus for blower between fairness and blowers can draw on this moral everyone; the whistleblower, the loyalty to authority. Fairness won foundation. This is suggested by the respondent, the bystanders. The foun- out for me. expressions “clean hands” and “dirty dations are like latent characteristics, hands,” referring to honest and dishon- and whistleblowing becomes the est individuals. Whistleblowers can realization of those characteristics so assist their cause by avoiding any that an individual has to now make a activity that can be easily stigmatised choice. It’s like going to the ballot box, as dishonest or unsavoury. By the you have to now choose between same token, employers regularly fairness and loyalty to the institution. manipulate the sanctity foundation by Secondly, one aspect which could trying to stigmatise the whistleblower, be highlighted more is risk. Everyone, by spreading rumours (sexual misbe- whistleblower, respondent and by- haviour is a favourite allegation) and stander, assesses their risks. Risk by treating the whistleblower as minimization takes over – that is, self- tainted, not to be trusted or even interest. The bystander may see the spoken to. Ostracism — cutting off same unfairness as the whistleblower, personal relationships — is in essence but they also see the risk to them- to treat a person as dangerous and even selves. You could say that these six contagious. foundations are a portfolio, and the When whistleblowers join together whistleblower and bystander assign Kim Sawyer with others, and obtain support from different weights to different founda- bystanders, it is far more difficult to tions. My sense is that the bystander

The Whistle, #80, October 2014 5 Media watch

Vindicated by ICAC, but Ms McCarthy said she had been findings. Mr Pearce remains on leave negotiating with the men “for three with full pay. sacked SES whistleblower months and it feels as if I am on a Greens MP David Shoebridge said still without job merry-go-round, going nowhere … unless Ms McCarthy was reinstated Michaela Whitbourn with no decisions made and no offer of “after being entirely vindicated by an Sydney Morning Herald reinstatement.” Ms McCarthy, a ICAC hearing … it shows the state’s 30 August 2014, page 7 former paramedic and a mother of two whistleblower protection laws are teenage boys, said her “unlawful and worthless.” THE corruption watchdog found she corrupt sacking was devastating en- “There needs to be a change in was improperly sacked from the State ough, but now the failure of the focus in the state’s laws that makes Emergency Service as a “reprisal” for government to provide me with the reinstatement the primary remedy for exposing potential misconduct in the protections they promise to whistle- any whistleblower whose claims are ranks. blowers is soul-destroying.” validated in either ICAC or civil But Tara McCarthy is still waiting “All I ask is to be reinstated to the proceedings,” Mr Shoebridge said. to be reinstated in the “job of her job I loved, a job I should rightfully dreams” — and the government says it have,” she said. is powerless to do so. Ms McCarthy said she would also Germany’s dire record on consider a permanent position of equi- valent rank and responsibility. But the protecting whistleblowers only offer on the table has been for a Germany has some of the least temporary and more junior role at effective protection for another organisation. whistleblowers in the G20, new In a letter to Mr Head on July 15, research has revealed. Despite good Mr Cappie-Wood said it was his “firm intentions in the coalition contract, view” that Ms McCarthy’s “wellbeing the Merkel government remains and safety” would be at risk if she apathetic. returned to the SES. But he said in a statement that he Ben Knight and Mr Head remained in “active DW, 26 September 2014 discussions” with Ms McCarthy about her future. A spokeswoman for the Public Service Commission said that existing whistleblower laws — introduced 20

Tara McCarthy years ago — did not have a mechanism for reinstating senior executives Ms McCarthy, the first female deputy “where removal has occurred contrary commissioner of the SES in its 60-year to the legislation.” history, was vindicated in May when “Hence there is no legal capacity to the Independent Commission Against reinstate Ms McCarthy in the role she Brigitte Heinisch made legal history. Corruption found her boss Murray held in the NSW State Emergency Or at least she should have done. In Kear had acted corruptly by sacking Service or an equivalent role,” the 2000, the then 39-year-old care-worker her a year ago for making allegations spokeswoman said. took a job in a Berlin home run by the against his “mate” Steve Pearce. The commissioner was finalising city-owned company Vivantes. She “I can’t believe that they can’t just advice for the government’s consider- was confronted with horrifying condi- reappoint her, given that the ICAC ation “on mechanisms that would tions: chronically under-staffed, the found the original sacking was a enable reinstatement”, including where home allowed its under-trained work- corrupt sacking,” Public Service a person was sacked as a reprisal for ers to tie residents to beds, leave them Association general secretary Anne whistleblowing. in their own faeces for hours, or falsely Gardiner said. Ms Gardiner believes “a good file documents showing treatment had Emergency Services Minister Stuart option” would be for the minister to been carried out when it hadn’t. Ayres says he is unable to give Ms intervene and exercise his power to Heinisch filed a criminal complaint McCarthy her job back because it is a appoint Ms McCarthy as commis- against Vivantes in 2004, and was matter for the head of the Justice sioner or acting commissioner of the sacked for her trouble. Her dismissal Department, Andrew Cappie-Wood, SES. was upheld by three different courts in and Public Service Commissioner Mr Kear resigned as commissioner Germany before the battle ended up at Graeme Head. earlier this year after the ICAC the European Court of Human Rights, who in 2011 found that Heinisch’s

6 The Whistle, #80, October 2014 right to free speech had been violated. bottom than the US and Australia at pointed out that it could lead to a In the end, the Berlin labour court the top,” as co-author Suelette Drey- disaster,” he said. “What’s missing is reviewed its decision and Heinisch was fus, of Melbourne University, put it. the examination of disasters. And we awarded 90,000 euros ($116,000) in “That really surprised me,” she told have to make legal changes that make compensation. DW. “Being the economic powerhouse that easier.” Now a similar case is working its and leader of Europe, one might have Publicity — or to use the jargon way through the German courts — expected that it would also be a leader word, transparency — is a key issue, paramedic Sascha Lex is contesting his on things like anti-corruption.” but little can be done without political dismissal for drawing attention to will. The coalition contract drawn up unhygienic conditions and poor main- “Keep your mouth shut” in 2013 by the current German tenance of the ambulances he worked The report found that Germany has government — an alliance of Angela in. He claimed the lack of proper practically no legal protections for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union equipment led to the death of a whistleblowers, apart from “a limited and the Social Democrats — does premature baby. provision that applies to government contain a promise that Germany’s The case has raised the hackles of officials who report bribery.” The whistleblowing laws will be assessed whistleblowing campaigners. “He report also criticized the lack of any to see whether they conform to inter- would have been automatically pro- federal agency to receive or investigate national standards. tected if Germany had a whistleblower disclosures, which means that whistle- But what’s happened to that pledge? law that complied with international blower disclosures are left to labor At the end of August, the Green standards,“ said whistleblowing activ- tribunals. “Such decisions depend party’s Bundestag MP Konstantin von ist Mark Worth. “Instead, he has to significantly on an employee’s behav- Notz put in an official information hope for the best in the courts, which ior and the potential harm a disclosure request on the matter, and the gov- has set subjective standards for causes to the employer,” the report ernment simply responded, “The whether a person should be protected said. assessment is not yet completed.” from retaliation if he or she exposes Guido Strack, chairman of the Notz’s party is currently preparing wrongdoing.” German Whistleblower Network, has its own law proposal, and — theoreti- campaigned against the German gov- cally at least — whistleblowing legis- ernment’s apathy for many years. “In lation should be on the way. On Germany it’s impossible to calculate or Thursday (25 September 2014), the limit the risk [of whistleblowing] Bundestag finally dealt with some properly,” he told DW. “So the most unfinished business and voted to ratify sensible thing is often to keep your the United Nations anti-corruption mouth shut.” convention UNCAC, which contains “Companies all say they think an article requiring a whistleblowing whistleblowing is great, but then add law. But how long will that take to that they want to do it internally,” said emerge, given Germany’s glacial Strack. “They want to have the infor- legislative process? Brigitte Heinisch mation for themselves and then decide, Brigitte Heinisch’s case shows how ‘what are we going to do with it?’ We whistleblowing can affect ordinary “Closer to Saudi Arabia than the need state controls.” lives as easily as it can — like the US” Snowden affair — spark international Worth is co-author of an international scandals. Dreyfus describes it as “a report published in early September, kind of crowdsourcing of best ethical which showed that German whistle- behaviour.” “Any one of us can find blowers are still among the most ourselves in a tricky ethical situation at vulnerable in the G20. Despite broad work, or being on the board of a local political support for major whistle- hospital or church or kindergarten, blowers like Edward Snowden, trying to grapple with what’s the right Germany’s own record remains weak. thing to do,” she said. “You may not The report, which pooled research- Guido Strack need [protection legislation] now, but ers from Blueprint for Free Speech, when you do need it, you really need More publicity — and political will Melbourne and Griffith Universities, it.” The problems could be deeper too. and Transparency International Strack argues that major disasters Australia, made a whistleblower happen when whistleblowers aren’t league table of the G20 nations ac- listened to, and there is no culture of cording to a number of different independent inquiries that could criteria. These ranged from the legal change that. “At the Love Parade in definitions of whistleblowing, to the Duisburg [when 21 people were level of protection, to confidentiality, crushed to death in a tunnel at the to transparency. In the end, Germany event in 2010], there were people who ended up “closer to Saudi Arabia at the

The Whistle, #80, October 2014 7 Whistleblower harassed Police reports The police subsequently referred the He has since made 12 police reports on matter to the MPA, which then after court case ended the harassments. investigated. Zul Othman He said he installed a closed-circuit Since the complaint was unsolicited The New Paper (Singapore) television camera outside his unit, but and voluntary, there could not have 25 September 2014 removed it earlier this year during a been any agreement of confidentiality, block upgrading. argued MPA. Mr Tan, who worked as a marine The agency also submitted that any coordinator for another shipping individual who made a complaint to company when he made the report, had the police or any regulatory body provided information that led to the “would reasonably have known that prosecution of a Singaporean company they may be called as witnesses in known as Elcarim Petroleum. court in the prosecution of any persons In August 2011, he witnessed the for offences pursuant to the relevant company’s motor tanker loading a laws, statutes and regulations”. cargo of unrecovered waste oil, which Mr Tan Keng Hong they were not supposed to, at Tanjong “Open justice” Kling Road. Also, when requests are made by SINGAPORE — He had information In January 2012, the company accused persons, the police “may be that a crime was being committed. pleaded guilty to five charges of duty-bound” to furnish the first So, in 2011, Mr Tan Keng Hong contravening Regulation 7 of the MPA information reports to such accused reported it to the authorities, and the (Dangerous Goods, Petroleum and persons “in the interest of open jus- culprits were eventually taken to task. Explosives) Regulations. tice”, the defence added. But soon after the court case ended It was fined $7,500. When contacted, an MPA spokes- in January 2012, the 52-year-old said In his statement of claim, Mr Tan, man said the agency has a “strict he and his family became victims of through his lawyer M. Lukshumayeh, policy” when it comes to protecting incessant harassment, which has con- said there was an “implied agreement” “the identity of any whistle-blower”. tinued to this day. that MPA should protect him by not The MPA will not divulge the This, he alleged, was because his disclosing his identity and address. identity, except in documents that have name, identity card number and Mr Tan left his old job and was to be tendered to the courts, she added. address were included in an open-court subsequently jailed for 11 months for The spokesman said: “Where credi- document used in the case. smuggling contraband cigarettes across ble information is provided to MPA, Now, Mr Tan has filed a law suit the Causeway. we will follow up to investigate and against the Maritime and Port Auth- Since his release from jail in take appropriate action based on the ority of Singapore (MPA), which February, he has been working as a evidence we have gathered.” carried out the prosecution, seeking freelance marine coordinator. damages for the grief he and his family have been through. Complaint was unsolicited and In his statement of claim filed in voluntary Retaliation complaints July, Mr Tan detailed more than seven He was neither a confidential infor- jump at US instances where he and his family had mant nor did he make any request for Veterans Affairs been harassed at their first-storey unit. anonymity. Matthew Daly On one occasion, someone had used These were some of the details the , 9 July 2014 a bicycle chain to lock his metal gate. Maritime and Port Authority Of Some of his flowerpots were smashed Singapore (MPA) provided in its WASHINGTON — A federal investiga- and paint was splashed on his door and defence of the claims made by Mr Tan tive agency is examining 67 claims of windows on several occasions. He also Keng Hong. retaliation by supervisors at the received incessant calls on his phone in In its defence, which was filed in Department of Veterans Affairs against the middle of the night, with the caller the State Courts on July 25, MPA’s employees who filed whistleblower making threats and cursing him. lawyers from Straits Law Practice LLC complaints — including 25 complaints As a result, he and his family are said neither the agency nor its prose- filed since June 1, after a growing now “living in constant fear, stress, cutor, Mr Ng Hak Mun, had acted in health care scandal involving long anxiety”, said the court document. “bad faith” when it named Mr Tan in patient waits and falsified records at Before this, he and his family had its court hearing on Jan 10, 2012. VA hospitals and clinics became resided “without incident” at the three- MPA said the information from Mr public. room flat since 2010, he said. Tan was not provided directly to the The independent Office of Special Mr Tan, who is married with a 23- agency, but through a report made at Counsel said 30 of the complaints year-old son, said they are still living Bukit Merah Neighbourhood Police about retaliation have passed the initial there as they have no money to move. Centre on Aug 3, 2011. review stage and were being further investigated for corrective action and possible discipline against VA super-

8 The Whistle, #80, October 2014 visors and other executives. The “That’s not what I stand for,” complaints were filed in 28 states at 45 Tuchschmidt added. “I’m very disillu- Her complaints about staffing prob- separate facilities, Special Counsel sioned and sickened by all of this.” lems were ignored, Mitchell said, and Carolyn Lerner said. The VA said earlier Tuesday it was she was transferred, suspended and Instead of using information pro- restructuring its Office of Medical reprimanded. vided by whistleblowers as an early Inspector following a scathing report Mitchell, a 16-year veteran at the warning system, the VA often “has by Lerner’s agency last month. Phoenix VA, now directs a program ignored or attempted to minimize Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at problems, allowing serious issues to said the department would appoint an the hospital. She said problems she fester and grow,” Lerner said Tuesday interim director of the medical in- pointed out to supervisors put patients’ night at a hearing before the House spector’s office from outside the lives at risk. Veterans Affairs Committee. Worse, current office and was suspending the “It is a bitter irony that our VA officials have retaliated against whis- office’s hotline immediately. All cannot guarantee high-quality health tleblowers instead of investigating complaints would be referred to the care in the middle of cosmopolitan their complaints, she said. VA’s Office of Inspector General. Phoenix” to veterans who survived The head of the medical inspector’s wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam office retired June 30 following a and Korea, she said. report by the Office of Special Counsel Scott Davis, a program specialist at saying that his office played down the VA’s Health Eligibility Center in whistleblower complaints pointing to Atlanta, said he was placed on “a troubling pattern of deficient patient involuntary leave after reporting that care” at VA facilities. officials were “wasting millions of “Intimidation or retaliation — not dollars” on a direct mail marketing just against whistleblowers, but against campaign to promote the health care any employee who raises a hand to overhaul signed by President Barack identify a problem, make a suggestion Obama. Davis also reported the or report what may be a violation in possible purging and deletion of at law, policy or our core values — is least 10,000 veterans’ health records at absolutely unacceptable,” Gibson said the Atlanta center. More records and in a statement. “I will not tolerate it in documents could be deleted or ma- our organization.” nipulated to mask a major backlog and Meanwhile, a doctor at the Phoenix mismanagement, Davis said. Those Carolyn Lerner veterans hospital says she was ha- records would be hard to identify rassed and humiliated after complain- because of computer-system integrity Lerner said her office has been able to ing about problems at the hospital, issues, he said. block disciplinary actions against where dozens of veterans died while Representative Jeff Miller, Republi- several VA employees who reported on waiting lists for appointments. can from Florida, chairman of the wrongdoing, including one who re- Dr. Katherine Mitchell said the House veterans panel, praised Mitchell ported a possible crime at a VA facility hospital’s emergency room was se- and other whistleblowers for coming in New York. verely understaffed and could not keep forward, despite threats of retaliation The counsel’s office also reversed a up with “the dangerous flood of that included involuntary transfers and suspension for a VA employee in patients” there. Mitchell, a former co- suspensions. Hawaii who reported seeing an elderly director of the Phoenix VA hospital’s “Unlike their supervisors, these patient being improperly restrained in emergency room, told the House whistleblowers have put the interests a wheelchair. The whistleblower was committee that strokes, heart attacks, of veterans before their own,” Miller granted full back pay and an unspeci- internal head bleeding and other said. “They understand that metrics fied monetary award and the official serious medical problems were missed and measurements mean nothing with- who retaliated against the worker was by staffers “overwhelmed by the glut out personal responsibility.” suspended, Lerner said. of patients.” Rather than push whistleblowers James Tuchschmidt, a top official at out, “It is time that VA embraces their the Veterans Health Administration, integrity and recommits itself to ac- the VA’s health care arm, said he was complishing the promise of providing sorry that VA employees have suffered high quality health care to veterans,” retaliation after making complaints. Miller said. “I apologize to everyone whose voice has been stifled,” he said after nearly three hours of testimony by other hearing witnesses about VA actions to limit criticism and strike back against whistleblowers. Katherine Mitchell

The Whistle, #80, October 2014 9 Lax standards and star financial planners, including in a couple of weeks. He was friendly Nguyen. and seemed sincere in his desire to exam cheating spur As Morris says: “The basic qualifi- finally fix this problem that has run out advice crackdown cation to be a financial planner could of control. Adele Ferguson and Ben Butler be regarded as a joke were it not for At 10am I began reading the CBA Sydney Morning Herald, 16 August the fact that financial illiterates armed press release. Alarm bells started 2014, Businessday pages 8–9 with nothing more than this flimsy ringing loudly in my ears. It sounds all (extracts) ‘qualification’ are turned loose to right but I have heard it all before. I’m advise people on their life savings, sorry but the CBA can’t be in control It was September 2008 and “dodgy” with often tragic results. That this has of this process. It should not be the Don Nguyen was on suspension for been the case for so long is yet another first point of contact for victims. The alleged fraud and cash backhanders at damning indictment of the slumbering process should not rely on victims the Commonwealth Bank’s Chatswood regulator, ASIC.” [The remainder of coming forward at all. Many are old branch. Financial planner Jeff Morris this lengthy article addresses training and sick and frightened. Some are was beavering away and studying hard and qualifications for financial plan- dead. to meet his quarterly competency ners.] No, all of the files should be re- training target. viewed by an independent, qualified As Morris studied for the continu- body to uncover where the problems ous professional development (CPD) A whistleblower’s call are. The clients should be contacted by test — a requirement for all financial this body, not the other way around. planners — he became aware that not finally answered I watch the press conference. I everyone was taking it as seriously. Jeff Morris realise Ian Narev still doesn’t know After hitting the “send” button on Sydney Morning Herald what has gone on in his organisation. his computer, he did a double-take a 4 July 2014, p. 25 There was a good deal more bad faith few days later when he overheard in the way CBA dealt with victims some colleagues joking about the test than he acknowledges. and the manila folder of cheat sheets Senator Bishop, the chair of the being passed around. When he went to committee that delivered the scathing a team meeting he was even more verdict on CBA is on next. It is clear horrified when some planners dis- that he gets it. CBA cannot be left in cussed working together, saying “Just charge of this process. Nor can the do one each and swap the answers”. Australian Securities and Investments This contemptuous attitude to con- Commission (ASIC) for that matter. tinuous professional development was Where is ASIC on this day of mea symptomatic of a far deeper problem culpa? Why does it seem to be able to on which Morris was about to blow the dodge being held to account for its whistle at CBA [Commonwealth Bank incompetence in failing to regulate of Australia] and which involved alle- CBA over the years. gations of forgery and fraud and a Why does it take a persistent whis- cover-up by management that would tleblower spending six years of his life, result in losses to clients of tens of a few determined victims like Jan millions of dollars. Braund, Merv and Robyn Blanch and The Commonwealth Bank financial their daughter Merilyn Swan, an planning scandal, which triggered a investigative journalist like Fairfax Media’s Adele Ferguson and a scath- Senate inquiry, a recommendation for a royal commission into the bank and Jeff Morris ing verdict from a Senate inquiry to do the opening up of compensation to the work of ASIC? Why didn’t ASIC hundreds of thousands of customers, My phone rang on Thursday morning stand up and protect the victims has thrown light on some dark places at nine o’clock. It was Ian Narev, the against the depredations of the CBA? in the financial planning industry, CEO of Commonwealth Bank (CBA). Maybe that’s why we still need a including the disturbingly low levels of It is a call I have been waiting nearly royal commission. education required to qualify as a six years for now. financial planner and provide advice to I had offered to meet with him when Jeff Morris is a former Commonwealth customers on managing their life I still worked at CBA. I offered to Bank financial planner. He was the whistleblower who went to ASIC and savings. […] meet with David Turner, the chairman CBA management about practices The misconduct in Macquarie’s of CBA, a year ago to set him and the inside the planning arm. private wealth division occurred about board straight about the things CBA the time Morris approached ASIC were saying publicly that were not warning it of a “high-level conspiracy” true. He politely declined. to conceal the “corruption and gross A year and a scathing Senate report incompetence” of some of the CBA’s later, and I will be meeting Ian Narev

10 The Whistle, #80, October 2014 Scapegoating the U.S. military action in Iraq prior to the government’s own role in his rendi- March 2003 invasion. Italy responded tion. whistleblower by placing him under surveillance. Last year, for the first time, De How a former CIA officer’s efforts Sousa revealed that she was a CIA to get Congress to investigate the operative working for the National rendition and of a CIA Clandestine Service (NCS). For nearly captive failed a decade, she had been working Jason Leopold behind-the-scenes firing off letters to Al Jazeera, 26 June 2014 members of Congress and executive branch officials, informing them that the U.S. violated international laws when the CIA decided to kidnap Abu Omar. Abu Omar Photo: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images De Sousa has never publicly dis- cussed all the efforts she undertook to On 17 February 2003, while walking alert government officials and law- to his local mosque, Abu Omar was makers that the Abu Omar’s kidnap- approached by an Italian police officer ping was a “colossal mistake” and and longtime CIA informant named convince them to investigate her Luciano Ludwig Pironi, who asked to claims of wrongdoing, which implicate Sabrina De Sousa see his passport. Moments later, a top CIA officials. She told Al Jazeera Photo: Barbara L. Salisbury/MCT/Landov that she first contacted top Bush white van pulled up and Abu Omar administration officials, but received WASHINGTON, DC — As a presidential was shoved inside. He was then flown no response. In 2009, hoping the candidate in 2008, Barack Obama to Egypt, where, he said, he was response would be different under made many promises. One notable subjected to brutal torture techniques, Obama, she disclosed to then-CIA pledge was that, as president, he would such as electric shocks, for four years. Director Leon Panetta and Secretary of strengthen whistleblower-protection When Italian authorities tried to locate State Hillary Clinton what she says are laws to make it easier for federal Abu Omar, U.S. officials told them he troubling details about her treatment employees to report waste, fraud and had disappeared into the Balkans. by the U.S. government in the after- abuse in government. Italy launched an investigation into math of her whistleblowing. But, like “Often the best source of informa- Abu Omar’s abduction in 2005, and in the Bush administration officials tion … is an existing government 2007 more than two dozen Americans before them, they also ignored her employee committed to public integ- suspected of being involved in the pleas, De Sousa says, and the CIA rity and willing to speak out,” Obama rendition, including De Sousa, who turned her into a “scapegoat” while the said, in a campaign fact sheet entitled Italian law enforcement officials al- executive branch looked away. “The Change We Need in Washing- leged was one of the masterminds of ton.” “We need to empower federal the operation, were indicted. Nineteen Blowing the whistle employees as watchdogs of wrongdo- of the Americans whom Italy indicted Though she was aware of the plans to ing and partners in performance.” and convicted, De Sousa says, were capture Abu Omar, De Sousa says, she Since then, Obama has signed an not working under their true identities. was eventually “cut out” because she executive order and a bill strengthen- This meant she was one of the few did not get along with the CIA station ing the rights of whistleblowers. But “real” operatives accountable for the chief in , Robert Lady, and that the new law does not provide the same rendition. on the day of the operation she was protections to government employees But De Sousa insists she never skiing with her family. who work in the intelligence commu- played an active role in the execution There was nothing definitive in the nity and want to report wrongdoing. of the rendition. She says she worked classified cables, De Sousa says, about Former undercover CIA officer as a translator between the CIA rendi- the threat the CIA said Abu Omar Sabrina De Sousa found that out the tion team and the Italian military-in- posed to national security as the rendi- hard way. telligence-and-security service, which tion operation was being planned. “The In 2005, De Sousa, who was offi- was involved in the early stages of cable was full of ‘suspected of,’ cially listed as a State Department planning the rendition. In November ‘alleged to.’ Nothing that said ‘he was diplomat assigned to the U.S. Consu- 2009, she was sentenced in absentia to responsible for.’ Nothing definitive,” late in Milan, was implicated in the a five-year prison term in Italy. De Sousa says. rendition of a radical Egyptian cleric in Abu Omar was released from deten- De Sousa describes her CIA col- Italy named Hassan Mustafa Osama tion in Egypt in 2007 and remains leagues in and Cairo as acting Nasr, better known as Abu Omar. Italy there with his family. He has filed a like keystone cops in the aftermath of had granted him political asylum in civil claim against De Sousa. Last Abu Omar’s rendition, trying to figure 2001 after the Egyptian government year, Italy convicted him in absentia out who had the evidence against him alleged that he was part of a terrorist on terrorism charges in what appears to to present to Egypt so he could be group. While in Italy, Abu Omar spoke be an attempt to cover up the Italian prosecuted. out publicly and vehemently against

The Whistle, #80, October 2014 11 “The CIA station chief in Cairo said leagues. “Despite the circumstantial spent three years trying to work to Jeffrey Castelli [CIA station chief in charges against me, the CIA scape- through internal channels to bring a Rome] ‘Where’s the evidence?’ goated me to deflect attention from resolution to her case, at first raising Castelli said, ‘I thought you had the those who authorized the rendition and questions about why the agency had information.’ And Cairo said, ‘We also prevent further investigations into not invoked diplomatic immunity for don’t have it. We thought you had it.’ the operation,” De Sousa says. “Also, I her and then calling attention to the Castelli says, ‘We don’t have it.’ Then believe I was left out of the initial rendition and alleged torture of Abu Cairo says, “We issued this arrest immunity deal [Italy agreed to for Omar by the Egyptians. warrant on your behalf. So where is the other, more senior officers] in retalia- “I went through the whole thing evidence?" The blunder ultimately tion for my interaction with Congress.” internally,” De Sousa says. “I started forced Egypt to set Abu Omar free. off by approaching my supervisor, and “This is exactly when the whole then I went to the ombudsman at CIA. cover-up started,” she says. “It turns He was a great guy. He tried to go to out there was a big miscommunication bat for me and he was told to lay off. between Cairo Station and Rome Sta- He said, ‘I can’t communicate with tion. There wasn’t any prosecutable you anymore due to a seventh-floor evidence against Abu Omar. It’s why edict [at the agency’s Langley head- he was never picked up by the Italians. quarters where the director and other But Castelli decided he wanted a top officials work].’ I then went to the rendition and he got one.” inspector general. The IG said, ‘It’s not De Sousa alleges that Castelli was The first trial over the secret US part of our charter or mission to deal gunning for a promotion to a coveted “” program, in with this.” CIA position in New York City and to Milan in 2007, with 25 CIA agents Yet after she approached the watch- land it someone had to be subjected to among the defendants charged with dog’s office, the inspector general at extraordinary rendition. “Who could the kidnapping of Abu Omar. the time, John Helgerson, said he Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images he pick out from this target list of 10 wanted to launch an investigation into people he had? Abu Omar because it In 2005, after the investigation in the rendition, De Sousa says, an asser- was the easiest. Why was it the Italy began, the CIA instituted a travel tion confirmed in a 2008 report easiest? Because he was already under ban for the officers connected to the published by . But surveillance by the Italians and they rendition because arrest warrants had the head of the NCS, Jose Rodriguez, were sharing information [with the been issued for them in Europe. De who would later come under federal CIA],” De Sousa says. Sousa, a naturalized U.S. citizen who investigation for his role in ordering Castelli, who now works at a private was born and raised in and the destruction of nearly 100 interro- security firm in Arlington, Virginia, whose family still lives there, was gation videotapes of two high-value called Endgame, did not respond to concerned she would not be able to see detainees held at black-site CIA requests for comment. her elderly parents. She was able to prisons, said no. NCS would conduct “Abu Omar was a nobody,” De make one trip back home in September its own review, Rodriguez said. In Sousa says. “The renditions are meant 2005 (the CIA approved it as long as other words, the division of the CIA for imminent, very dangerous threats she could avoid traveling through that De Sousa says screwed up would and [are meant to be used in] countries Europe) to see her father, who was investigate itself. that are incapable of laws that would hospitalized and later passed away. Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden allow them to pick up people who pose The following year, she asked the also convened an accountability- threats to national security. They’re not agency if it would pay for her mother review board to look into the rendition. meant for a country like Italy already to the U.S. for Christmas. But CIA De Sousa asked to see the results but following the guy around.” officials balked. (De Sousa’s family was told she was not authorized De Sousa says that, based on her was unaware of her employment with because she wasn’t involved in the reading of classified CIA cables, there the CIA.) rendition, despite the fact that she had were “four people responsible for this “They said, ‘You don’t qualify for been indicted and convicted for it. thing”: the CIA's chief of counterter- the funds.’ They told my attorney they “So I went to Congress informally,” rorism in Rome who was responsible didn’t want to set a precedent,” she De Sousa says. “I went to Linda for coming up with a target list; recalls. “We’re talking about $6,000. Cohen, the liaison with CIA [for the Castelli; a shadowy figure identified as They were spending millions on this House Permanent Select Committee on “Agent X,” whom De Sousa would not cover-up.” De Sousa says she saw the Intelligence]. I said, ‘Linda, did you discuss further and who told Lady to writing on the wall. “They wanted me see this review-board report?’ She make sure the Abu Omar rendition was out,” she says. “They knew what my said, ‘Oh, they’re smart. They sent this executed; and Pironi, the CIA infor- limit was. They knew that the minute to committee. They put a such a high mant and Italian police officer. they tried to force me to sign memos classification on it none of the staffers But De Sousa says Italy demanded saying I wouldn’t travel overseas they could see it.’” Cohen did not respond that people be held accountable for the knew I would resign.” to requests for comment. embarrassing mistake and the CIA But it didn’t happen as quickly as De Sousa wrote to Rodriguez and chose her and several of her col- the agency would have liked. De Sousa Hayden. But they did not respond to

12 The Whistle, #80, October 2014 her inquiries either. “So then I started in the Obama administration as Senate Select Committee on Intelli- sending letters to Congress,” she says. “appalling.” gence (SSCI), has publicly proclaimed De Sousa sent letters to members of A year after she wrote to Powell, her support for whistleblowers and Congress who sat on the House and however, De Sousa secured two urged intelligence-community employ- Senate intelligence committees, important meetings: one with Schak- ees to air their grievances with select including Sens. Jay Rockefeller and owsky’s staff and another with Sen. members of Congress. De Sousa Kit Bond and Reps. Pete Hoekstra, Dianne Feinstein’s staff. enlisted the human rights organization Silvestre Reyes and Jan Schakowsky. Human Rights First to help set up the But she says Rockefeller, Bond, The intelligence committees meeting. The organization sent a letter Hoekstra and Reyes did not respond Schakowsky is a member of the House to David Grannis, the staff director for and Schakowsky, whose staff she met Permanent Select Committee on Intel- SSCI. with, did not help her. ligence (HPSCI). She had initially De Sousa communicated via email In February 2009, De Sousa re- expressed interest in attending the with Grannis in August 2010 after he signed from the CIA, forfeiting her meeting, but never showed up, De expressed interest in hearing what she retirement. “I get up every morning Sousa says. Prior to the meeting, could disclose about Abu Omar’s and say, ‘Why?’ In 16 years I never Adam Lurie, the staff director and rendition. Grannis told her the best saw anything like this,” she says. “I counsel for HPSCI’s subcommittee on way for her to share the information didn’t sign up for this. If they told me oversight and investigations, asked De with him “is either by hard-copy when I signed up ‘By the way, just to Sousa’s attorney, Mark Zaid, if she delivery” or “via secure fax.” De let you know, it’s possible if some- would be invoking the Intelligence Sousa prepared a memo and hand thing happens we’re going to disavow Community Whistleblower Protection delivered it to the SSCI’s security and you may not see your family Act. Zaid replied that she wouldn’t. director, Jim Wolfe. She never heard again,’ I would have said, ‘I’m not from Grannis or anyone else on the doing this.’” intelligence committee again, she says. She continued firing off letters. On An SSCI staffer, however, denies May 18, 2009, she wrote to former that the panel did not investigate De Secretary of State Colin Powell. “For Sousa’s claims. The staffer says De three years, I tried every option for Sousa met with “SSCI staff multiple resolution available to me, both with times on subjects that I cannot confirm my employer and in letters to the heads openly but that she was raising at the of several Departments and Agencies, time as concerns with CIA actions.” as well as Congress and the Senate in “Committee staff followed up with both administrations without success,” CIA independently to seek CIA’s she wrote. views and explanations,” the staffer Powell was Secretary of State when says. “Any contention that the SSCI the Abu Omar rendition took place. He did nothing is simply factually untrue.” responded a couple of weeks later. De Sousa says she was never informed “Thank you for your letter. I regret the about any inquiries the committee situation you are in, but since the made about her with the CIA. matter is in litigation, I am unable to At the time De Sousa disclosed be of any help,” Powell wrote. details about the Abu Omar rendition “Further, I have no knowledge about Jan Schakowsky to Grannis, the SSCI was one year into any of these matters that would give a review of the CIA’s rendition, me a basis to comment or intercede.” When De Sousa met with Schak- detention and interrogation program. De Sousa says Powell’s State owsky’s staffers, she says, they did not The committee prepared a voluminous Department would have had to have believe her claims. “They asked how report on the program, the executive authorized Abu Omar’s rendition, did I know [about the mistakes the summary of which is currently under- because Italy is a NATO member and CIA made in rendering Abu Omar]? I going a declassification review, and the rendition took place on Italian soil. said I read the cables,” De Sousa concluded that the approximately two In 2009, De Sousa sued the State recalls. She says Schakowsky’s office dozen “war on terror” suspects were Department for failing to invoke never followed up. Lee Whack, a illegally rendered and secretly held by diplomatic immunity, which she spokesman for Schakowsky, told Al the CIA. argued she was entitled to as a State Jazeera, “We are unable to comment For years, De Sousa believed Abu Department diplomat. The U.S. gov- on this issue. The congresswoman Omar’s case would be included in the ernment retorted during a federal court takes very seriously the privacy of committee’s report. “It has to be,” she hearing that it was not responsible for anyone who brings issues to the says. “It’s such a bungled case and it the actions of a foreign court. A federal committee. That said, we cannot also involves torture by proxy gov- district-court judge dismissed De discuss classified work conducted by ernments [Egypt].” But the SSCI Sousa’s case but the judge described the committee.” staffer told Al Jazeera in an email that her treatment by government officials De Sousa also met with Feinstein’s the “executive summary and findings staff. The powerful chairwoman of the and conclusions of the committee’s

The Whistle, #80, October 2014 13 report,” that is the portions due to be makes traveling to visit her mother and of term,” explains Buule. “It is a big declassified, “do not reference Abu siblings difficult. burden to keep on writing on a chalk Omar.” board. So sometimes the head teacher “There are passing references to buys chalk on credit or even uses her him elsewhere in the report, but I own money.” wouldn’t want you to have the impres- Funds arriving late or going missing sion that the report focuses on him or altogether also mean the school’s 529 alleged CIA actions involving him to students usually only take exams twice any significant degree,” the aide said. a term instead of monthly, said the The CIA would not comment on the teacher. allegations De Sousa leveled against “There is lack of transparency in the agency or respond to questions many government institutions on the about the Abu Omar rendition. Sabrina De Sousa at home in funds that are supplied and used,” said Washington, DC, July 2013 Buule, complaining of the country’s False promises Photo: Barbara L. Salisbury/MCT/Landov endemic corruption. “That lack of

Recently, Feinstein said that former transparency is affecting day-to-day She hasn’t given up on trying to hold National Security Agency (NSA) con- learning.” government officials and her former tractor Edward Snowden could have But now, a new project is shifting colleagues accountable. “Castelli’s and should have come to her with the balance of power. chain of command who approved the evidence of the agency’s mass sur- Through the Action for Transpar- rendition — James Pavitt [former CIA veillance of Americans instead of ency (A4T) Smartphone app, being handing over a trove of highly classi- deputy director of operations], Stephen piloted in three Ugandan districts, fied documents to journalists. Kappes, [a close confidante of communities are being armed with De Sousa believes Feinstein would Feinstein who was the agency’s deputy information allowing them to report director], Tenet, [former chief of CIA have ignored Snowden, just as her staff anonymously when budget allocations covert operations in Europe Tyler] did, according to De Sousa, when she for health centres and schools fail to Drumheller, Rodriguez and Rizzo came to them with evidence of alleged match public expenditure. [former CIA general counsel]. Here are wrongdoing by the CIA in the Abu Using the GPS-enabled A4T app, a the guys I wish to hold accountable,” Omar case. user can receive the location of a she says. “Hayden, Rice, Feinstein and And former Secretary of State school or health centre, the number of Schakowsky also have to be held Hillary Clinton recently told NPR’s staff allocated to them by both the accountable for the subsequent cover- Terry Gross that Snowden could have government and the institution, and the “expressed his concerns” in other up and refusal to investigate an issue amount of money approved and ways, such as “reaching out to some of that is a violation of international law dispersed. the senators” about the legality of NSA and torture.” If they suspect money is being Zaid says that during one of the spy programs. misused — for example if the govern- oversight committee meetings he But when De Sousa’s attorney, ment provides funds for an ambulance attended with De Sousa to discuss the Mark Zaid, wrote to Clinton at the which then is nowhere to be seen — , she had told congres- State Department to raise concerns the user can simply click on the app’s sional staffers that she had been unable about her treatment and Abu Omar’s whistle icon to send an instant report to to secure a job because of the convic- rendition and torture he never received the A4T website and their Facebook tion. “One of the staffers actually told a reply. page. her to go back to India and get a job Earlier this month, the Senate passed an intelligence-spending bill there,” Zaid says. “Can you believe that included new whistleblower that?” protections for intelligence personnel that are supposed to codify Obama’s 2012 policy directive that strengthened Whistleblower whistleblower laws for federal work- ers. But the bill comes too late for De phone app seeks to Sousa. She is now using the Freedom outsmart corruption of Information Act in an effort to clear Amy Fallon Gerald Businge, 4AT project her name. She says she will aggres- Yahoo! News, 28 September 2014 coordinator, demonstrates the anti- sively try to pry loose government corruption phone app, Kampala, documents to reveal internal discus- Kampala (AFP) — Douglas Buule, a 19 September 2014 Photo: AFP Photo/Isaac Kasamani sions about the Abu Omar rendition, teacher at Kiwenda primary, a gov- whose case is pending before the ernment school outside Uganda’s European Court of Human Rights. In capital Kampala, has a recurring the meantime, there is still an interna- problem. tional arrest warrant out for her. That “The money used to access the chalk comes late, even towards the end

14 The Whistle, #80, October 2014

Conference and annual general meeting

Conference Saturday 22nd November 2014 8.15am for 9am

AGM Sunday 23 November 2014 8.15am for 9am

Venue: Uniting Church Ministry Convention Centre on Masons Drive, North Parramatta, Sydney NSW

Non-members: $60 per day, includes lunch & morning/afternoon tea. Optional $25 extra for dinner onsite 6pm Saturday night

Members, concessional cardholders and students: $45 per day or $80 for two days.

This charge ($45/80) may be waived for members, concessional cardholders and students from interstate, on prior application to WBA secretary Jeannie Berger ([email protected]).

Optional dinner @ $20 a head, onsite 6pm Saturday night.

Bookings: notify full details to treasurer Feliks Perera by phone on (07) 5448 8218 or at [email protected] or president Cynthia Kardell (for phone/email see below under enquiries).

Payment: Mail cheque made payable to Whistleblowers Australia Inc. to the treasurer, Feliks Perera, at 1/5 Wayne Ave, Marcoola Qld 4564, or pay Whistleblowers Australia Inc by deposit to NAB Coolum Beach BSB 084 620 Account Number 69841 4626 or by credit card using PayPal to account name [email protected].

Low-cost quality accommodation is available at the venue: Book directly with and pay the venue. Call 1300 138 125 or email [email protected]

Enquiries: ring national president Cynthia Kardell on (02) 9484 6895 or email [email protected]

The Whistle, #80, October 2014 15 Whistleblowers Australia contacts Whistleblowers Australia conference

Postal address PO Box U129, Wollongong NSW 2500 See previous page for details Website http://www.whistleblowers.org.au/

New South Wales “Caring & sharing” meetings We listen to your story, provide feedback and possibly guidance for your next few Annual General Meeting steps. Held by arrangement at 7.00pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday nights of each month, Presbyterian Church Whistleblowers Australia’s AGM will be held at 9am Sunday (Crypt), 7-A Campbell Street, Balmain 2041. Ring 23 November at the Uniting Conference Centre, North beforehand to arrange a meeting. Parramatta (Sydney). See previous page. Contact Cynthia Kardell, phone 02 9484 6895, [email protected] Nominations for national committee positions must be delivered in writing to the national secretary (Jeannie Wollongong contact Brian Martin, phone 02 4221 3763. Berger, PO Box 458, Sydney Markets NSW 2129) at least 7 Website http://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/ days in advance of the AGM, namely by Sunday 16 November. Nominations should be signed by two financial Queensland contacts Feliks Perera, phone 07 5448 8218, members and be accompanied by the written consent of the [email protected]; Greg McMahon, phone 07 candidate. 3378 7232, [email protected]

Tasmania Whistleblowers Tasmania contact, Isla Proxies A member can appoint another member as proxy MacGregor, phone 03 6239 1054, [email protected] by giving notice in writing to the secretary (Jeannie Berger) at least 24 hours before the meeting. No member may hold Schools and teachers contact Robina Cosser, more than five proxies. Proxy forms are available online at [email protected] http://www.whistleblowers.org.au/const/ProxyForm.html. Whistle Editor: Brian Martin, [email protected] Phones 02 4221 3763, 02 4228 7860 Address: PO Box U129, Wollongong NSW 2500 Associate editor: Don Eldridge Thanks to Lisa Hamilton and Cynthia Kardell for proofreading.

Whistleblowers Australia membership

Membership of WBA involves an annual fee of $25, payable to Whistleblowers Australia. Membership includes an annual subscription to The Whistle, and members receive discounts to seminars, invitations to briefings/ discussion groups, plus input into policy and submissions. To subscribe to The Whistle but not join WBA, the annual subscription fee is $25. The activities of Whistleblowers Australia depend entirely on voluntary work by members and supporters. We value your ideas, time, expertise and involvement. Whistleblowers Australia is funded almost entirely from membership fees, donations and bequests.

Send memberships and subscriptions to Feliks Perera, National Treasurer, 1/5 Wayne Ave, Marcoola Qld 4564. Phone 07 5448 8218, [email protected]

16 The Whistle, #80, October 2014