Second Activity Report 2017-2020 Table of Contents
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SECOND ACTIVITY REPORT 2017-2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Al-Jazeera, « William Bourdon: PPLAAF aims to support whistle-blowers,» 6 April 2017 The PPLAAF team PPLAAF’s missions Public whistleblowers accompanied by PPLAAF Jean-Jacques Lumumba Guylain Luwere Mosilo Mothepu Bianca Goodson Noureddine Tounsi Aaron Kaase Johannes Stefansson Simphiwe Mayisela Bongani Mathebula Fadiala Coulibaly The revelations of PPLAAF Lumumba Papers Banana Ports Papers State Capture #GuptaLeaks #LuandaLeaks Fishrot The Dan Gertler investigations Legislation and research PPLAAF funders Chronology 2017- 2020 William Bourdon: PPLAAF aims to support Whistle-blowers in Africa whistle-blowers under threat have little legal protection, says lawyer representing Assange, Snowden and more. by Anealla Safdar 6 Apr 2017 As demand for the truth soars across the world, with confidence in media and governments plummeting, whistle-blowers are having quite a moment from the Global North to South. The risk of whistle-blowing in much of Africa is incredibly high. Of 54 African countries, just seven have passed whistle-blower laws. William Bourdon, one of the world’s leading advocates of whistle-blowers, has represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Antoine Deltour – the man behind the Luxembourg Leaks, and Herve Falciani, who exposed wrongdoing at HSBC’s Swiss private bank. Here, the French lawyer explains why he has founded Plateforme de Protection des Lanceurs d’Alerte en Afrique (PPLAAF), a platform to protect whistle-blowers in Africa comprising legal experts, investigative journalists, NGOs and academics. Al Jazeera: Why did you decide to launch opponents. But many brave people want this to PPLAAF? stop. Bourdon: Creating PPLAAF was an absolute ne- And we want to help them to disclose what they cessity. The great question of the 21st century witness by offering them a legal protection. appeared to be this great civic anger targeted That’s why we created PPLAAF. against those who mix public money with pri- vate interests, and against this, impunity en- Al Jazeera: What do you hope to achieve? joyed by big multinationals. Bourdon: PPLAAF’s priority is to offer legal pro- In Africa, many NGOs and authorities have be- tection to whistle-blowers. Too many of them come more and more professional in their fight in Africa have faced lethal danger, persecution, against corruption. However, I think one parti- threats, only because their identity has been cular tool was missing while large flows of dirty known. PPLAAF wants to protect them, techni- and opaque money are prospering, and the se- cally and legally. paration between public and private interest is PPLAAF can work to iron out the many dangers vague at best. a whistle-blower can face if she or he wants to Regimes are sometimes held in an iron grip by disclose sensitive information relevant to the kleptocrats who siphon public money and re- public interest. It can also work as a protective sources to satisfy their megalomania, and all shield between them and the press. too often government anti-corruption commit- The whistle-blower at the origin of the Panama ments are merely a front for eradicating political Papers, the biggest leak in history, is still ano- William Bourdon fought human rights abuses for almost 30 years before going after those who steal money from public resources [Vincent Kessler/Reuters] nymous. That’s a success story for the protec- Convention on Human Rights which protects noble examples it has, of these women and tion of whistle-blower. freedom of expression. men who fought for their freedom during the But, of course, PPLAAF wants to achieve a But where democratic institutions are weak or colonisation or oppressive regimes like the greater objective and be an ally to all the good inexistent, whistle-blowers are at much greater Apartheid. Gandhi or Mandela have inspired conscious who are fighting for a greater wor- risk. the world. ld. Giving the possibility to a whistle-blower to Only seven of 54 African countries have passed The religious leader Cheikh Amadou Bamba disclose for the public interest is a strong de- whistle-blower laws. In countries like these, who, at the end of the 19th century, decided mocratic act and is a step closer to the end of blowing the whistle can lead to lethal danger. to pray before a French court to show his op- impunity for massive financial crimes. Moss Phakoe, a former local representative position to colonial powers has triggered a in South Africa, was killed in 2009 after disclo- non-violence conscious still in force today Al Jazeera: Do you think, given the changing sing information about corruption activities in in Senegal. political climate across the world, there is a ri- Rustenburg. We can also mention Algerian freedom fighters sing need for whistle-blowers? Jean-Jacques Lumumba, a former employee in or Haile Selassie when he gave this prominent Bourdon: There is a rising need for whist- a Congolese bank had to leave the country in speech in 1936 before the League of Nations le-blowers. Worldwide, citizens are becoming 2016 when his superior threatened to kill him criticising the occupation of his country by the aware of the dark and oppressive political, eco- after he showed him evidence that the bank was troops of Mussolini. nomic and financial powers being exercised conducting serious illegal activities. If you keep a strict definition, the first whist- over their daily lives. These are examples which show the risks taken le-blower is probably the British journalist Ed- Thanks to the revelations of whistle-blowers, by these very brave soldiers of democracy. mund Dene Morel who, at the beginning of the along with new communication technologies 20th century, led a campaign in the UK to de- and increased globalisation, we can better dis- Al Jazeera: In the West, many are quick to cast nounce the exactions committed in Congo by cern the surveillance by intelligence services Assange as pro-Russia and pro-Trump. Should Belgian colonisers on behalf of King Leopold II. and the financial losses generated by banking whistle-blowers in the West and in Africa, whose Never before had it been proved that the King policies that favour tax evasion and money leaks are subject to manipulation, now impose was using Congo as a resource for forced la- laundering over the needs of individual savers. their own limits in terms of the information they bour. Colonisation was still perceived in Europe The more professional secrecy is used in a way are prepared to leak? as a civic act of kindness. to organise the impunity of shameful behaviours Bourdon: This is a very relevant question. which are contrary to international standards, Nowadays, information is of paramount im- the more whistle-blowers need to break this se- portance, especially since it can be so quickly crecy in order to reveal reprehensible activities. spread. It can change an election, it can destroy Whistle-blowers have therefore Whistle-blowers are watchdogs of democracy. someone’s life, it can interfere with the future In this civic anger which is rising in the world, of a nation. from Bucharest to Seoul, whistle-blowers are Whistle-blowers have therefore a great res- a great responsibility when the top of the pyramid. We need them in or- ponsibility when disclosing information, es- der to understand how we can improve the way pecially now that they can do it without going we live together, the way we are led. That’s why through the press, thanks to the new techno- disclosing information PPLAAF will be duplicated in other parts of the logies. Whistle-blowers need to properly check world. the veracity and the credibility of the informa- ‘‘ Al Jazeera: What protections exist in Africa for tion they want to disclose. whistle-blowers, and how can your organisa- Al Jazeera: How does whistle-blowing differ PPLAAF can help them assessing the informa- tion help? between Europe and North America, and Afri- tion they have at hand and see if it’s something Bourdon: Except in certain rare circums- ca? worth disclosing. To that end, PPLAAF will tances, there is almost no protection for whist- Bourdon: Even if they take great risks and face conduct an in-depth investigation to check the le-blowers in African countries. PPLAAF is here very damaging retaliation, whistle-blowers in credibility. PPLAAF will never put itself in a si- to fill in the gaps left by weak states or insti- ’’ Europe or in North America are better-protec- tuation where it only fuels the spread of a ru- tutions. ted thanks to strong democratic institutions mour. Therefore, PPLAAF can offer four kind of ser- and a real rule of law, although this latter always That said, it is not for PPLAAF nor the whist- vices: technical assistance through encrypted needs to be built stone-by-stone. le-blower to wonder whether the information channels (web portal to send sensitive docu- Several countries in the Western world have to disclose will interfere with an election or the ments and a hotline in French and English); le- strong laws protecting whistle-blowers, such conclusion of an international contract. gal assistance through a network of lawyers and as France, the UK or the US. Progressive human activists; and mediatic assistance - PPLAAF rights courts like the European Court of Human Al Jazeera: Is there a history of whistle-blowers acts as a shield between the whistle-blowers Rights can also play a great role in the protec- in Africa? and the press. tion of whistle-blowers. Bourdon: It depends on the scope of the defini- Finally, PPLAAF can also work as a think-tank, As an example, during the trial of Antoine Del- tion of whistle-blowing.