UN Report: Protect Public Disclosures of Wrongdoing

(October 22, 2015) – Governments and international institutions should do more to protect whistleblowers and confidential sources by adopting the recommendations in a new United Nations expert report, Human Rights Watch said today. David Kaye, the UN’s specialist on freedom of expression and access to information, presented his path-breaking report to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on October 22, 2015. It emphasizes that when those who divulge important facts are exposed to retaliation, the public suffers as well as the individual.

“Disclosing secrets to the public is sometimes the only effective way to put an end to human rights abuses and hold those responsible to account,” said Dinah PoKempner, general counsel at Human Rights Watch. “The Kaye report applies well-established human rights standards to a practice that many in government prefer to punish than encourage.”