Jonathan Tremblay: Wikileaks and a History of the Whistleblowers
Since 2007, the website Wikileaks has aimed to provide an anonymous way for individuals to reveal incriminating, irresponsible, immoral and/or unethical information about their employer or governement. More specifically, Wikileaks says that it accepts “classified, censored or otherwise restricted material of political, diplomatic or ethical significance.” As such, the whistleblowing intermediary website has been called the future of investigative journalism by some and an agent of international treason by others.
One of the founders and directors of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been the poster-child for the organisation and for its legal obstacles (over 100 legal challenges defeated). Many of his supporters (and himself) see the man as a hero exposing unethical governments and corporations. On the other hand, Assange hides in very liberal countries (Sweden for the moment) to escape nations that would have his head for treason. Following the publishing of tens of thousands of files pertaining to the US Army in the Middle East along with thousands of diplomatic cables that should be highly classified, Assange has been accused of putting the lives of all US soldiers in danger, of humiliating several governments and of compromising national security, especially in America.
Assange’s lawyer even fights an extradition from Sweden as we speak with the defence that his client may face the death penalty for treason in the US. In the end, this may be overreaction. Putting the man to death, destroying his website or “disappearing him” seems more of the realm of fiction. In any case, Assange has informed us very publicly that, were any of these eventualities to happen, a passkey would automatically be made available online and we would gain access to an “insurance file” currently hosted on the Wikileaks servers. All we know at the moment is that this file contains 1.4 GB of classified information on the war in Afghanistan. Speculation proposes that the info contained therein would be heavily embarrassing for the US government and may damage international relations.
To this date, Wikileaks has revealed over 100,000 documents with notable revelations such as: proof of corruption in the Kenyan government, how certain Guantanamo Bay prisoners are hidden from the Red Cross and international observers, a list of members (and addresses) of the far-right British National Party, details on an oil scandal in Peru involving several government officials, the Saudi Royal family is a major financier of Al Qaida and what measures the British government is taking to prevents classified documents from appearing on Wikileaks. There have been many more but safe to say that the planet has not imploded from any of these revelations.
At its very core, Wikileaks protects whistleblowers, people that have the unenviable job of following their conscience and exposing higher-ups while facing the consequences. Often intimidated, routinely fired and made to look like libellous attention-seekers, very few countries have laws protecting these people. In fact, many more have laws protecting companies from whistleblowers. To take two examples, the United States has yet to make sweeping legislation protecting them so for the moment, each case is dependant on local precedent, individual state regulations and the mindset of single judges. Not far but on the contrary, Canada is the very worst Western country in this aspect. Having always refused to officially protect whistleblowers, Canada has had to wait for official inquiries to expose corruption, especially from its own government (Liberal subsidy scandal, the Conrad Black affair…). This means that the alleged wrongdoings go on for decades and even more as certain altruistic people try to expose them but are summarily fired and even prosecuted for slander in the meantime.
Wikileaks has revealed much from our past and present but it is its future in jeopardy that must preoccupy us. Wikileaks provides an international protection for whistleblowers and as a result is forcing honesty and transparency in countries that were never willing to do so with legislation. A group of illustrious Australian media professionals said it best: “In essence, Wikileaks, an organization that aims to expose official secrets, is doing what the media have always done: bringing to light material that governments would prefer to keep secret.”
In conclusion, here is a short list of the whistleblowers that preceded Wikileaks and that have been instrumental for historical change but almost always at the expense of the brave denouncer.
1) In 1859, Henry Dumont had witnessed the Battle of Solferino and decided to publish a book exposing the terrible suffering of battle wounded, the ineptitude of battle medics and the immediate need for a recognized neutral medical force on all battlefields. This directly resulted in the Swiss creation of the Red Cross.
2) During the Second World War, Jan Karski, a Polish resistance fighter, travelled to the United States to set the record straight about the Nazi occupation of Poland. Whereas Berlin claimed a humane occupation, Karski told President Roosevelt of abuse, oppression and death camps. His warnings were not taken seriously but they were proven right years later when the Allies freed the first camps.
3) In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg published “The Pentagon Papers” or an exposition of the Vietnam War and the elaborate deceptions that led to US involvement in South-East Asia. The Papers caused massive opposition to an already unpopular war and led to ending the war.
4) In 1972, Peter Buxton of the US Health Service revealed the ongoing of the Tuskegee experiments in which impoverished African Americans were infected with syphilis without their knowledge to study the course and effects of the untreated infection on the human body. Buxton’s snitching put a stop to these ridiculously unethical experiments that had been going on since 1932 in Macon County, Alabama.
5) That same year, associate director of the FBI Mark Felt became known as “Deep Throat” for revealing President Nixon’s illegal wiretaps and spying in the Watergate scandal which led to his impeachment.
6) The nation of Israel does not officially have nuclear weapons. That being said, Mordechai Vanunu revealed the specifics of the Israeli nuclear arsenal to the British Press in 1986. Assuming he was making it up, it would not explain his imprisonment in solitary confinement for eleven years and official restrictions that, to this day, prevent him from leaving Israel or even speaking with foreigners.
7) In 1996, Jeffrey Wigand had been VP of research and development for Brown & Williamson (an American tobacco company) for many years when he made an unscheduled appearance on the show 60 minutes. Flabbergasting his employers, he revealed to the world that cigarettes produced in his workplace were intentionally manipulated on a genetic level to maximize nicotine content and therefore chemical addiction. He became notorious following Russell Crowe’s portrayal of him in the movie “The Insider”. Harassment and death threats have been common for him ever since.
8 ) Linda Tripp does not fit our pattern of whistleblowers becoming selfless heroes but she nevertheless became one of the most remembered in 1998. She taped her friend Monica Lewinsky and exposed that the intern had perjured herself in court, lying about her indiscretions with President Clinton. Tripp suffered some governmental harassment following this but had it recognized by the courts that awarded her a sizeable settlement.
9) The 2002 Time magazine people of the year were all known for their whistleblowing: Cythia Cooper exposed the financial illegalities of Worldcom while Sherron Watkins did the same for Enron. Our trifecta was completed by Coleen Rowley of the FBI who exposed her agency’s slow action leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
10) Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani was only 26 but held a prominent job as a physician in Iran’s Jahrizak Detention Centre. He selflessly testified in court that political prisoners were being tortured in the centre, knowing that whistleblowers in Iran do not have a very high life-expectancy. Indeed, the authorities revealed his accidental death due to stress and miscellaneous injuries four days later (an investigation later proved he was poisoned.) We unfortunately have no way of knowing if Dr. Pourandarjani’s sacrifice changed how political prisoners are treated in Iran.