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Mission: The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a 30-year-old nonprofit public interest group that promotes government and corporate accountability by advancing occupational free speech, defending whistleblowers, and empowering citizen activists. We pursue this mission through our Nuclear Safety, International Reform, Corporate Accountability, Food & Drug Safety, and Federal Employee/National Security programs. GAP is the nation's leading whistleblower protection organization.
Current Program Highlights
5/9/2008
GAP Whistleblower Events Next Week
Next week marks the second year of annual events and conferences aimed at raising awareness of whistleblower issues in Washington, D.C. Two separate coalitions will host conferences. The Government Accountability Project (GAP) will sponsor six forums and/or panels at these conferences.
Click here for a full list of GAP-sponsored events
Kicking things off Monday will be an expert panel focusing on the federal government’s secret domestic surveillance scandal.
Click here to read about the Domestic Surveillance panel
5/6/2008
FBI Agents Raid Office of Special Counsel
The Wall Street Journal has reported that “more than a dozen” FBI agents served grand jury subpoenas this morning while searching the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and the home of Special Counsel Scott Bloch. According to the Journal, OSC employees say the raid is in connection with allegations of obstruction of justice by Bloch, who in 2006 used a computer service, Geeks on Call, to completely erase his work computer's hard drive. Bloch asked the company to eradicate his computer’s files as he was being investigated by the Office of Personnel Management Inspector General in connection with a complaint submitted by a group of anonymous OSC employees, GAP, the Project On Government Oversight, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Last week, attorney Debra Katz, who represents the groups and the anonymous OSC employees, sent a comprehensive summary of Bloch’s abuses during his tenure to President Bush, and called on the President to use his authority to remove the Special Counsel “for cause.”
Click here to read Katz’ letter
5/5/2008
U.S. District Court Decision Holds Development Bank Accountable to Contractors
GAP is applauding a recent decision by the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia holding that a consultant for the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), the private investment arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has the right to sue the IIC for breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment. The decision establishes that the IIC, and by implication, international organizations operating under similar charters in the Unites States, have waived immunity from lawsuits brought against them by external commercial contractors and consultants.
Click here for the press release
5/1/2008
Asian Development Bank Audit Reveals Fraud in Afghanistan Projects
Today, GAP is drawing attention to a recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) audit of the Asian Development Bank’s work in Afghanistan, which indicates mismanagement, incompetence, deception of donors, and fraud. News of this audit comes at a time when the Bank is appealing to donors for additional contributions of $12 billion for projects and loans.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
4/24/2008
Lawsuit Details Security Company’s Shortcomings at U.S. Embassy in Kabul
This morning, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and the law firm of Katz, Marshall & Banks (KMB) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of two program managers who worked for the private security company ArmorGroup. The managers were fired in June 2007 for raising concerns about the integrity of the company’s security program and for disclosing those concerns to the State Department. They have not been informed by the State Department whether corrections to the problems they reported have been made. In addition, the case highlights the problem of foreign owned or controlled companies providing security for U.S. Government facilities.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Click here for a copy of the filed complaint
4/15/2008
Mushroom Company Consents to Order Finding It Committed Violations of Federal Law
In a lawsuit brought by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Golden Gourmet Mushrooms (GGM) has consented to an order finding that it “committed willful, flagrant and repeated violations” of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). The USDA charged that GGM operated without a required PACA license for over two years, through the end of 2007. The USDA also charged that GGM misrepresented to its customers in the US and Mexico that its mushrooms were from California.
Last October, GAP submitted a formal complaint to USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) alleging that GGM sold conventional mushroom products as organic, manipulated organic certification documents, and made false claims regarding the nature and origin of its mushroom products.
Click here to read the press release
4/10/2008
GAP Renews Call for Stronger Whistleblower Protections
Joining telecom whistleblower Babak Pasdar on today's episode of Democracy Now GAP Legal Director Tom Devine called for Congress to act quickly to strengthen whistleblower rights for government and corporate employees. Congress is on the verge of passing breakthrough whistleblower protection, but needs to hear from you to finish the job.
Click here to watch Pasdar and Devine on Democracy Now
Click here to see how you can help support whistleblower rights
Click here to learn more about the Whistleblower Protection Act
4/10/2008
Over 60 Federal Employee Whistleblowers Petition Congress to Reform Office of Special Counsel
GAP is supporting the renewed call for reform by “OSC Watch,” a new organization of federal employees who are demanding that OSC begin to fulfill its mandate to protect government whistleblowers.
Click here to see the petition
Click here to visit OSC Watch
4/1/2008
GAP Comparison of UN, UNDP, WFP, UNICEF and UNFPA Whistleblower Policies
GAP has compared the whistleblower policies at the United Nations (policy), United Nations Development Programme (policy), World Food Programme (policy), UN Children’s Fund (policy) and the UN Population Fund (policy). A comparison of the policies shows that they are inconsistent, weakened by arbitrary loopholes and, on the whole, less comprehensive than the original UN policy established in December 2005.
There is a clear need for harmonization of these policies and for the UN to create a better process for defending employees of conscience. GAP urges the UN Ethics Committee to establish a single policy and standard equivalent to the policy set out in SGB/2005/21. GAP also urges the UN to consider how best to enforce these policies and to establish an independent dispute resolution mechanism as expeditiously as possible.
Click here to read a chart comparing the policies
Click here to read an explanation of the chart
3/31/2008
Report Criticizing GNEP Released
Today, GAP and a coalition of public interest, environmental and policy groups are releasing a groundbreaking report detailing the severe shortcomings and false assertions posed in the Global Energy Nuclear Partnership (GNEP). The new report, Risky Appropriations: Gambling US Energy Policy on the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, finds that GNEP is “an ill-conceived, poorly supported, rushed, and technically and economically risky program.”
Click here to read the report
Click here to read the report Fact Sheet
Click here to read the full press release
3/19/2008
World Bank Action “Too Little, Too Late” to Correct HIV Corruption; Bank Uses CDC in Cover-Up
After nearly one year’s delay, the World Bank announced last Thursday that it will further investigate disclosures involving the distribution of defective HIV/AIDS test kits, mass purchased as part of a health care project in India. GAP client Dr. Kunal Saha first informed the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) of the use of the faulty kits in a draft report in May 2007. In the ensuing months, various World Bank officials have attempted to conceal the facts about the case, discredit Dr. Saha in both the US and India, and use the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) to cover-up fraud. Statements made by World Bank officials to the media last week about this issue were grossly misleading.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
3/18/2008
Special Counsel Exempts Air Marshal Service from Whistleblower Law
GAP and Federal Air Marshal Frank Terreri responded today to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel’s recent resolution of Mr. Terreri’s whistleblowing disclosure.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Click here to read the full DHS Report
Click here to read Terreri’s full comments
Click here to read the OSC’s Analysis
Click here to read the OSC’s letter to President Bush
3/14/2008
Climate Change Report Buried by DOT; Author Blocked From Reporters
This past Wednesday, March 12, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Climate Change Science Program quietly released a major assessment report on the likely impacts of global climate disruption on a wide range of transportation infrastructure in the Gulf Coast region. This report release was buried by the DOT, and officials have been blocking journalists from speaking with the report’s lead author.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Click here to read Climate Science Watch
3/14/2008
Telecom Whistleblower and GAP Praise House Vote Denying Immunity
Telecommunications whistleblower Babak Pasdar praised today’s House of Representatives 214-195 vote denying corporate immunity in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization. Pasdar, a computer expert, is a client of the Government Accountability Project (GAP). In 2003, he discovered a mysterious “Quantico Circuit” from a major telecommunications firm that provided unfettered access to all customer communications connected directly or indirectly to mobile phones.
Click here to read the press release
3/12/2008
GAP and Other Groups Urge Telecom Immunity Rejection Pending Review of GAP Client’s Affidavit
Today, 34 good government watchdog groups sent a letter to all members of Congress urging them not to allow retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies in the warrant-less wiretapping/national security bill, headed for debate tomorrow, pending review of allegations in an affidavit by Government Accountability Project (GAP) client Babak Pasdar, which were detailed in a recent “Dear Colleagues” letter.
In their letter, the groups summarize the concerns laid out in Pasdar’s affidavit:
An unnamed major wireless telecommunications carrier may have given the government unmonitored access to data communications from that company’s mobile devices, including e-mail, text messages, and Internet use… [T]he line was configured so that the carrier could have no record of what information had been transmitted. Of equal concern was his allegation that there was no security to protect this line -- an unheard of vulnerability in a carrier environment.
Click here to read the full press release
Click here to read the letter sent to Congress
Click here to read Pasdar's affidavit
Click here to read GAP's talking points about the affidavit
Click here to read the "Dear Colleagues" letter
3/7/2008
GAP Hails Whistleblower Rights in CPSC Bill
The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is praising yesterday’s Senate vote including “best practices” whistleblower protection rights for millions of corporate employees in legislation to strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The legislation now must be reconciled with a House version that does not include any rights for whistleblowers or other witnesses challenging violations.
Click here to read the press release
2/28/2008
Senate Republican Caucus Backs Industry Stance on Product Safety
GAP and Public Citizen today disclosed Senate Republican Caucus “talking points” attacking S. 2663, bipartisan legislation to strengthen and reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Objections to whistleblower protections were the first item in the Republican Caucus broadside. The talking points were compiled by the office of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and constitute a wholesale attack on the legislation that protects America’s families from unsafe products.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Click here to read the SRC talking points
2/27/2008
GAP Joins Groups in Supporting CPSC Legislation
GAP has signed onto a letter with 45 other good government and consumer protection organizations in support of S. 2663, legislation to strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and specifically, the bill's whistleblower provisions.
Click here to read the letter
Click here to read GAP's full press release
2/15/2008
Google Censors Media Outlet Supportive of UN Whistleblowers
Internet goliath Google has discontinued listing stories from Inner City Press, a United Nations-focused media organization, through its Google News program. The move comes after an Inner City Press staffer reportedly questioned Google regarding its failure to sign a human rights and anti-censorship agreement. In GAP's opinion, Inner City Press is the most effective and important media organization for UN whistleblowers.
Click here to read GAP's press release
2/11/2008
Hearing on Deadly Drug Tomorrow
Tomorrow, February 12, GAP client Ann Marie Cisneros will testify at a House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing titled “Ketek Clinical Study Fraud: What Did Aventis Know?”
Click here to read the full press release
2/6/2008
Senator’s Investigation Details Wyeth, FDA Wrongdoing
Earlier today, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt and FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach detailing how Wyeth Pharmaceuticals engaged in a smear campaign aimed at discrediting an FDA safety officer assigned to review one of Wyeth’s animal care products. After Wyeth met with FDA officers and presented false and misleading information, the FDA wrongfully removed GAP client Dr. Victoria Hampshire from her position as that drug’s reviewer.
Click here to read GAP's press release
Click here to read the letter
2/4/2008
Navy Vindicates Aviation Safety Whistleblower
GAP applauds the Department of Navy for issuing a commendation to military aviation whistleblower Richard Conrad at an award ceremony held last Friday, February 1. Conrad was presented with a commendation for playing “a major part in effecting…improvements” to the repair and overhaul process of certain flight critical components on the Navy’s aging fleet of F/A-18 aircraft.
Click here to read GAP's full release
1/24/2008
Senate Subcommittee Investigates the Disclosures of a GAP Whistleblower
Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on the "United Nations Development Program: A Case Study of North Korea.” The hearing, which will start at 10 a.m. in Room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, will focus on allegations of corruption in the UNDP North Korea office, including those raised by GAP whistleblower Artjon Shkurtaj. Mr. Shkurtaj was terminated after he reported serious allegations of wrongdoing related to the UNDP North Korea office, including that UNDP personnel were:
- Dealing and transferring hard currencies in cash to North Korean officials in violation of UNDP rules and regulations;
- Concealing counterfeit currency on UNDP premises; and
- Neglecting to enforce monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
Click here to read the case study
1/23/2008
Nonprofit Launched to Transform Hanford Cleanup, Safety
Hanford Challenge, a new organization GAP is sponsoring as a project, is launching immediately to address the many issues facing the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington state. HC will combine decades of experience and hard-won respect with a new mission to achieve safety and sustainable prosperity for people affected by Hanford.
GAP, which will no longer have an office in Seattle, will continue to operate its national Nuclear Oversight Program out of its Washington, D.C. office.
Click here to visit the Hanford Challenge Web site
Click here to read GAP's full press release
1/16/2008
World Bank’s INT Director Quits after Steady Criticism
Suzanne Rich-Folsom, controversial head of the World Bank Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), tendered her resignation to Bank President Robert Zoellick today. Ms. Folsom’s departure comes after increasing criticism of her own integrity and effectiveness from a variety of sources, including an independent review prepared by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a Bank commissioned report from a panel headed by Paul Volcker, and a rising tide of dissatisfaction among her staff.
Click here to read GAP's press release
1/10/2008
GAP Spring Internships Available
Do you know a college student interested in free speech rights? GAP Spring 2008 Internships are now available. They include: Communications/P.R., Corporate Accountability, Environmental, Executive, Food & Drug Safety, Fundraising & Development, International Reform, and Legislative.
Click here for GAP’s internship page
1/7/2008
Oregon Department to Hold Closed Meeting
An Oregon Department has announced a nonpublic teleconference/meeting to be held tomorrow, January 8, 2007, concerning chemical agent waste issues at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, located near Hermiston, OR. The same department was challenged in a lawsuit filed by GAP in November for its decision to allow the incineration of secondary wastes at Umatilla, along with seeking a court order for the State to make a determination of the ‘best available technology’ for the disposal of mustard agent (HD). Incineration of the HD, the current plan, would probably result in the release of significant amounts of harmful mercury and other dangerous contaminates into the surrounding environment.
Click here to read GAP's press release
1/7/2008
GAP Applauds, Analyzes Progress on UN Reform
GAP was encouraged to learn that on December 22, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly approved the establishment of a new system for the administration of justice (A/62/597). Through this resolution, the UN declared its commitment to “…a new, independent, transparent, professionalized, adequately resourced and decentralized system of administration of justice consistent with the relevant rules of international law and the principles of the rule of law and due process to ensure respect for the rights and obligations of staff members and the accountability of managers and staff members alike.” The resolution includes many advances in the process of guaranteeing due process and labor rights to UN staff members, contractors and consultants. Continuing concerns about the measure primarily relate to issues that will arise regarding the specifics of implementation.
Click here to read GAP's full analysis
Click here to read the UN resolution
1/3/2008
GAP Releases Report on Proposed UN Office of Staff Legal Assistance
After an independent UN panel found the existing justice system at the organization to be “…inefficient, dysfunctional and lacking in independence,” the international body embarked on the process of internal reform. As part of these reforms, the panel proposed and the Secretary-General endorsed plans to replace the current Panel of Counsel with a new Office of Staff Legal Assistance (OSLA). This office would serve as an advocate for staff members be responsible for receiving requests for legal services, investigate the claims to be filed, and defend the interests of personnel of the UN Secretariat and its Funds and Programmes in employment-related disputes.
Following consultations with the Under Secretary for Management of the United Nations Secretariat, GAP undertook a study of possible models and recommendations for OSLA, using both national and international precedents as a guide.
Click here to see GAP’s report
12/18/2007
Senate Approves Whistleblower Protection Legislation
Yesterday, December 17, the Senate approved (by unanimous consent) S. 274, legislation to restore and strengthen the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) for federal government workers.
The Senate action follows House approval of similar legislation, setting the stage for the two chambers to reconcile their legislation and present a composite bill for final approval. President Bush already has promised to veto stronger whistleblower rights, but an overwhelming veto-proof majority in the House and unanimous consent approval in the Senate indicate that Congress would likely be able to over-ride a presidential veto.
Click here for the press release
12/10/2007
Congress Set to Pass Defense Contractor Whistleblower Protections
GAP applauds negotiators from the Senate and House Armed Services Committees for approving strengthened whistleblower protections for employees of Department of Defense contractors and grantees. The whistleblower protections were included in the final conference report to the FY2008 Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585). The conference on the defense bill, chaired by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), announced its results late last week. The legislation and accompanying report are expected to receive final approval and be submitted to the President later this month.
Click here to read GAP's press release
12/6/2007
House Committee Seeks Interview from Special Counsel
Today, Chairman Henry Waxman and Ranking Member Tom Davis of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent a letter to Special Counsel Scott Bloch requesting a “transcribed interview” concerning Bloch’s use of an IT service, Geeks on Call, to permanently remove documents on Bloch’s office computer. For well over two years, Bloch has been under investigation for allegedly retaliating against a group of anonymous OSC employees. The allegations about the “seven-level wipe" on Bloch’s office computer, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, raise further concerns that this activity obstructed the pending investigation.
Click here to read the letter
12/4/2007
New UN Ethics Guidelines Greatly Misleading
The codification of ethics standards and policies for various UN agencies detailed in the December 1st bulletin issued by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon complicates and confuses the issue, creating an entirely new level of bureaucratic dispute, delay, cost and inefficiency for those who report corruption in UN operations and suffer retaliation as a result, in the opinion of the Government Accountability Project (GAP).
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Click here to read the UN bulletin
11/29/2007
GAP Protests Silencing of Farmers
GAP has signed onto a letter of protest sent to Governor Edward Rendell regarding the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s recent action that would prohibit farmers from informing consumers that they do not using artificial hormones on their dairy cows.
Click here to read the letter.
11/29/2007
35 Groups Urge Congress to Include Whistleblower Protections for Defense Contractors
GAP and a coalition of good government, open government, and whistleblower rights organizations have sent a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO), urging support for a bipartisan amendment to strengthen whistleblower protections for employees of Department of Defense contractors. The amendment, sponsored by Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Susan Collins (R-ME), was approved unanimously by the Senate in its version of the annual defense authorization legislation. The bill is pending in a conference committee with the House, and likely will be finalized when Congress returns from a Thanksgiving recess next week.
Click here to read the letter
11/14/2007
Lawsuit Filed Challenging State of Oregon’s Failure to Determine Best Technology for Disposal of Mustard Agent
Yesterday afternoon, GAP, on behalf of a coalition of individuals and nonprofit groups, filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court challenging the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission’s recent decision to allow the incineration of secondary wastes at the U.S. Army’s Umatilla Chemical Demilitarization Facility (UMCF) located near Hermiston, Oregon. The lawsuit also asks the Court to order the State to make a determination of the best available technology for the disposal of mustard agent (HD). The lawsuit follows on the heels of an April 2007 decision by the Court which required the State agencies to make new findings about the best available technologies for the disposal of secondary wastes and mercury-contaminated mustard agent. The release of mercury and other contaminants poses a hazard to the environment and surrounding communities.
Click here to read the press release
Click here to read the filing petition
Click here to read the April decision
11/8/2007
GAP Announces New Executive Director
Dear GAP Supporters:
After a comprehensive search, GAP is very pleased to announce that Mark Cohen has become our new Executive Director. Mark emerged as the best qualified candidate, and enjoyed tremendous encouragement and support from all quarters of the GAP community. He assumed his new duties on November 1.
Mark joins GAP’s leadership team after heading our Food & Drug Safety Program since early 2005. In that capacity, he demonstrated decisive and innovative investigative, legal and public interest campaign skills. Mark has compiled a truly remarkable track record of accomplishments, publicly exposing the dangers of harmful prescription drugs such as Ketek, and helping GAP whistleblowers mount a sustained campaign to bring meaningful reform and real oversight to the Food and Drug Administration.
GAP is excited to have Mark heading the organization for years to come.
11/5/2007
GAP Supports Competition in Earmarks
GAP has signed on to a letter of support for Section 828 of the Senate Defense Authorization bill, which introduces common-sense transparency and competition in the awarding of grants and contracts. Specifically, this provision would ensure that earmarks to federal competitive bidding laws and regulations are competitive.
Click here to read the letter
11/2/2007
Bill Would Streamline Whistleblower Protections
GAP applauds Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, and a group of 13 co-sponsors, for introducing the “Private Sector Whistleblower Protection Streamlining Act of 2007” yesterday, November 1. The legislation, H.R. 4047, would for the first time establish a uniform, coherent system of legal protections for all private sector, state and municipal employees who are retaliated against for disclosing threats to public safety or violations of federal law.
Click here to read the press release
11/2/2007
GAP and Consumer Interest Group take Gassed Meat to Hearing
On October 30, GAP and the nonprofit group Food and Water Watch took samples of carbon-monoxide (CO) infused meat packages to a hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture aimed to “review technologies in the meat industry.” At this hearing, the main topic of discussion was the use of CO in case ready meat packages, which maintains its red color for upwards of one year despite spoilage.
Click here to see pictures of GAP and F&WW showing old (but still pink) meat at the hearing
Click here to read GAP Food & Drug Safety Officer Jacqueline Ostfeld's op-ed on the topic
10/24/2007
Climate Science Watch Posts Testimony Censored by White House
The White House is coming under fire for “watering down” Senate testimony from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention delivered yesterday regarding the impact climate change is having on public health.
Climate Science Watch, a GAP program focused on holding public officials accountable for the ways climate science data is used, has posted the director’s original testimony prior to being censored.
Click here to go to Climate Science Watch
Click here to read the Associated Press story
10/18/2007
GAP Files Complaint against Mushroom Company for Organic Standards Violations
Today, GAP requested that the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) initiate an investigation into violations of organic standards allegedly committed by Golden Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc., a mushroom production company based in California.
Click here to read GAP’s press release and full explanation
Click here to read the Formal Complaint
Evidence and Documentation Cited in Complaint (Citation Number)
Click here to read GAP’s Affidavit (1)
Click here to read the GGM Certification Documents (2)
Click here to read the Hokuto Certification Documents (3)
Click here to read the Doctored Organic System Plan Summary (4)
Click here to view GGM’s Web site from April 2007 (5)
Click here to read the Shipment Schedules from March – April 2007 (6)
Click here to read GGM’s invoices to anonymous customers from March – April 2007 (7)
Click here to views examples of GGM’s Product Labeling (8)
Click here to read Noncompliance Letters (9)
Click here to read Order Confirmations (10)
Click here to read Emails between GAP and QAI (11)
10/11/2007
UNDP Draft Whistleblower Protections Inadequate
In the past few months, numerous whistleblowers have come forward with allegations of corruption and retaliation at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Many of them believed that they would be protected by UN Secretary General Bulletin ST/SGB/2005/21 (SGB), approved in December 2005, entitled “Protection against retaliation for reporting misconduct and for cooperating with duly authorized audits or investigations." Recent developments, however, show that they were mistaken. They have been told that UNDP has opted-out of coverage by the SGB in favor of its own protection policy.
GAP, which provided counsel and technical assistance in the formulation of the SGB, has obtained a draft copy of the UNDP policy, dated September 20, 2007. This “Updated UNDP Legal Framework for Addressing Non-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct,” sets out UNDP’s procedures for investigating misconduct and retaliation. Although the UNDP Framework has not yet been finally approved, the Legal Support Office maintains that its provisions are currently in use as a guide for investigating retaliation.
To address the discrepancies between the two policies, GAP has prepared a comparison of the proposed whistleblower provisions in the UNDP Legal Framework and the SGB, using “International Best Practices for Whistleblower Policies at Intergovernmental Organizations” as a guide.
GAP found the UNDP Legal Framework to be substantially weaker than the SGB in several key areas including: due process rights, the statute of limitations, staff covered, the burden of proof, interim relief measures, retaliation sanctions and the provisions for reporting misconduct through external channels. The UNDP Legal Framework often borrows paragraphs virtually verbatim from the SGB, deleting (or adding) only select words and phrases, apparently for the purpose of restricting the scope of coverage and compromising the objectivity of investigations. In doing so, the UNDP Legal Framework weakens the original policy developed for the organization. Overall the UNDP Legal Framework also disregards the developments of the past two years during which management, staff, and member states have shown a determination to move the United Nations system toward an integrated and impartial internal justice system.
Click here to read GAP’s comparison between the UN and UNDP policies.
Click here to read a chart comparing International Best Practices, the UN and UNDP policies.
Click here to read the Updated UNDP Legal Framework for Addressing Non-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct
Click here to read International Best Practices for Whistleblower Policies at Intergovernmental Organizations
9/28/2007
World Bank Funding Use of Defective HIV-Testing Kits
A GAP client has come forward with evidence that World Bank funds have been used over a period of years to purchase defective HIV test kits, which have been supplied by the Indian government to hospitals and blood banks across India. The kits, distributed by Monozyme, Ltd., frequently give ‘false negative’ readings, meaning that HIV-contaminated blood will appear to be ‘clean’ and suitable for distribution.
Click here to read GAP's press release/explanation
Click here to read the Washington Post article regarding this case
9/26/2007
GAP's 30th Anniversary Reception Tonight!
GAP is happy to invite you, our supporters, to a celebration in honor of our thirty year legacy, and to offer a toast to whistleblowers and their defenders. To commemorate the occasion, GAP will recognize select whistleblowers, elected officials, and media figures for their outstanding dedication and commitment to the whistleblower cause. This event will be hosted by special guest Erin Brockovich.
This reception will take place tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Mott House in Washington, D.C.
Click here for the full invitation!
9/21/2007
UNDP Whistleblowers Left Without Protection
Over the course of the past month, GAP has watched with dismay as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has ‘opted out’ of the jurisdiction of the UN Ethics Office as a mean of protecting whistleblowers. The General Assembly of the United Nations established the Ethics Office in 2006 for the purpose of shielding whistleblowers from retaliation when they reported corruption or misconduct. The unwillingness of Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to oblige Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator, to accept the authority of the Ethics Office is therefore inexplicable in light of Ki-Moon’s anti-corruption rhetoric. Because GAP represents whistleblowers who have exposed corruption and misconduct at UNDP, we are concerned for our clients and the lack of recourse accorded them now.
Click here for memo from the UN Ethics Office acknowledging retaliation against Tony Shkurtaj and requesting permission to protect him
GAP urges the Secretary General and management of the United Nations to move quickly to recognize the authority of the Ethics Office of the Secretariat to protect whistleblowers from retaliation.
One of the most serious cases of retaliation we have confronted in recent years involves Ivorian Mathieu Koumoin, a public utilities economist and an employee of UNDP for three years stationed in Senegal. In November 2005, Koumoin resisted approving improper contracting that would have directed UNDP funds allocated by the Global Environment Facility to global warming issues in Africa away from the continent to intergovernmental organizations in Canada and Europe. Koumoin has since been terminated by UNDP in a retaliatory manner and threatened with physical harm by unknown persons in Dakar. The recent decisions by Dervis and Ki-Moon leaves him without any protection as officials seek to silence his truth-telling. Koumoin remains in Dakar with his family, where he is unemployed and informally blacklisted by the United Nations for future employment, without resources or protection.
Click here to read Koumoin’s letter sent earlier this month to the U.N. Ethics Office asking for a review of his dismissal
9/19/2007
Senate Approves Whistleblower Protections for Defense Contractors
The U.S. Senate approved a whistleblower protection amendment for employees of Department of Defense (DoD) contractors this past Monday. The McCaskill-Collins amendment covers employees working on any taxpayer-financed DoD projects, recognizing that the potential for abuse in wartime spending is not limited to traditional DoD contracts.
Click here for GAP’s full press release
The approval comes just days before the Democratic Policy Committee is to hold a hearing on “The Mistreatment of Iraq Contracting Whistleblowers.” The hearing, scheduled for this coming Friday, will feature witnesses who have been fired, demoted, threatened, intimidated and even detained for speaking the truth about Iraq contracting practices.
Click here for information on the hearing
9/14/2007
GAP Response to the Volcker Panel's INT Report
The World Bank panel chaired by Paul Volcker and commissioned to review the practices of the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) publicly released its report yesterday, one week after GAP issued an independent review of INT. The two reports share a number of convergent views, but at the same time, recommendations and conclusions diverge on a series of important issues.
In brief, both reports note that:
- The director of INT must relinquish her dual position as counselor to the president and director of INT. The two positions represent a conflict of interest that must be resolved.
- Americans are disproportionately represented among INT staff, especially at the higher levels, and diversity must be increased in the department.
- INT management is excessively critical of department personnel as indicated by the number of staff members on remedial performance improvement programs.
- Attrition among INT staff is dramatically higher than in other units of the Bank.
- A climate of distrust, miscommunication and secrecy has badly strained relations between INT and operations personnel.
GAP urges the Bank management to address these concerns regarding INT immediately. Additionally, GAP calls attention to numerous problems at INT that the Volcker report does not cover.
Click here to read GAP’s full response to the Volcker report.
9/6/2007
Report on World Bank INT Details Serious Problems
Today, GAP is releasing a review of the World Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) and its practices from 2005 – 2007. INT investigates allegations of misconduct, fraud, and corruption at the Bank, and designs anti-corruption measures to safeguard Bank resources. The GAP report documents several immediate and long-term problems at INT.
Click here for the report
Click here for the press release
Supporting Documentation
Click here for the Internal Auditing Interim Report
8/24/2007
UN Ethics are Not Optional
A U.N. official has found evidence that the UN Development Program (UNDP) retaliated against an employee who exposed wrongdoing involving the agency’s programs in North Korea. Unfortunately, the UNDP has refused a request from the U.N. ethics chief to submit to a formal investigation. The Ethics Office is in charge of administering the whistleblower protection policy that GAP consulted with the organization about in 2005, and should have priority in this case. The whistleblower policy was meant to cover all U.N. employees.
In 2005, GAP provided technical assistance to the Under-Secretary for Management at the United Nations in the development of the whistleblower protection policy. Findings made by the U.N. Ethics Office determine whether a whistleblower has suffered retaliation, according to the terms of the policy. At no time during the discussions concerning the scope of the policy did the Under-Secretary for Management or GAP understand that the Funds and Programmes would be allowed to ‘opt out’ of the jurisdiction of the Ethics Office findings, as UNDP is currently attempting to do.
The Resolution of the General Assembly 60/1, which mandated the creation of the Ethics Office, states:
We urge the Secretary-General to scrupulously apply the existing standards of conduct and develop a system-wide code of ethics for all United Nations personnel. In this regard, we request the Secretary-General to submit details on an ethics office with independent status, which he intends to create, to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session.
The whistleblower protection policy that was subsequently formulated relied on this system-wide jurisdiction of the Ethics Office. Accordingly the “Protection against retaliation” policy explicitly states that it has been formulated in accordance with paragraph 161 (d) of General Assembly resolution 60/1.
The U.N. whistleblower protection policy was issued by the Secretary General of the United Nations at the direction of the General Assembly. GAP does not believe that the code of conduct, ethics or transparency of the UN system are optional for UNDP or for any other Fund or Programme.
8/17/2007
Whistleblower Documents Corruption in Armenia
Bruce Tasker, a specialist on the commission established by the Parliament of Armenia to study the country’s foreign assistance, has documented widespread corruption and the embezzlement of public funds associated with the World Bank’s Municipal Development Program and the Government’s Integrated Finance Rehabilitation Plan, supported by the Bank and monitored by the IMF. Among other things, Tasker has reported the diversion of tens of millions of dollars from the Yerevan water company by the International Operator, who managed the World Bank-financed project. Although the Armenian Parliament and the World Bank received Tasker’s allegations in 2004, together with compelling evidence, three years later, neither the government nor the Bank have adequately addressed the problem.
Click here to read Bruce Tasker's blog
8/8/2007
Aguirre Victory
A report released last Friday by the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees represents a significant victory for Gary Aguirre, the S.E.C. staff attorney who was fired two years ago following his attempt to subpoena John Mack, now the CEO of Morgan Stanley, in an insider trading investigation of Pequot Capital Management, a leading hedge fund.
Click here for the New York Times story.
Click here for GAP's Gary Aguirre & the SEC page.
Click here to read the Senate committees' final report.
7/30/2007
Graham Testifies About Avandia
GAP client Dr. David Graham is testifying today at an FDA Advisory Committee meeting regarding the serious dangerous side effects of the diabetes drug Avandia.
Click here to read the Bloomberg story
7/27/2007
Farm Bill Undermines Important Food Safety Protections, Again
Yesterday, GAP joined the Safe Food Coalition in urging House members to oppose a provision in the Farm Bill that would seriously undermine national food safety protections. The provisions would permit meat and poultry products inspected by state inspectors to be sold in interstate commerce. Unfortunately, state inspections have historically been substantially less stringent than federal meat inspections, and passage of this provision would jeopardize food safety standards and increase the risk of food poisoning in the US.
Click here to see the letter
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