On 6 April 2020, EUROMIL, together with a coalition of NGOs and trade unions, including ETUC, EPSU and Eurocadres, issued a joint statement calling on all public authorities and corporate institutions to protect those citizens and workers who expose harms, abuses and serious wrongdoing during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

In these challenging times, EUROMIL particularly highlights the need to support workers at the frontline, including military personnel. Their health and safety as well as trade unions rights must be protected. The organisation insists that in no circumstances, their human rights or fundamental freedoms should be attacked or undermined. In this context of crisis, information and accountability are key.

TEXT OF THE STATEMENT:

The signatories to this letter call on all public authorities and institutions to protect those who report or expose the harms, abuses and serious wrongdoing that arise during this period of crisis caused by the COVID19 pandemic. We also encourage all citizens and workers to participate in ensuring our governments, corporate institutions and markets remain accountable, and in defending the human rights and freedoms of all people.

The COVID-19 pandemic brings into stark relief the importance of accountability and the need for regular and reliable information from our public institutions and our leaders. The people of every affected country need to know the truth about the spread of the disease both locally and internationally in order to respond effectively and help protect their communities. Fairness, transparency and cooperation are vital and never more so than during a pandemic.

We have already seen examples of wrongdoing and mismanagement in our public institutions, commercial markets and business as a result of COVID-19. Emerging areas of concern include health system capacity and delivery, public procurement, violations of health and safety and labor law, inequitable and ill-prepared global supply chains, unfair competition practices and market abuses, and significant violations of personal privacy rights at scale through the digital tracking of individuals.

Proper notification of risk to the public and to workers, fair and responsible conduct by all institutions, and transparent data collection are all critical to public confidence in our ability to overcome this crisis. This is even more important when the protections normally provided by the fundamental democratic pillars of our societies are curtailed or side-stepped. Parliaments and democratic assemblies are being suspended in many countries. The use of extraordinary powers by governments without proper public oversight and transparency creates a tangible risk of overreach and potential misuse.

When decisions are taken in emergency conditions, often away from democratic scrutiny, whistleblowers can play a vital early warning role. They are the corrective fail-safe mechanism in any society, especially in an international health crisis when the public’s right to know can have life-or-death implications. In this time of crisis and beyond, we encourage citizens and workers to participate in ensuring that proper accountability is maintained in our governments, corporate institutions and markets, and in defending the human rights and freedoms of all people.

During this pandemic we have already witnessed abuses. At various times, the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and access to information have been restricted. The cost of these actions is most severely borne by the most vulnerable members of our communities: the elderly, the poor, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ communities, prisoners, the multitudes of precarious workers as well as frontline workers in the crisis.

Whistleblowing has proven to be a powerful tool to fight and prevent actions that undermine the public interest. Our organizations call on all public authorities and corporate institutions to protect those who expose harms, abuses and serious wrongdoing during the COVID-19 crisis, and beyond. Workers are taking risks daily to maintain the many essential services which we rely upon, especially in these times, our health services, care for elderly care and other social and public services, as well as food supply and logistics, just to name a few. The importance of these workers, their right to a safe working environment and to speak up about threats to public health and safety, corruption, and other abuses must be recognized and protected. Their disclosures, as well as those from all citizens, are vital to preventing major disasters and reducing the impacts of the crisis on us all, especially on the most vulnerable members of society and our democratic systems.

Signed by:

Access Info / ACREC / African Centre for Media & Information Literacy / Alliance Nationale des Consomateurs et de L’Environement (Togo) / Anti Corruption Fund / APW-Fíltrala / Archiveros Españoles en la Función Pública / Article 19 / ASEBLAC / Atlatszo / Austrian Press Club / Blueprint for Free Speech / Centre for Free Expression, Ryerson University / Center for Independent Journalism Romania / Centre for Law and Democracy / CFDT Cadres / Chile Transparente / Cibervoluntarios / Civic Initiatives (Gradjanske Inicijative) / Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre / Corporate Europe Observatory / CREW – Greenwich University / Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation / Prof. David Lewis, Whistleblowing Research Unit, Middlesex University / Disruption Network Lab / ePanstwo Foundation / EPSU – European Public Service Union / Eurocadres – Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff / ETUC – European Trade Union Confederation / European Centre for Press and Media Freedom / European Federation of Journalists / European Organisation of Military Associations and Trade Unions / FO-Com / Free Press Unlimited / Fundación Ciudadanía Inteligente / Fundación Internacional Baltasar Garzón (FIBGAR) / Funky Citizens / Ghana Integrity Initiative / Government Accountability Project / Prof. AJ Brown, Griffith University / Hermes Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights / Human Rights Center ZMINA / International Bar Association / K-Monitor / Labor Initiatives NGO / Legal Legion Loyalty / Maison des Lanceurs D’Alerte / Media Development Center / National Whistleblower Center / Oživení / Pistaljka / Plataforma en Defensa de Libertad de Información / Protect / Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación (PODER) / Reporters United / Reporters Without Borders / Sabiedrība par atklātību – Delna (Latvia) / Stefan Batory Foundation / The Ethicos Group / The Good Lobby / The Signals Network / Tom Mueller / Transparência e Integridade / Transparency International / Transparency International Australia / Transparency International Bangladesh / Transparency International Belgium / Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina / Transparency International Bulgaria / Transparency International Cambodia / Transparency International Estonia / Transparency International EU / Transparency International France / Transparency International Germany / Transparency International Greece / Transparency International Health Initiative / Transparency International Ireland / Transparency International Italy / Transparency International Kenya / Transparency International Initiative Madagascar / Transparency Maldives / Transparency International Papua New Guinea / Transparency Serbia / Transparency International Slovenia / Transparency International Slovensko / Transparency International Spain / Transparency International Sri Lanka / Transparency International Ukraine / Transparency International Zimbabwe / UGICT CGT / Ukrainian Institute for Human Rights / Ukrainian league of lawyers for corruption combating / UNI Europa / Uniting Church in Australia / Dr Vigjilenca Abazi, Maastricht University / Vouliwatch / WIN Whistleblowing International Network / Whistleblower-Network Germany / X-net

The statement, with the latest list of signatories, is available here.

The initiative is supported by Sylvain Waserman (France, ALDE), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on improving the protection of whistle-blowers throughout Europe, read press release.