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INES Newsletter "Global Responsibility"

The INES Newsletter reports and comments  –  from a global responsibility perspective – on political, technical and societal developments and comprises of regular internal news sections.
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Whistleblowing

What is whistleblowing?

By Dieter Deiseroth

Origins of term "whistleblower"

The term whistleblower derives from the practice of English bobbies, who would blow their whistles when they noticed the commission of a crime. The whistle would alert both law enforcement officers and the general public of danger.

Definition of a whistleblower

Most whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct to a fellow employee or superior within their company. External whistleblowers, however, report misconduct to outside persons or entities. In these cases, depending on the information's severity and nature, whistleblowers may report the misconduct to lawyers, the media, law enforcement or watchdog agencies, or other local, state, or federal agencies.

Download and read whole article: Deiseroth-Whistleblowing.pdf (71K)

Societal verification: wave of the future?

Extract from the Societal Verification Yearbook 2000
By Dieter Deiseroth

Download and read article: Deiseroth-Societal_Verification.pdf (284K)

Dieter Deiseroth is judge at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig/Germany, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German section of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and  chair of the Whistleblowing Award Jury.

The Whistleblowing Award

When people out of altruistic motives openly speak up against illegal, unfair or otherwise ethically doubtful practices that they have heard of or experienced while doing their duties in their jobs or public offices, "whistleblowers".

Whistleblowers, in general, stir up public attention to legally or ethically dubious practices of the powerful, practices that might inflict harm on the community of citizens or the general public.

Two cases that have particularly had IALANA's attention are the Nikitin case and the Vanunu case.The German affiliate of IALANA, together with the Association of German Scientists and the International Network of Engineers and Scientists to Promote and Protect Ethical Engagement (INESPE) have even awarded the first ever Whistleblowing-Award to Alexander Nikitin. The Award is meant as an expression of our high regard for a person who:

  • acts without any thought of personal interests, but solely out of the benefit of the public;
  • shows a great degree of civilian courage by critically giving her or his opinion on dangerous events or developments, or
  • refuses to cooperate on activities because of intolerable dangers or risks out of ethical reservations or other conscientious reasons,
  • risks serious disadvantages and detriments for his or her personal or professional career, or even jeopardizing personal freedom and life.

Source: www.ialana.net/whistleblowing

Whistleblower award 2009: Rudolf Schmenger und Frank Wehrheim

For more info and list of awardees please visit:
www.vdw-ev.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=26&lang=en

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