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	Raising public awareness of the importance of whistleblowing by Transparency International   A key challenge in preventing and fighting corruption is to detect and expose bribery, fraud, theft of public funds and other acts of wrongdoing.   One of the most direct methods of shining the light on corruption is whistleblowing.   Unfortunately, whistleblowers commonly face retaliation in the form of harassment, firing, blacklisting, threats and even physical violence, and their disclosures are routinely ignored.   Transparency International believes that the individual right to freedom of expression includes the right to point out acts of wrongdoing – both in government and in private companies.   Even beyond this basic right is the simple fact that people who step forward to disclose wrongdoing – particularly when public safety, health or resources are at stake – should be acknowledged and protected, not punished and ostracised.   To help to ensure that whistleblowers are adequately protected from reprisals, and to provide them with easy-to-access avenues to make their disclosures, Transparency International is engaged in a wide range of advocacy, public awareness and research activities in all regions of the world.   Through our Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres, located in nearly 50 countries, we advise whistleblowers in making their disclosures and work to make sure that their disclosures are duly addressed by appropriate authorities. We work closely with advocacy groups, legal experts and whistleblowers toward enhancing whistleblower protections and rights.   To promote responsible whistleblowing and adequate protection of whistleblowers, we have developed international principles for whistleblower legislation, which many countries and international organisations have used to develop their own legislation and standards.   We have also conducted for example in-depth assessments of whistleblower laws in 10 European countries and recommended areas of improvement. As part of a project co-funded by the European Commission, this analysis is being expanded to include all 27 countries in the European Union, which will serve as a basis for Europe-wide advocacy efforts.   Many of Transparency International’s chapters are working to improve whistleblower protections, advocating for strong legislation, and assisting whistleblowers.   These include chapters in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Liberia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Romania and Zambia.   Our chapter in Ireland has established “Speak Up”, a free, secure helpline and online system for employees considering reporting wrongdoing. The Ireland chapter is also campaigning for the passage of a national whistleblower law that would cover all employees.   Transparency International works closely with whistleblower organisations and legal experts in all regions to implement and strengthen whistleblower protection laws, make sure these laws are ably put into practice, raise public awareness of the importance of whistleblowing, and to enhance the perception of the people who risk their livelihoods and sometimes their lives to expose corruption.   We are working at building a chain of knowledge and experiences that connects the legal experts who write whistleblower laws, to the advocates who lobby government officials to implement them, to the agencies that enforce them, to the organisations that use these laws to protect whistleblowers, and ultimately to the whistleblowers themselves.   We work to track legislative and advocacy developments in all regions, serving as a clearinghouse for whistleblower experts and advocates around the world – assisting them in their work to improve whistleblower laws, protections and resources.   As much as any anti-corruption tool, whistleblowing requires global cooperation and learning. Transparency International is at the centre of this circle. Visit the related web page
	Cambodia: New Violence Against Opposition by OHCHR, Human Rights Watch   23 November 2015 (UN News)   Expressing deep concern about the breakdown in the dialogue between Cambodia''s main political parties, a United Nations expert today warned that any intensification of the current events could bring the country to a “dangerous tipping point,” especially regrading the human rights of the Cambodian people.   “The past weeks have been marked by a number of worrying developments: increasing tensions between the two principal political parties; incidences of violence; intimidation of individuals; and resort to offensive language in the political discourse,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith in a news release.   Ms. Smith''s warning comes in the wake reports that Sam Rainsy, leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), has been summoned to appear in court on 4 December for allegedly being complicit in the falsification of public documents, the use of false public documents, and incitement to cause serious chaos to security and social order in the capital, Phnom Penh.   According to the news release, issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), this follows the issue of an arrest warrant by the court on 13 November, on the basis of Mr. Rainsy''s 2011 conviction for ''public defamation and instigation of discrimination,'' and the removal of his parliamentary immunity by the National Assembly on 16 November 2015.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called the issuance of arrest warrant against Mr. Rainsy a “worrisome development” and stressed on the need to resume dialogue and called on all political players to refrain from violence, intimidation and harassment.   Further, OHCHR said that on 30 October 2015, legislators voted to remove the Vice-President of CNRP, Mr. Kem Sokha, from his position as First Vice-President of the National Assembly.   “My interest is not in, and my role is not to interfere with, national politics. Neither do I wish to comment on the merits of the judicial actions against anyone, including Mr. Sam Rainsy, unless such acts infringe on the rights of the accused, including the rights to due process of law, including a fair trial and the rights of all accused persons,” said the Ms. Smith, who has been monitoring closely the situation of human rights in Cambodia since her appointment in March 2015 by the UN Human Rights Council.   She went on to express concern regarding multiple alleged violations of peaceful exercise of freedoms of opinion and expression, as well as the right to participate in political life, all of which are guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Cambodia is a party.   Ms. Smith sounded the alarm at the violent assault against two CNRP Parliamentarians on 26 October following a large-scale pro-Government protest outside Cambodia''s National Assembly building in Phnom Penh allegedly amidst the presence of law enforcement officers, who apparently did not intervene to stop the assaults.   The independent expert recalled that the Cambodian Government is under international human rights obligations to guarantee the physical security of all persons under its jurisdiction, including parliamentarians.   All elected leaders have a responsibility to act in the interest of those whom they represent. With such power comes responsibility. Rather than resorting to divisive language and fuelling racist sentiments, political leaders have a responsibility to act to safeguard national peace and public order,” Ms. Smith emphasized.   Lastly, the Special Rapporteur said that she has appealed in private to both parties to abide by their May agreement, and to demonstrate mutual respect by returning to the ''culture of dialogue'' so that the people of Cambodia can continue to enjoy their human rights in an environment of political stability and peace.   Nov. 2015   The Cambodian government should invite the United Nations human rights office in Cambodia to investigate the well-organized, brutal assault on two opposition members of the National Assembly on October 26, 2015, Human Rights Watch said today.   Early on the morning of October 26, several thousand “protesters” gathered outside Cambodia’s National Assembly building in Phnom Penh to demand the removal of Kem Sokha, deputy leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), from his post as National Assembly first vice-chairman. Sokha has repeatedly been denounced as an “extremist” by Hun Sen after Sokha asserted that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) would lose the next national election in 2018.   The protesters assaulted two CNRP parliamentarians, Kung Sophea and Nhay Chamraoen, dragging them from their cars as they attempted to leave the area and then beating and stomping on them, inflicting serious injuries.   Later that day, several hundred protesters arrived at Sokha’s home in northern Phnom Penh and hurled rocks and bottles. Sokha was not home at the time, but his wife was inside and could not leave. The police, who routinely and at times violently obstruct or break up peaceful demonstrations led by the opposition, took no effective action to stop the violence. Repeated calls to the Ministry of Interior to intervene and disperse the crowd went unanswered.   “Using a mob to attack opposition members of parliament sends a chilling signal to Cambodians that a new wave of political violence can be unleashed anytime and anywhere,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “This ugly incident is the same kind of crude political violence used against the opposition in the 1990s to fend off challenges to Hun Sen’s one-party rule.”   Since the fraud-ridden elections of 2013, Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly warned the opposition to expect demonstrations against it. He recently said that an opposition victory in the next election could lead to civil war, and warned CNRP President Sam Rainsy that he is at risk of being jailed.   Witnesses implicated elements of the Prime Minister’s Bodyguard Unit Headquarters (“Bodyguard”) in civilian dress as core participants in the demonstrations both outside the National Assembly and at Sokha’s residence. They recognized Bodyguard personnel among the crowd and identified them by the distinctive red Bodyguard motorcycles they used as transport.   Observers also identified among the protesters non-uniformed members of units under the Phnom Penh Municipal police, including regular and para-police, the latter commonly used as a shock-force against opposition gatherings. Many of the protesters told observers that they had come to Phnom Penh from Kandal province, where Hun Sen maintains his personal residence and his Bodyguard is located.   The call for the removal of Kem Sokha was publicly backed by Gen. Kun Kim, a CPP Standing Committee member who is chief of the Cambodian armed forces and for whom Kandal is a long-time power base. The Phnom Penh police commissioner is one of Kun Kim’s key protégés and a CPP Central Committee member.   Many of the demonstrators were wearing pieces of red cloth, a marker that CPP-controlled vigilantes in civilian clothes have operated with since at least January 2014, when they participated in the break-up of a peaceful opposition gathering at Phnom Penh’s “Democracy Plaza” (also known as Freedom Park). Some were armed with slingshots, a weapon of choice for such forces for several years. Some were masked.   The violence against the two parliamentarians is similar to the CPP’s use of “reaction forces” in the early 1990s to attack opposition political parties. In line with this method of operations, as documented by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia and the Cambodia Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, reaction forces present themselves as ordinary citizens enraged at the opposition, when they are in fact organized and sent into action by the CPP leadership.   A repeated pattern during deployment of reaction forces has been for some elements to act in a particularly violent manner, while others stop at verbal abuse and threats. Another part of the reaction force formula, again documented by the UN and others, is for the CPP to pretend to investigate reaction force violence, but only in order to cover up its own involvement. In this instance, Hun Many, a son of Hun Sen who is a member of the National Assembly, has condemned the attack on his fellow parliamentarians and called on those responsible to be punished.   “Unless there is an independent investigation and subsequent prosecution of those responsible for this vicious attack, there is every chance such violence will be repeated and perhaps even escalate,” Adams said.   “Cambodia’s donors should not only denounce this attack, but they should insist that the ruling party cease the use of violence against its political opponents.”   http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/27/cambodia-new-violence-against-opposition Visit the related web page
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