Budi Suharto (right in photo) visited me at the National Whistleblowers Center today. Mr. Suharto is the Head of Bilateral Cooperation II Section of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia. We discussed how in both the United States and in Indonesia, recent criminal prosecutions of whistleblowers raise a concern that other employees with information about corruption may be discouraged from coming forward. In the United States, the prosecutions of Bradley Birkenfeld and Thomas Drake, and the detention of Bradley Manning, remain active deterrents against whistleblowing. We discussed my recent submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States. Attachment B to that submission contains citations to studies showing that employee reports are the best way to detect fraud, corruption and other violations of law. In searching for ways to detect and deter corruption, protecting whistleblowers and encouraging them to come forward is a good starting place.
