What is a whistleblower, and how should whistleblowers be protected?

At first, it is necessary to define the concept of the whistleblowing. According to definition of Transparency International, “Making a disclosure in the public interest by an employee, director or external person, in an attempt to reveal neglect or abuses within the activities of an organisation, government body or company (or one of its business partners) that threaten public interest, its integrity and reputation”. There is a definition of whistleblower in the legislation of Uzbekistan. In accordance with Government Resolution (№ 829, December 31, 2020), the whistleblowers are persons who reported a crime related to corruption or otherwise helped fight against corruption - citizens, stateless persons, employees of a non-governmental commercial organization or other non-governmental organization or a state body, an organization with state participation, or a self-governing body of citizens. In generally, whistleblowers are persons who informed corrupt actions either a corrupt crime or a wrongdoer. It is important to protect such as persons. Because unless such as persons are protected by state government, in society, people feel that reporting a corruption has negative consequences. As result of that, corruption remains without disclosure as latent crime. What is more, whistleblowers rights may be broken by through various ways. For example, person who reported a corruption may be dismissal or it causes reduction of salary, and such as other disciplinary actions. Therefore, there must be whistleblowers’ protection system. Furthermore, because of the lack of protection system, it leads to social discrimination in a workplace among colleagues. It may lead to neglect of crime, especially corruption. Consequently, at an organization or in a workplace at all, on whole society, corrupt crimes, and corruptions increase more. Eventually, wrongdoings can involve a breach of the law, unethical practices such as fraud, health violations, and corruption and even in some cases, maladministration. They are usually liable to cause harm to persons outside the organisation which they originate. Legal and social protection system of whistleblowers must be established to prevent corruption. The most countries have effective protection system of whistleblowers and also, it is created internationally. Especially, article 33 of the UNCAC requires states parties to adopt national laws to protect any person informing corrupt practices in good faith and on reasonable grounds from any unjustified treatment. Whistleblower laws in some countries, such as India, only protect public employees. In other countries, such as Japan and South Korea, both public and private employees are protected. Countries also differ on who can qualify as public or private sector whistleblower. In some countries, only government employees may qualify as public sector whistleblowers, while in countries, such as Mexico, Portugal and Norway, a wide range of individuals, including former employees, contractors, or suppliers, can qualify as public sector whistleblowers. According to Japan Whistleblower Protection Act, If a Whistleblower is dismissed by such business as specified in Article 2(1)(i) on the basis of such Whistleblowing made in such case as specified in each Item set forth below, the dismissal shall be null and void. One of the developed country on combating corruption is South Korea. According to Act on the Protection of Public Interest Whistleblowers, “Disadvantageous measures” (retaliation) are broadly defined as any unfavourable personnel action, from dismissal to suspension, disciplinary action, reduction in pay, reduction of duties, reassignment, restriction or discrimination in promotion or training opportunities, blacklisting, unfair audit or inspection etc. (art. 2(6)). Retaliation or discrimination, such as removal or release from office, dismissal or any other unfavourable personnel action equivalent to the loss of status at work against a public interest whistleblower is also criminalised and punishable by maximum three years’ imprisonment or a fine of maximum KRW 30 million (USD 26 546) (art. 30(2)). In the legislation of Uzbekistan, rules to protect any person reporting corrupt practices are determined by law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on protection of victims and witnesses and other participants in a criminal case. In accordance with this law, security measures shall include: 1) ensuring confidentiality of information on a protected person; 2) personal security, protection of dwelling and other property; 3) equipping a protected person with special personal protective equipment and technical means; 4) temporary accommodation at a secure place; 5) resettlement to a different place of residence; changing place of work (service) or education; 6) change of documents; 7) restricting access to information on a protected person; 8) providing additional security measures in relation to a protected person detained in custody or in places of service of sentence. However, this law applies to all criminal cases, not just corruption crimes. It is advisable to form the following system for whistleblowers’ protection. First of all, whistleblowers’ identity must be strictly kept secret from other people. Because this measure prevents him from being exposed to danger. Secondly, any social, legal discrimination and restrictions against whistleblowers, measures to prevent violence should be clearly defined. Also, whistleblowers should be given rewards, incentives and support. Because most people will not take the risk of reporting unless there is a financial interest. Importantly, there should be a clear responsible organization to which corruption can be reported. Since there will not be one specific organ, it will interfere with the uniform functioning of the system. Lastly, it is desirable that the reporting process is completely electronic without the human factor.