International Festival of Whistleblowing, Dissent and Accountability

May 8, 2021

About the event

Join us on Saturday, May 8th for an enlightening journey into the heart of some of the world's most grave injustices, organised by the Centre for Global Justice, Peace and Accountability and Dr. Deepa Driver.

Through, art, music, film & theatre as well as practical workshops, panels, interviews and mini-lectures we pause to reflect on how we find out about these injustices, what price was paid for the truth and by whom, how these grave circumstances are understood, spun and reported, and what can be done to facilitate justice.

 

When?

Start: Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 8:00 AM British Standard Time

End: Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 1:00 AM British Standard Time

 

RSVP

 
 

Contributors

Here's our alphabetical list of confirmed contributors. This list is being refreshed daily. In the next few days, we will also give you a short blurb about each of the named contributors. In addition to contributions from those listed below, we will also be sharing art, music and more through the day.

 

  • Mads Andenæs -Lawyer and former chair of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

  • Diani Barreto - Painter and activist

  • Somerset Bean - Graphic designer

  • Max Blumenthal - Investigative journalist and author

  • Jonathan Cook - Journalist and author

  • John Christensen -Founder of the Tax Justice Network

  • Eileen Chubb - Whistleblower and founder of Compassion in Care

  • Marjorie Cohn - Law Professor, writer and former President of the National Lawyers Guild

  • Naomi Colvin - Whistleblower advocate

  • Sevim Dagdelen - Politician and German MP

 

  • Viktor Dedaj - Author and activist

  • Kareem Dennis (Lowkey) - Rapper and activist

  • John Doe - Hacktivist

  • Davide Dormino - Sculptor

  • Suelette Dreyfus - Technology researcher, journalist and writer

  • Rod Driver - Writer

  • Andrew Feinstein - Writer, campaigner and former politician 

  • Denzil Forrester - Artist

  • Marianna Fotaki - Academic and Public health expert

  • Andrew Fowler - Investigative journalist

 

  • Nathan Fuller - Writer and campaigner

  • George Galloway - Politician, broadcaster and writer

  • Chamira Gamage - Campaigner

  • Martin Garbus - Attorney and author

  • Cristina Godoy-Navarrete - Human rights activist

  • Kevin Gosztola - Journalist and filmmaker

  • Deepa Govindarajan Driver - Academic and trade unionist

  • Tareq Haddad - Writer and investigative journalist

  • Nicky Hager - Author and investigative journalist 

  • Jeremy Hammond - Hacktivist

 

  • Charles Hector - Lawyer and human rights activist

  • Nancy Hollander - Lawyer

  • Selma James - Writer and activist

  • Lissa Johnson - Psychologist and writer

  • Eva Joly - Lawyer and former magistrate and politician

  • John Jones -Journalist

  • Ögmundur Jónasson - Politician and former interior minister of Iceland

  • Torsten Jurell - Visual artist

  • Peter Kennard -Artist and professor of visual art

  • Kate Kenny - Academic specialising in whistleblowing

 

  • John Kiriakou - Author and CIA whistleblower

  • Niki Konstantinidou - Playwright and lawyer

  • Niels Ladefoged - Filmmaker

  • Richard Lahuis - Photographer

  • Joe Lauria - Journalist and author 

  • Lisa Longstaff - Women's rights activist

  • Clara López Rubio - Filmmaker

  • Lauri Love - Activist and technology expert

  • David McBride - Lawyer and whistleblower

  • Ray McGovern - Activist and former CIA officer

 

  • Alan MacLeod - Journalist

  • Franck Magennis - Lawyer and activist

  • Stefania Maurizi - Investigative journalist

  • Barbara Meister - Journalist and author

  • Nils Melzer - UN Special Rapporteur on torture and arbitrary detention

  • David Miller - Academic

  • Moritz Mueller - Journalist

  • Iain Munro - Academic

  • Craig Murray - Author and human rights activist

  • Fidel Narvaez - Human rights activist

 

  • Peter Oborne - Journalist

  • Mohamedou Ould Slahi - Former Guantanamo detainee, engineer and writer

  • Iain Overton - Investigative journalist

  • Juan Passarelli - Filmmaker

  • John Pilger - Journalist and author

  • Sami Ramadani - Academic and anti-war activist

  • Afshin Rattansi - Journalist

  • Margaret Ratner Kunstler - Attorney and author

  • John Rees - Anti-war activist and journalist

  • Piers Robinson - Academic

 

  • Stephen Rohde - Writer and political activist

  • Maggie Ronayne - Academic, trade unionist and women's rights campaigner

  • John Russell - Academic and artist

  • Arne Ruth - Retired editor

  • Justin Schlosberg - Academic and media activist

  • Prem Sikka - Academic and tax-justice campaigner

  • Norman Solomon - Journalist

  • Jeffrey Sterling - Lawyer and CIA whistleblower

  • Serena Tinari - Investigative journalist

  • Fred Turnheim - Journalist and academic

 

  • Cathy Vogan - Journalist and academic

  • Sam Weinstein - Social justice campaigner and trade unionist

  • Chris Williamson - Politician

  • Andy Worthington - Journalist

  • NHS Whistleblower

  • Probation Whistleblower

  • Support Not Separation

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Which topics will the festival cover? How are these topics selected?

Our aim is to inspire, rejuvenate and refresh all those who contribute and participate. Contributions to the festival cover the law, journalism, technology, psychology, finance, propaganda, social issues and activism, as well as art and music. In addition to respecting the broad themes of the festival, we have tried to spend time with each contributor to understand their passions and interests and then to construct a schedule that is enriching for contributors as well as for participants

Will it be another set of webinars / Zoom panels with talking heads?

We take an active position of resisting surveillance capitalism. We want to encourage means of participation and organisation through free/libre software, decentralized services and federated platforms, and through the use of end-to-end encryption. We think these are essential building blocks towards our collective goals.

Our festival is an attempt to organise ourselves through decentralized tools such as Mobilizon (for announcements of events and session, scheduling, registration, etc.) and through Big Blue Button (virtual conference rooms) and Jitsi for online gatherings. Unless absolutely necessary, you won't have to register to attend

I'm not a techie! Can I have a test drive so I feel confident about using the software on the day

Yes. We are scheduling two drop-in sessions for attendees (on May 6th and 7th) so its all easy for you to use on the day.

Can I watch it afterwards? Will it be live streamed?

Yes, it will be live streamed via Peertube, Youtube and Twitter. Details will be posted here. Consortium News and Resistance TV will also cover the festival

Where is the schedule? How can we pick and choose what we want to go to ?

We are a tiny organising team, so please bear with us. The schedule and the links for each session will be posted here in due course. Typically, all you will need to do is to click the relevant link to attend a session. Please bookmark this page so you can return to it nearer the time and check the most updated plans.

Any institutional sponsors or promoters?

The festival is not sponsored by any organisations. We are grateful that a number of civil society organisations are supporting this festival by promoting it widely. The list includes the Courage Foundation, Blueprint for Free Speech, Resistance TV, Truth Defence, Labour Campaign for Free Speech and the Global Women's Strike and we are very grateful for their practical help and solidarity.