Re: <nettime> "Speak Out with Snowden, Assange and Manning"

[patrice <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

On 2015-09-14 21:16, Geert Lovink wrote:

> (tactical (media) arts or celebrity propaganda? letâs discuss this. as
> you all know, I have been critical of the personality cult of julian
> assange (coordinated by himself) and was happy to see that snowden and
> manning and the (missing) barrett brown had other approaches. this art
> work is not working with these differences and instead glorifies the
> heroes in a usual way. or not? geert)
> 
> http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Speak-Out-With-Snowden-Assange-and-Manning-Outside-UN-20150914-0009.html
> 
> Speak Out with Snowden, Assange and Manning Outside the UN
> 
> The "Anything to say?â sculpture moved from Germany to the United
> Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday. It is âa life size
> bronze sculpture, portraying three figures each one standing on a
> chair. The fourth chair is empty because it is our chair,â according
> to the installationâs website.

One might wonder if a UN Headquarter is the right place to put a 
whistleblower sculpture in front of:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/14/un-united-nations-ostracised-sacked-arrested-whistleblowers

When a United Nations investigator reported the rape of a refugee in Sri 
Lanka, she did not expect the disclosure to force her into a decade-long 
legal battle with her employer.

Caroline Hunt-Matthes was ostracised and eventually ousted while on 
medical leave. She has still not secured redress after a decade fighting 
her case.

Her case was remarkable in duration but not in substance. Hunt-Matthes 
is by no means the first or only whistleblower to fall foul of the UN 
system. Indeed, her case highlights neatly one of the UNâs dirtiest 
secrets: that its staff are reluctant to report abuses or corruption 
within the organisation for fear of losing their jobs.

âThe bottom line is the UN is not a safe working environment at the 
minute,â said Hunt-Matthes, who has left the UN and now works at a 
university in Geneva. âYou canât report misconduct and be protected. 
What could be more serious than that?â

<...>


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