Group unveils national whistleblower portal to tackle environmental crimes, human rights violations

The Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) has launched a national digital portal for whistleblowing, encouraging citizens to use the portal to report and help stem environmental crimes and human rights abuses and violations in the country.

The CEPIL was founded in 1999 as a non-partisan and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), with the primary aim of making the pursuit of justice accessible and affordable to poor and marginalized communities and individuals.

It advocates and facilitates access to justice by poor communities against policies and actions (private and public), which adversely affect the interests of those communities.

Mr Augustine Niber, the Executive Director of CEPIL who gave the advice said the portal offered opportunity for vulnerable people and communities as well as everybody to report abuses of land rights, misconducts, environmental harm, corruption, discrimination and other forms of injustices.

He said: “Our ability to report human rights violations safely and in an anonymous manner remain a cornerstone of democratic governance and social justice” and expressed the hope that citizens would leverage on the portal, report and to spark national conversation in advancing rights protection and democratic governance.

Mr Niber was speaking at the launch of the portal held at Goaso in the Ahafo Region, saying a study conducted in 2021 by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) showed low awareness and utilization of whistleblower mechanisms in rural and marginalized communities.

It was attended by human rights and civil society actors, donor agencies and development partners, state institutions including CHRAJ, and Legal Aid Commission as well as Persons with Disabilities and advocacy groups, Traditional and community leaders.

Mr Niber added that research by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Transparency International conducted in 2021 and 2022 respectively, also show growing need for digital tools to support civic engagement, legal empowerment and anti-corruption efforts.

Mr Niber said he was hopeful that the portal would help overcome physical and social barriers to reporting, facilitate early legal intervention and empower community actors to contribute to human rights monitoring.

The portal serves as a bridge between affected individuals and support systems, including legal aid providers, media, and regulatory bodies.

Mr Nebir said: “The portal is designed to name and shame institutions and individuals as well as intensify advocacy on reporting human rights violations”, however urged users to be cautious by ensuring that their reports were truthful, backed with evidence of either videos or photos.

The launch was on the “Strengthening Access to Justice Through Digital Accountability Mechanisms”, and sought to empower marginalized groups, including persons with disabilities, to report violations without fear, stigma and barriers of distance.

CEPIL with support from Oxfam in Ghana, NGOs developed the portal to provide a safe and confidential channel through which individuals and communities might report the human rights and environmental crimes and harm for justice delivery.

The participants were taken through the appropriate use of the portal which also aimed at fostering public awareness on whistleblower protection laws, strengthen civic engagement, and promote inclusive legal redress mechanisms in Ghana’s justice architecture.

According to CEPIL it piloted the use of the portal August 2024 during the Oxfam Ghana Country Learning Review held in Takoradi helping to barriers of distance, stigma, fear of retaliation and limited access to legal services which often prevented vulnerable communities and individuals from reporting human rights abuses and violations.

The Whistleblower Portal is well secured, accessible, user-friendly, inclusive and effective in reporting human rights violations, as it fosters national dialogue on digital justice and accountability mechanisms to address systemic constraints of the Whistleblowers Act, 2006 (Act 720).

Source: GNA

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