KKC Founding Partner Stephen M. Kohn Addresses United Nations Human Rights Council

Stephen M. Kohn, founding partner at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto and Chairman of the Board of National Whistleblower Center, is in Geneva, Switzerland to address the United Nations Human Rights Council. On September 11, Kohn was featured as a keynote speaker in the Institute for Human Rights event “Justice and Reparation for Whistleblowers” and on September 12, he will speak in the plenary session “Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice and Reparation.”

The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year.

During the “Justice and Reparation for Whistleblowers” event, Kohn explained that U.S. transnational whistleblower laws provide exceptional protections and are vital in the fight against corruption. He said, “Without an insider, you can’t fight corruption and unless the penalties are high the anti-corruption laws are useless.”

Kohn encouraged civil society leaders in the audience to educate their respective countries’ anti-corruption leaders about the option of reporting through U.S. laws. He stated, “The key are human rights defenders who are on the front lines dealing with these whistleblowers they must be educated to make sure whistleblowers are protected.”

In September 2011, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 18/7 which appointed a Special Rapporteur to focus on measures to guarantee truth, non-recurrence, justice, and reparation in situations where there have been serious violations of international human rights laws during transitions from conflict to peace. The aim of this appointment was to ensure accountability and truth telling, reform legal frameworks to promote the rule of law, provide remedy to victims of human rights violations, and prevent the recurrence of future violations. The current Special Rapporteur on truth, justice and reparation is Bernard Duhaime.

In the plenary session “Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice and Reparation,” Kohn will join Duhaime to discuss the indispensable role that whistleblowers play in exposing human rights violations and how answering the urgent call for stronger legal protections for whistleblowers can aid this mission. This plenary session will be livestreamed and is accessible to virtual viewers here. It will be held from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM CEST.

Kohn is widely regarded as a leading expert on whistleblower law. He has represented whistleblowers in high-profile cases, including the UBS and Danske Bank scandals, successfully securing substantial whistleblower awards for his clients and setting a precedent for future whistleblower protections. He is the author of the first legal treatise on whistleblowing and is the world’s most published author on whistleblower protection. His most recent book is Rules for Whistleblower: A Handbook For Doing What’s Right.