Gov’t reacts to Global Witness’s report

Last Friday, Global Witness released 95-page report to international media attention, accuses a “kleptocratic elite” of government officials and members of their relatives of rampant environment plunder and participation in a logging syndicate.

The government expresses unsatisfied with this report and ordered the seizure of copies of report and regard it as political attack.

Global Witness was expelled from Cambodia in 2005 because it criticized strongly government officials to cut down illegal loggings. Later, forestry watch Societe Generale de Survellence (SGS) was replaced to monitor deforestation in Cambodia.

As we know, there are many cases of illegal logging taking place under the guise of legally dubious plantation developments and harvesting permits. And many of these plantation and permits are being allocated to a small group of individuals who have close relations with senior politicians.

According to local media, Nguon Nhel, National Assembly deputy president, said that though he did not believe that government official were involved in illegal logging, authorities would take appropriate measure if forestry watch SGS found they were. The government will punish them.

Global Witness on Wednesday repeated its condemnation of the government’s attempt to censor its report and took note of remarks form Kompong Cham governor Hun Neng, who this week threatened violence against Global Witness staffers in response to the group’s allegations against his wife and son, The Cambodia Daily reported.