Corruption Weeds Grow Like Trees

Transparency International simply defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.”

Whether it’s domestic earmarks in our Congress that run afoul, or in the United Nations’ programs, for examples, as Transparency International says, “It hurts everyone whose life, livelihood or happiness depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.”

Last April, I wrote about the deforestation profiteering in Vietnam to line Hanoi satraps’ pockets in collusion with foreign businesses, while decimating the Montagnards:

One of the world’s major offenders at clearcutting tropical forests is Vietnam. This coincides with historic prejudices against the hill peoples of the Central Highlands, communist vengeance against these Montagnards for fighting them alongside lowland Vietnamese and Americans during the war, and the profiteering exploitation by the ruling elite hand-in-pocket with Western companies.

Next door, in Cambodia, a similar situation is gaining recognition.

Global Witness recently issued a scathing report. The International Herald Tribune carried the AP’s summary:

"Logging is part of a massive asset-stripping for the benefit of a small kleptocratic elite," said Simon Taylor, director of Global Witness.

"The forests of Cambodia have been ransacked over the past decade by this mafia with little or no benefit flowing down to the ordinary people," he said in an interview before the release of the London-based group's 95-page report.

Taylor said the destruction had further impoverished Cambodia's already hard-pressed rural people by depriving them of forest products, including food and medicines, as well as vital water sources….

[T]he United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the country lost 29 percent of its primary tropical forests from 2000 to 2005, and most foreign experts say that the loss continues at an alarming rate.

The text of the Global Witness report is here.

Cambodia says it is willing to cooperate with an investigation. Global Witness responds:

While the government's announcement is encouraging, questions remain about the scope of the investigation proposed and the suitability of the organisation charged with heading it - Swiss auditing firm SGS. SGS previously worked as the government's independent monitor of forest law enforcement in Cambodia between late 2003 and early 2005. The company's steadfast refusal to acknowledge the corruption underpinning the illegal logging industry drew widespread criticism, however.

SGS previously made several visits to the Prey Long Forest profiled in 'Cambodia's Family Trees', but failed to report the overwhelming evidence of massive illegal logging by relatives of Hun Sen, who had imposed a reign of terror - extending to attempted shootings - over the local population.

"We are ready to support an investigation in any way we can, however we remain to be convinced that SGS is up to the job. In Cambodia their brand of 'see no evil' monitoring has proved devastatingly ineffectual. Investigating a well-connected and violent timber mafia requires something far more robust.", said Simon Taylor. "We must not forget that the facts set out in our report concern very serious crimes. As such, the government must ensure that there is a full judicial and police investigation into these issues, and that any such investigation must also be seen to be effective. A whitewash would be completely unacceptable."

To step up international awareness and pressure, Transparency International is sponsoring an international workshop in Bangkok in late July on “Combatting Corruption in Forestry in Asia Pacific.”

Forests are important for many reasons, of beauty, watersheds, indigenous peoples’ survival, wildlife diversity, as well as combatting global warming through removing CO2 from the air.

I hope to see Al Gore attending the Bangkok workshop.