Cambodia
Latest news and events
Global Witness first began exposing illegal logging in Cambodia and its
links with conflict, corruption and human rights abuses in 1995.
Its early work exposed how, in the last years of
Cambodia's civil war, both the Khmer Rouge and the Phnom Penh
government used logging to fund military campaigns and then used
military campaigns as a pretext for more logging.
The war ended in 1998, but the destruction of
Cambodia's forests has continued. Global Witness has carried on
investigating illegal logging and associated corruption in Cambodia,
exposing the individuals and companies involved, and revealing the
schemes which allow them to operate.
Despite many campaign successes, Cambodia's leaders
have still not kicked the habit of treating the country's forests as a
personal slush fund. The environmental, social and economic costs of
this are severe.
Cambodia's forests continue to be exploited by those in power and are under threat of complete destruction.
In 2007 a Global Witness report, Cambodia’s Family Trees, exposed the country’s most powerful logging syndicate, led by relatives of Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior officials.
Read more about the Cambodia forest campaign
A new Global Witness report, Country for Sale,
details how Cambodia’s corrupt elite has captured the country’s
emerging oil and mineral sectors while Cambodia’s international donors
turn a blind eye.
The country is on the verge of a petroleum and
minerals windfall. If managed well, revenue from these new extractive
industries could provide the Cambodian government with the best chance
in a generation to lift its people out of poverty. If mismanaged
through corruption or ineptitude, the money generated runs the risk of
widening the gap between rich and poor and entrenching the positions of
the ruling elite.
Watch our film on illegal logging in Cambodia:
The Green Deal in Cambodia Part 1
The Green Deal in Cambodia Part 2
The Green Deal in Cambodia Part 3
Find out more
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Latest Publications
March 2010
New evidence confirms oil revenue transparency still eludes Sudan
Large discrepancies persist between the oil production data published by the government of Sudan and those published by the main Chinese oil company operating in the country, Global Witness said today, six months after the publication of its report which first exposed the gaps.
Environmental groups call on French shipping company Delmas to cancel shipment of precious wood from Madagascar
Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today called on French shipping company Delmas to cancel a shipment to China of hundreds of tons of rosewood from the port of Vohémar, in northeastern Madagascar. The campaign groups accuse the company of facilitating the destruction of Madagascar’s last remaining forests caused by vast illegal logging of rosewood.
Open letter to Delmas shipping company raises concerns over rosewood shipments from Madagascar
An open letter from Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) to Delmas shipping company expressing grave concerns at its involvement in the transport of timber from Madagascar which has been declared illicit by the Malagasy authorities. The groups accuse Delmas of facilitaitng the destruction Madagascar's remaining rosewood forests through illegal logging.
Link between Angolan president's son-in-law and state oil company raises questions about transparency
The son-in-law of the Angolan president has been nominated to the board of a holding company that owns a third of the Portuguese oil firm Galp Energia, which has investments in Angola. The nomination was made by the State oil company, Sonangol, which is responsible for managing Angola's oil on behalf of its citizens. This arrangement raises concerns about conflicts of interest to which Sonangol has not responded.
DR Congo: ex-rebels take over mineral trade extortion racket
Former rebels from the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) have established mafia-style extortion rackets covering some of the most lucrative tin and tantalum mining areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Global Witness reported today following four weeks of research in the region.
Global Witness concerned at choice of new Ukraine energy minister
Global Witness is concerned that Yuri Boyko, a controversial figure from the murky past of Ukraine’s gas industry, has been put back in effective charge of a key gas supply route from Russia to the European Union.
Landmark oil and mining transparency initiative faces credibility test as key deadline passes
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a pioneering initiative to bring more openness to the world's oil and mining industries, faces a major credibility test after 20 out of 22 countries failed to meet a key deadline today.
Global Witness urges Cambodia’s donors to condemn sponsorship of military units by private businesses
Aid donors to Cambodia, including the US, EU, Japan, China and the World Bank, should send a strong message to the government that they will not countenance the bankrolling of Cambodia’s military by private businesses. This call follows the announcement last week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formation of 42 official partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units.
February 2010
A near miss? Lessons learnt from the allocation of mining licences in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone
Between 2005 and 2007, two mining licences were issued in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone, even though the area was a proposed national park. This new report identifies weaknesses in Sierra Leone's natural resource governance and attempts to draw lessons for the future.
Parliamentary committee report on libel, privacy and press freedom not strong enough to defend public interest reporting
A report on press standards, privacy and libel makes broadly sensible recommendations but does not go far enough to allay fears that England's laws are a barrier to public-interest campaigning.
Campaigners criticise proposals to define palm oil plantations as forests
The Ecosystems Climate Alliance today criticised the EU and Indonesia for attempting to reclassify palm oil plantations as forests, saying this would be a step backwards in efforts to halt climate change though preventing deforestation.
28 countries accused of facilitating money laundering … but key offenders missing
An international financial crime watchdog has named and shamed countries that are failing to stop dirty money entering the financial system, a move welcomed by Global Witness. However, conspicuously absent are major financial centres and secrecy jurisdictions, many of which also have serious weaknesses in their anti-money laundering regulations.
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