Government Assails Global Witness ‘Plot’
By Brian Calvert, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
06 February 2008
The Cambodian government accused resources monitor Global Witness of plotting to discredit the government Monday, following reports the US is considering a ban on corrupt officials.
In a release issued Monday, the Cambodian Embassy in London said the UK-based organization deliberately sought “to discredit and plot against the government.”
The statement follows a potential US visa ban on corrupt officials in foreign countries who benefit from the exploitation of natural resources.
US Congress has recommended the State Department specifically consider a 2007 Global Witness report linking more than a dozen top officials and businessmen to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his family.
The Cambodian Embassy Monday called for international regulations and guidelines for Global Witness, calling its leadership “uneducated.”
Cambodia has seen “remarkable progress,” the embassy said, citing a number of high-level visits from US and European officials.
Global Witness Director Simon Taylor told VOA Khmer Wednesday the embassy statement “indicates how far Cambodia needs to come to understand what this issue is about.”
“Annually they promise, annually they fail to deliver, and annually the donors fail to respond to the problem adequately,” he said.
In the past decade, corrupt Cambodian elites “have presided over the destruction of the forestry estate,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, Cambodians “absolutely desperate to get it right” are “thwarted by the people around them.”
With offshore oil exploration on the horizon, “crunch time is coming” to address corruption, he said.
In a release issued Monday, the Cambodian Embassy in London said the UK-based organization deliberately sought “to discredit and plot against the government.”
The statement follows a potential US visa ban on corrupt officials in foreign countries who benefit from the exploitation of natural resources.
US Congress has recommended the State Department specifically consider a 2007 Global Witness report linking more than a dozen top officials and businessmen to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his family.
The Cambodian Embassy Monday called for international regulations and guidelines for Global Witness, calling its leadership “uneducated.”
Cambodia has seen “remarkable progress,” the embassy said, citing a number of high-level visits from US and European officials.
Global Witness Director Simon Taylor told VOA Khmer Wednesday the embassy statement “indicates how far Cambodia needs to come to understand what this issue is about.”
“Annually they promise, annually they fail to deliver, and annually the donors fail to respond to the problem adequately,” he said.
In the past decade, corrupt Cambodian elites “have presided over the destruction of the forestry estate,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, Cambodians “absolutely desperate to get it right” are “thwarted by the people around them.”
With offshore oil exploration on the horizon, “crunch time is coming” to address corruption, he said.
6 comments:
អាក្បត់ជាតិឈ្មោះហ៊ុន សែន ជាខ្ញុំបំរើយួន កាត់ដីអោយយួន។ អាហ៊ុន សែនអត់ខួរ អាបណ្ឌិតភ្លេចរៀនឈ្មោះហ៊ុន សែន។
ah Aka Moha Services Dey Jour(អាអគ្គមហាសេវាដៃចោរ) Hun Sen supports Darfur Genocide because ah Hun Sen(ah Bandith Plej Rean: អាបណ្ទិតភ្លេចរៀន) is a former khmer rouge soldier and the criminal against humanity in Cambodia.
see also:
Who killed CHEA VICHEA :
http://cheavichea.wordpress.com
http://hengpov.wordpress.com
http://corruptionfamily.wordpress.com
http://hunsenmafia.blog.com
http://coupof56july.wordpress.com
ah
Hun Sen massacred Khmer people on Sunday 30 march 1997
the only family in the tree i see here is fken vietcong. hun sen is being used as a scapegoat.
if i was i ll come out with the truth.
Global Witness are "uneducated"? Apart from honorary degrees, how educated are the members of the Cambodian Government?
Sound like the Corrupted CPP/Hun Sen's families try to discredit Global Witness...instead.
Still NO ANTI-CORRUPTION Laws as yet..years gone by...!
It a shame that this matter only starting to arised&/realised. It already too late for Cambodia's forest. I was watching a documentry/news it report the Cambodian government confescating illegal logging.
But what does the government do to the confesicated timber that already logged? do they keep them to rot? sell them to Vietnam to build furniture?
The police have the timber, they report the police chief and the police Mr. Lundy report to Hun Sen...it the same flow of corrupted cash...
The only looser are the poor Khmer who goes arrested while the boss still counting the cash.
Glad that the US is taking this action to Ban them...i hope other responsibile doners countries follow suit.
Cambodian Native trees are almost exist..it replace with gum trees.. good for bush fire.
This is nothing more than a charade in which orchestrated by the unfounded and baseless organization in an attempt to demonize the ruling party's affiliation.
yES VIVA hUN sEN!
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