Global Witness calls for timber embargo

The international nongovernmental organisation Global Witness has called for an international embargo on Liberian timber, saying this is needed to stop conflict in the country and safeguard peace in Sierra Leone. Global Witness, which works to expose the link between natural resource exploitation and human rights abuses, said the timber industry remains a primary source of funding for Liberia's war machine. "Many logging companies continue to be actively engaged in illegal arms imports for the government, committing human rights abuses and destabilising Liberia and the entire West Africa sub-region," according to the report, entitled "Logging Off: How the Liberian timber industry fuels Liberia's humanitarian disaster and threatens Sierra Leone". The report, published on 18 September, recommended that the United Nations impose a complete embargo on Liberian timber and mandate a new expert panel to conduct a thorough investigation of the country's timber industry. Global Witness said that it and UN-appointed experts had uncovered numerous violations of continuing Security Council sanctions by the Liberian government and timber companies, as well as continued human rights abuses by parastatal logging companies' militias. It named the Oriental Timber Company and Maryland Wood Processing Industries and the Inland Logging Company as being among those involved, saying that they maintain private armed militias used as fighting forces for the government and which commit grave human rights abuses. "Liberia is heading towards a humanitarian disaster, one that could easily spread across its borders and overwhelm its neighbours Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire, which already face the daunting task of handling current refugee populations," Global Witness stated. See full report at: htt://www.globalwitness.org