Breaking News:
Timbergate - 18 Members of U.S. Congress call
for investigation of Sierra Leone logging scandal
13 December 2011
 |
A statement received by the Sierra Leone Telegraph from Jonathan Ossoff - Senior
Legislative Assistant in the Office of Congressman
Hank Johnson, says that; "U.S. Representative Hank
Johnson and colleagues are disturbed by reports of
high-level corruption in partner country."
This is what the statement says:
Eighteen members of the U.S. Congress today wrote
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging that
the United States insist on a full investigation of
credible reports, that senior Sierra Leonean
officials offered permission to conduct illegal and
destructive logging operations in exchange for
bribes.
In their letter to Hillary Clinton, U.S. Rep. Hank
Johnson, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on
Africa and Global Health Ranking Member Donald
Payne, and 16 colleagues in the U.S. House of
Representatives asked that Secretary Clinton push
the Government of Sierra Leone to launch a full and
transparent investigation.
They also requested that the Department of State
report to Congress with information regarding the
progress of the Sierra Leonean investigation.
A recent report aired by Al Jazeera English, "Africa
Investigates - Sierra Leone: Timber!," showed
footage of individuals claiming to act on behalf of
Sierra Leonean Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana
soliciting bribes in exchange for permission to
conduct illegal and destructive logging operations,
although permitted logging was suspended.
The Government of Sierra Leone initially said it
would launch an inquiry through its Anti-Corruption
Commission and domestic law enforcement, but there
has been little visible progress.
"These reports are very disturbing," said
Johnson. "Our relationship with Sierra Leone
requires faith in the integrity of its leadership."
A 2006 European Union report identified illegal
logging as the leading cause of environmental
degradation in Sierra Leone, and the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2010 Global
Forest Resources Assessment reported that Sierra
Leone lost old-growth forest at a rate of 3.21% per
year -- the fifth fastest rate of old-growth forest
loss in the world.
Members of Congress who signed the letter are:
Rep. Hank Johnson, Rep. Donald Payne, Rep.
Barbara Lee, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Rep. Maxine
Waters, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Charles Rangel,
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. Frederica Wilson, Rep.
Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Rep. Keith
Ellison, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. James Moran, Rep.
Russ Carnahan, Rep. James McGovern, Rep. Peter
DeFazio, Rep. Betty McCollum, and Rep. John Lewis.
READ: Senator
Johnson's Letter to Hillary
Clinton
End ###
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