Press release - 15 September, 2004
Greenpeace, one of the world's leading environmental organisations, has received a letter from the lawyers of one of the world's largest and richest retailers in forest destruction, Rimbunan Hijau (RH). The Malaysian multinational logging firm with operations in eight countries has threatened to sue Greenpeace International over a report that highlights the company's destructive record.
"RH is hoping that the threat of litigation will silence its
critics. But Greenpeace won't back down, nor will we retract any
allegations we have made. We're confident our report will hold up
in court." said Jasper Teulings,Greenpeace International's Senior
Legal Counsel.
The letter includes a demand to apologise to RH for the
publication of the report "The Untouchables - Rimbunan Hijau's
World of Forest Crime and Political Patronage". RH have also
demanded that Greenpeace withdraw the report from the public
domain, and to supply them with a list of the recipients of the
report. Greenpeace International has declined to comply with this
demand.
In February of this year, Greenpeace published "The Untouchables
- Rimbunan Hijau's World of Forest Crime and Political Patronage,"
a report that highlights the corrupt and destructive activities of
the Malaysian firm. RH dominates the logging industry in Papua New
Guinea and has interests in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Malaysia,
Vanuatu, Indonesia, New Zealand and Russia, making it one of the
world's largest forest destroyers. Many of these operations are
characterised by documented illegalities and environmental
destruction. It is alleged that RH uses tactics such as political
corruption and abuses of indigenous peoples' rights within its
operations.
Notes: To view the Report: www.greenpeace.org/RHreport