Greenpeace activists paint tropical timber in Amsterdam's harbour as part of a protest against one of the illegally operating timber companies - the Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC).
Kouwenhoven ran the two largest logging companies in Liberia
during the former regime of warlord Charles Taylor (1) and traded
so-called 'conflict timber' with companies in Europe and China as a
means of arming Taylor's war on the people of Liberia, a war that
cost over 250,000 lives (2).
Between 2000 and 2003, Greenpeace uncovered and exposed some of
main European log traders buying from Kouwenhoven's two logging
companies. Traders included the Swiss-German Danzer Group; Danish
multinational timber trader DLH Nordisk (through Indubois in
France); Dutch logger and importer Wijma; Greece-based plywood and
flooring producer Shelman; the German logging and processing,
company Feldmeyer-Group and the Italian producer of railway
sleepers Tecnoalp.
Speaking from outside the court in The Hague, Greenpeace
International Africa forest campaign coordinator, Stephan Van Praet
said: "Europe's biggest timber traders, who flatly refused to
terminate business with Kouwenhoven's logging companies, must share
his guilt. If these people have any conscience, the death of
thousands of innocent people and the destruction of the Liberia's
rainforest is stopped and must never happen again."
Only after 7 July 2003, when the UN Security Council imposed
sanctions on Liberian timber, were the ties between Kouwenhoven and
the European timber trade terminated. The Governments of France and
China had previously blocked the inclusion of timber sanctions,
allowing Kouwenhoven to prolong his Liberian business activities
for three more years.
However in 2004, Greenpeace uncovered that the Danzer Group was
continuing to finance Kouwenhoven's business activities in Africa.
Despite being blacklisted on a UN Security Council travel ban,
Kouwenhoven had fled Liberia and was directly involved with the
logistical and financial operations of Afribois, a logging company
based in Congo-Brazzaville (3).
"Kouwenhoven's case illustrates that the international timber
trade is still unable to regulate itself. The lack of legislation
at international level on imports of illegal or conflict timber
contributed to this horrible example of destructive exploitation of
a natural resource, fuelling civil war and related crimes against
humanity. Governments must stop illegal and conflict timber trade
right now," Van Praet continued.
Today, timber from conflict prone forest countries like Burma,
Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be
freely traded on the international market. Greenpeace is
campaigning for the introduction of legislation to ban the import
of illegal and destructive timber into the European market, and to
ensure that European companies and ultimately, European consumers,
do not fuel crimes against humanity and the environment.
Other contacts: At The HagueStephan Van Praet, Greenpeace International +32 (0) 496 161580In the UK:Phil Aikman, Greenpeace International +44 (0) 7801 212995In Kinshasa:Filip Verbelen, Greenpeace International +24 (0) 3999 130082
VVPR info: Archive photographs available from Franca Michienzi, +31 653 819 255
Notes: 1. Oriental timber Company (OTC) and Royal Timber Corporation (RTC). See Greenpeace crime file: Liberian timber trade fuels regional insecurity - www.greenpeace.org.uk/MultimediaFiles/Live/FullReport/6608.pdf2. Kouwenhoven, who has been described as being "responsible for the logistical aspects of many of the arms deals" was arrested last year by the Dutch police following an investigation into his business activities in Africa.3. Greenpeace crime file: Danzer Group involved in bribery, illegal logging, dealings with blacklisted arms trafficker and suspected of forgery. www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/forest-crime-file-danzer-grou.pdf
Exp. contact date: 2006-06-17 00:00:00