Press release - 3 June, 2003
Greenpeace activists today uncovered a shipment of conflict timber on the MV Mentor in the Italian port of Salerno. The area around the shipment of conflict wood was cordoned off by the activists and marked as a Forest Crime Scene. The logs were identified with the slogans ‘Africa Crime’ and ‘Logs of War’. Large ‘postage stamps’ were then stuck onto the logs and stamped with ‘Return to Sender’.
"Greenpeace informed the custom authority asking them to
carefully investigate, and urged the government to implement the UN
sanctions immediately. Liberian logs should to be sent back to the
sender. Italy cannot lead the European political process to control
illegal logging and trade, through the Forest Law Enforcement,
Governance & Trade (FLEGT) agreement while importing logs
linked to armed conflicts," said Sergio Baffoni speaking from
Salerno.
Greenpeace investigations exposed the link between the Italian
import of logs, civil war and forest destruction. On May 6 2003 the
Security Council of the United Nations established a ban on imports
of Liberian timber, due to the involvement of the Liberian forest
sector in illicit arms' trade, which is fuelling regional conflicts
in West Africa. The import ban will enter into force July 7
2003.
The contentious cargo comes from Maryland Wood Processing
Industries (MWPI), a Liberian timber company involved in arms'
trade, according to the UK-based non-governmental organisation
Global Witness. MWPI, which manages Port Harper in Liberia, plays a
key role in the importation of arms into the country through the
port. In 2002, it was involved in arms' shipments destined for
Liberian-backed rebels in Cote d'Ivoire (1).
In addition, the ship left Port Harper after the official notice
of the United Nations' sanctions on Liberian timber. It was clearly
an attempt to export as much Liberian timber as possible before the
sanctions enter into force. Companies buying these logs are clearly
aware that they are a partner in crime to a traffic fueling the
civil war.
Greenpeace is calling on the Italian Timber Federation to locate
and expel any eventual customers of the logs coming from this
shipment. In April 2002 Greenpeace and the Timber Federation signed
a common engagement to stop illegal logging, where the Federation
was committed in contrasting the import in Italy of timber linked
to armed conflicts. But this wood never stopped coming to
Italy.
--ends-
Update:
Italian harbour authorities have just agreed to sit down and
discuss the issue with Greenpeace and carry out an in depth
investigation.
Notes: 1. The Usual Suspects: Liberia’s Weapons and Mercenaries in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone - Why it’s Still Possible, How it Works, and How to Break the Trend. (See: www.globalwitness.org/)