PHNOM PENH Dec 24 Kyodo Cambodian...

PHNOM PENH Dec 24 Kyodo

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Tuesday the planned expulsion of the international forestry watchdog organization Global Witness from the nation for allegedly unjust and partial reporting.

''Cambodia asks Global Witness to leave this country'' Hun Sen told reporters. ''The position of Cambodia is to halt the work of Global Witness in Cambodia.''

Hun Sen said the British-based environmental cluster which is Cambodia's independent forestry monitor subject to an agreement with the guidance had unjustly defamed his sway when it released an ''exaggerated'' report alleging police used excessive force in dispersing a form into groups of anti-logging protesters.

Global Witness had said Dec 5 that around 100 community representatives from provinces had peacefully gathered earlier that day in head of the Forestry and Wildlife Department to pres for a workshop forward forestry management plans and environmental and social impact assessments when four barters of armed military police, police and elite force Flying Tigers arrived at the offices.

It said the ''state thugs'' beat populace with batons and electric cattle prod injuring around a dozen commonalty including one person whose base was broken.

According to a posterior statement released by New York-based Human Rights Watch, individual of the representatives, Hem Sao, 29 a village chief from Preah Vihear province, died of an apparent heart attack later in the day, nevertheless it has not been established whether his death was caused according to the actions of the police.

The conduct has insisted that no violence was used and said the dead man was not upon the list of protesters.

In its statement, Global Witness also called forward the World Bank to brace a $15 million loan to the rule the release of which had been linked by means of the bank to logging companies' public disclosure of management plans and environmental and social impact assessments.

Global Witness has been operating in Cambodia since December 1999 as the ''Independent Monitor forward the Forest Crime Monitoring and Reporting Project'' envisaged at a February 1999 donor meeting in Tokyo to render certain the government compliance with promised forestry reforms. The International Monetary store and the World Bank had tied their assistance to the signing of the deal.

''The Cambodian guidance appears to be attempting to intimidate and silence a cluster that is internationally respected for its monitoring of illegal logging,'' Human Rights Watch said. ''Any attempt to displace the organization as the official forestry monitor would demonstrate the government's perfect lack of commitment to combating illegal logging and other forestry crimes.''

Cambodia's forest cloak has reduced from an estimated 70% in the early 1970 to sole 30-35% today amid decades of civil strife among various Cambodian factions, partly stocked by the selling off of forest resources.

Despite the recur of peace, the government has permitted 14 logging concessionaires to operate in every part the country, some of which Global Witness says have shaken the contracts or violate the laws of that kind as cutting logs over their areas, intimidating, or causing violence.

According to Human Rights Watch, since the Dec 5 incident, authorities have questioned community forestry advocates in several provinces about their activities in Phnom Penh and have conven meetings in which villagers have been pressur to thumbprint documents that they cannot read, expressing support for the logging concessions.

''Rather than intimidating bear uponed citizens, the government should be encouraging attempts at participation and dialogue, particularly onward an issue like forestry reform that affects the livelihoods of in such a manner many Cambodians,'' it said.

It called onward the government to undertake an independent and impartial investigation of the Dec 5 incident and discipline or conduct as appropriate all police officers who used or authorized excessive force.

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