Nineteen members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter on Tuesday urging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to launch a full investigation of reports that a senior official in Sierra Leone offered companies the chance to conduct illegal logging operations in exchange for bribes.
Nineteen members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter on Tuesday urging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to launch a full investigation of reports that a senior official in Sierra Leone offered companies the chance to conduct illegal logging operations in exchange for bribes.
The letter comes after a recent airing of "Africa Investigates - Sierra Leone: Timber!" by Al Jazeera English. The documentary 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 logging operations, even though permitted logging had been 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, according to a press release from U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson.
"These reports are very disturbing," Johnson said. "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 percent per year, the fifth-fastest rate of old-growth forest loss in the world.
In addition to Johnson, these members of Congress also signed the letter: 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.
