Press Releases
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Heritage Oil arbitration case in London deprives Ugandan citizens of right to information A closed-door London arbitration tribunal between Heritage Oil and the Government of Uganda denies Ugandans the right to information about the management of the country's critical oil wealth, claim campaign groups and civil society leaders.28 August 2012
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Survey finds sharp rise in killings over land and forests as Rio talks open New figures collected by Global Witness on the killings of activists, journalists and community members who were defending rights to land and forests show the true, shocking extent of competition for access to natural resources18 June 2012
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Shell and ENI must come clean over oil deals in Nigeria Explanations made by Shell and ENI about payments made for a controversial oil deal in Nigeria are no longer sufficient30 May 2012
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Justice for Sierra Leone as Charles Taylor found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity Read the Global Witness background briefing on the Charles Taylor Verdict26 April 2012
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Statement in response to killing of prominent Cambodian forest campaigner Chut Wutty Statement in response to killing of prominent Cambodian forest campaigner Chut Wutty We are shocked and devastated to learn of the killing of Chut Wutty, Director of environmental watchdog Natural Resource Protection Group (NPRG), in Cambodia today. Wutty was reportedly shot by members of the Military Police while engaged in field research into illegal logging and land seizures26 April 2012
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Sentencing of former Nigerian politician highlights role of British and US banks in money laundering Global Witness calls for a thorough investigation into HSBC, Barclays, Citibank and Abbey National (now owned by Santander) for their roles in the laundering of millions of pounds by James Ibori, former governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State16 April 2012
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Global Witness leaves Kimberley Process, calls for diamond trade to be held accountable Global Witness announces that it has left the Kimberley Process, the international certification scheme established to stop the trade in blood diamonds02 December 2011
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New leaked document reveals HSBC held $1.4bn of Libyan funds Between June and September 2010 the Libyan state oil fund deposited over $1bn with HSBC, according to a document leaked to Global Witness30 June 2011
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HSBC and Goldman Sachs held $335m of Libyan state oil money HSBC and Goldman Sachs are among the key western bankers for Colonel Gaddafi’s regime, a 2010 document leaked to Global Witness appears to show.26 May 2011
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Rush to log Liberia’s forests will jeopardise the reform process Under intense pressure from the timber industry – including many familiar faces from the past – the Forest Development Authority of Liberia has started to issue timber contracts. Yet key legislation on community rights is still in draft. International NGOs fear the rush to allow a timber trade with a poor track record of corruption and trampling on community rights raises the spectre of Liberia’s forests once again undermining stability in this fragile country22 May 2011
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Questions still remain over who controls Kazakhmys plc FTSE 100 mining firm Kazakhmys plc is still refusing to provide full information as to the identity of its beneficial owners19 May 2011
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Global Witness takes UK government to court for failing to list UK companies trading Congo conflict minerals for UN sanctions The British government is acting unlawfully in refusing to put forward eligible UK companies and individuals trading in Congolese ‘conflict minerals' for targeted UN sanctions26 July 2010
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Rights groups express outrage at state persecution of Zimbabwean activists Civil Society organisations, including Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, and Partnership Africa Canada, today condemned the state-sponsored harassment and intimidation of a Zimbabwean non-governmental organisation,02 June 2010
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Fraudulent emissions accounting threatens to undermine progress on climate Progress towards a meaningful climate deal in 2010 could be significantly undermined if developed countries succeed in their bid to avoid accountability for their emissions from forestry and bioenergy use, according to forest and climate experts from the Ecosystems Climate Alliance (ECA)27 May 2010