International environment group Greenpeace has accused a Malaysian timber conglomerate of operating destructively in eight countries, and got away with it by exploiting its political connections.

In a major report released on Tuesday ahead of next week's UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Greenpeace also criticises the Malaysian company for being "impervious to criticism" despite repeated allegations of political corruption, illegal practice, environmental destruction and human rights abuse being hurled against it.

With Malaysia playing host to the UN meet from Feb 9 to 20, Greenpeace campaigner Stephen Campbell said it is important that Kuala Lumpur holds Rimbunan Hijau accountable, considering its role as "one of the world's largest participants of forest destruction".

A billion-dollar business owned by Sarawak tycoon Tiong Hiew King and his family, Rimbunan "appears to be protected by an extensive and well-established network of political patronage and media control," said the report, titled 'The Untouchables - Rimbunan Hijau's World of Forest Crime and Political Patronage'.

According to Greenpeace, Tiong's ties with the "political elite" and his former position as a Malaysian senator representing the Chinese-dominated Sarawak United People's Party have resulted in a blurring of the distinction between government and logging interests.

This, it added, has led "to changes in legislation that favour corporate activities and which result in the disregard and repression of many actors within civil society."

Tiong has since made forays into the media business , and is the owner of Malaysia's Sin Chew Jit Poh, Hong Kong's Ming Pao and Papua New Guinea's National , among others.

Logging declared unlawful

While dominating Papua New Guinea's logging industry, Rimbunan also has interests in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Malaysia, Vanuatu, Indonesia, New Zealand and Russia .

The Greenpeace report focuses particularly on Rimbunan's logging activities in Papua - where its activities have proven most controversial.

Although a number of its logging permits had been declared unlawful by government investigators, no action have been taken against its 60-plus companies with business in Papua.

Some of these logging subsidiaries have also managed to avoid open bidding of logging licences, possibly due to its "close connections to Papua New Guinea's political elite," explained Greenpeace.

"The prime minister has been directly involved in the logging industry and his deputy has been criticised in an Ombudsman Commission report for "arbitrary and irresponsible" interference in directing the unlawful allocation (of) logging concession to Rimbunan Hijau."

Military links

Despite the revelations, enforcement is almost non-existent and the same commission found that the head of the Environment and Conservation Department supported the timber conglomerate, the organisation said.

It also points out that Rimbunan's influence extends even further. In Nov 2003, threats were issued to a Papua airline to only fly Rimbunan-approved passengers to its logging concession area and to deny travel to any non-government organisation.

On the other hand, Rimbunan activities in Indonesia, under the company PT Rimbunan Hijau Jaya, have been revealed to use its links with the Indonesian military to threaten locals to submit to its logging plans.

"London-based Environment Investigation Agency and Indonesian watchdog Telapak visited communities in West Papua and obtained documents clearly linking a military officer to PT Rimbunan Hijau Jaya and illegal logging."

Despite opposition and letters to forestry officials, the complaints by Indonesians seem to have fallen on deaf ears, said Greenpeace.

Yet, the military connection is only one part to the logging issue in Indonesia.

Payments to MPs

However, negligent logging practices by Rimbunan appears to be widespread and not limited to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

In Solomon Island and Vanuatu, Rimbunan's logging practices have also faced criticism of destructive practices, illegal logging and other irregularities such as under reporting of log

receipts, and payments made to parliamentary members, as in the case of the Solomons.

In Malaysia, Rimbunan owns a 20 to 25 percent share of the Malaysian timber industry - whose activities are well known for infringing onto native customary land rights, said Greenpeace.

Similar to Papua, government officials and the police work in the interest of logging companies. Faced with inaction, these communities resort to setting up blockades on logging roads, preventing the access of timber companies.

"Police and forest department officials have arbitrarily arrested and detained those indigenous people who put up any form of protest, even though such protests are undertaken within the confines of their own lands and they have legitimate rights under the law to such forms of protest," it said.

Expressing concern over the fast depletion of the world's remaining rainforests, Campbell said: "As hosts of the 'Summit for Life on Earth', the Malaysian government should set the example by ensuring that Malaysian companies operating internationally are held accountable."

As signatory to the World Summit on Sustainable Development plan of action, Malaysia should "start to make its rhetoric match its actions".