Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09YAOUNDE449
2009-05-22 06:36:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Yaounde
Cable title:  

ITALIAN LOGGER BUSTED FOR CHIMP POSSESSION

Tags:  SENV KCOR PREL PGOV CM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0622
RR RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHLN RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHRN RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #0449 1420636
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220636Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9906
INFO RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0322
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
UNCLAS YAOUNDE 000449 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KCOR PREL PGOV CM
SUBJECT: ITALIAN LOGGER BUSTED FOR CHIMP POSSESSION

Ref 07 Yaounde 539

UNCLAS YAOUNDE 000449

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KCOR PREL PGOV CM
SUBJECT: ITALIAN LOGGER BUSTED FOR CHIMP POSSESSION

Ref 07 Yaounde 539


1. (U) Summary. Cameroonian law enforcement officials arrested
Italian national and logging executive Mirko Ramoni on May 14 for
possession of controlled wildlife and wildlife products, including
three live chimps and the skin of a freshwater crocodile. The Last
Great Ape (LAGA),a wildlife law enforcement NGO that has received
support from the USG in the past, conducted surveillance on the
suspect and accompanied the Cameroonian officials at every step of
the operation. If convicted, Ramoni faces up to three years in
prison and up to 10,000,000 CFA (about $20,000 in fines). This is
not the first case implicating a foreign national working in
Cameroon's forestry sector, and past experience suggests police and
judicial authorities will face political pressure and overtures of
corruption to release the suspect or grant him lenient treatment.
End summary.

An NGO with Teeth
--------------


2. (U) In February, LAGA received a tip that Ramoni, the General
Manager of SMK, an Italian logging company operating in Cameroon's
Center Region, was purchasing and possessed protected animals,
including chimpanzees and antelope. LAGA officials, in coordination
with MINFOF, conducted surveillance for three months before
obtaining sufficient information to compel MINFOF National Brigade
officials to seek a search warrant for Ramoni's residence on SMK
premises. On May 14, officers from the MINFOF National Brigade,
accompanied by LAGA officials, searched SMK premises and confiscated
three adolescent chimpanzees and one skin of a fresh water
crocodile, all of which are protected under Cameroonian wildlife
law.

Nexus Between Logging and
Illegal Wildlife Trade
--------------


3. (U) LAGA Director Ofir Drori told Poloff on May 14 that
Romani's arrest is only the most recent in a string of incidents
pointing to the implication of logging company officials and the
trade in protected wildlife and wildlife products. In early 2008,
the MINFOF National Brigade, again working with LAGA, arrested
Christos Paschalivis, a Greek national and General Manager of a
Greek logging company, for possession of two chimpanzees and an
unregistered hunting rifle. The prosecutor reported that he had
granted Paschalivis bail, but LAGA's investigators later discovered
that Paschalivis paid a 2 million CFA (about $4,000) bribe to the
prosecutor in order to avoid detention. Paschalivis was later
convicted of lesser offenses and sentenced to pay a negligible fine.
LAGA is helping MINFOF formulate an appeal of the judge's
decision.

The Challenge of Justice
--------------


4. (U) Ramoni is being accompanied by MINFOF National Brigade and
LAGA representatives to the Court of First Instance in Ntui. On May
15, the prosecutor denied Ramoni's request for bail and ordered him
detained over the weekend, pending a formal presentation of charges.
That Ramoni is Italian and that he is implicated in the lucrative
and well-connected logging industry, however, leaves Drori concerned
that political pressure will brought to bear to free Ramoni. In
addition, LAGA's experience has shown that defendants seek to bribe
police or judicial officials in approximately 85 percent of the
cases where LAGA is involved.

Comment: LAGA,
An NGO with a Mission
--------------


5. (U) We have praised LAGA and their model before (reftel),and
this arrest is only the most recent in a long string of successes.
Drori started LAGA when he learned that Cameroon had never
prosecuted a case of wildlife trafficking, despite credible and
widespread flaunting of domestic and international law. By
operating on a shoe-string budget (LAGA still does not possess a
vehicle or proper office space),Drori hopes to demonstrate that
weak political will and pervasive corruption, not lack of resources,
are to blame for unchecked wildlife trafficking and other law
enforcement challenges in Cameroon. To some extent, the Romani case
illustrates this point; it required no donor support or increased
financing, just that Cameroonian officials--from the National
Brigade to the judiciary--carry out their responsibilities. End
comment.