A/HRC/7/42 page 13 57. On 28 February 2007, another trade union leader, Hy Vuthy, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen. The police investigation has stalled. The case of trade unionist Ros Sovannareth killed on 7 May 2004 has been related in previous reports. 58. In 1999, the then Special Representative, Thomas Hammarberg, wrote: “The phenomenon of impunity and its institutional expression constitutes the single most important obstacle to the effort to establish the rule of the law in Cambodia”.9 This enables the persecution of human rights activists, vulnerable land- and house-owners, trade unionists and others. The 2007 LICADHO report, cited above, discusses numerous cases of impunity, including more recent ones.10 C. Violations of the principles of the market 59. Although a market economy is guaranteed by the Constitution, some of the ways in which the Government manages the economy distort key principles of the market mechanism, resulting in the misallocation of resources. They prevent the growth of the entrepreneurial spirit, make a mockery of property rights and the binding nature of contracts, lead to weak trade unions often having to confront “strong” and brutal companies, often protected by local authorities, the police and the military, resulting in poor conditions for workers. This does not promote development of negotiating skills or familiarity with pricing policies. Dependence on foreign skills and management retards development of local capacity; and business relies for its profits on superior access to decision-makers, rather than fair competition. Consensual transactions, fundamental to the market, are largely missing, replaced by coercion or favours. 60. The negative impact on the market mechanism and the misuse of resources that follow from the absence of the rule of law are clearly demonstrated in the report of the international NGO, Global Witness, “Cambodia’s family trees: Illegal logging and the stripping of public assets by Cambodia’s elite”,11 published in June 2007. It recounts the story of a syndicate involved in logging in Prey Long, whose owners or associates are connected to some of the most senior ministers and officials. 9 10 11 E/CN.4/1999/101, para. 45. Pp. 11 to 15. See www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/546/en/cambodias_family_trees. Global Witness was at one stage appointed as official monitor of logging activity, but when it uncovered information unfavourable to the Government, this mandate was revoked. When this report came out in June 2007, instead of dealing with these allegations, the Government banned it and confiscated all copies. The Special Representative met the representatives of Global Witness in 2007 to probe them in depth about the reliability of their information and was persuaded of the accuracy of the report. Since this report was prepared, the Government of the United States, at the urging of the Congress, has banned the top officials of the company (including ministers) from entering the country.