Kraya evictees facing hunger

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

KAMPONG Thom provincial authorities said Monday that the distribution of 1-hectare plots of farmland promised as compensation to around 600 families evicted from their land last December could commence by the end of the month.

“We will provide new farmland to those 602 families, and we will provide it to them on time, either during the rainy season or at the end of this month,” said Out Sam On, Kampong Thom deputy governor.

On December 15, the families were violently evicted from Kraya commune, located in Santuk district, to make way for a 8,100-hectare rubber plantation to be developed by Vietnam’s Tin Bien company.

The villagers, many of them military veterans, were shifted 7 kilometres away to Thmor Samleang village, where they have built homes but are still awaiting farmland promised to them in May.

Out Sam On said officials were waiting for the results of an “impact study” being carried out to ensure that the distribution of the farmland will not lead to future disputes.

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Oddar Meanchey evictees seek infrastructure for relocation site

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

AROUND 50 families from Oddar Meanchey province’s Anlong Veng district who were evicted from their homes last month protested in front of Wat Botum on Monday to petition Prime Minister Hun Sen about the lack of infrastructure at their relocation site.

On May 25, more than 100 homes in O’Ampil village in Anlong Veng commune were burned down by provincial authorities. Siem Reap provincial court had ordered that the homes be removed after a complaint was filed by Forestry Administration workers, who accused the families of living illegally on protected land.

Village representative Meas Socheat said the residents, who have since been relocated to O’Rumchek village in Anlong Veng commune, about 10 kilometres from O’Ampil, came to protest because they no longer have access to farmland.

“We are farmers who depend on planting rice to support our living. If they do not provide us with farmland, we will die,” he said. “Recently, we have been facing hunger. We want to ask the prime minister to help us to live legally on our old land.”

Chhaom Chhoeun, a 42-year-old farmer, said the villagers had been granted 20-by-40-metre plots of land in O’Rumchek, but that basic infrastructure was severely lacking. 

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Two charged for taking bets on World Cup; PM lauds Rooney

By May Titthara and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday charged a 57-year-old man and his 16-year-old son in connection with a World Cup betting ring they were allegedly operating out of their home in Sen Sok district, a deputy prosecutor said.

Koeur Bunnara said he had issued the arrest warrant for Long Sophanara and his son, Chheang Bunhak, and that a raid of their home in Toek Thla commune had been carried out on Monday.

He added that local authorities had been informed of the gambling ring by neighbours.

Mak Hong, the police chief in Sen Sok district, said the pair had acted as brokers in the ring.

Under the penal code, anyone caught running a gambling ring faces between one and five years in prison along with potential fines.

“Our police will carry out further investigations to find who is profiting from football match betting,” Mak Hong said.

Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth could not be reached for comment on Thursday, but he said last week that both Cambodians and foreigners would be arrested if caught betting on football matches during the World Cup.

“Both Cambodian people and foreigners have to respect the laws of the Kingdom, and I will not allow the opening of places for football betting,” he said.

In February last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen abruptly ordered the closure of the country’s sports betting outlets and slot-machine parlours, saying they had been responsible for a moral decline in the Kingdom.

Hun Sen issued warnings similar to Touch Naruth’s in the run-up to the World Cup.

In a speech on Thursday marking the inauguration of Cambodia’s first overpass, the premier told the audience that he was using his mobile phone to follow matches.

He also had some kind words for the English squad, especially striker Wayne Rooney.

After congratulating UK ambassador Andrew Mace on the fact that England has made it into the round of 16, he said: “I also want to send this message through the ambassador that I admire Wayne Rooney. I admire him for his kick technique.”

He added: “I wish that England will pass through to the last group of eight.”

Third arrest in Kampong Speu sugar conflict

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

A FARMER was arrested and briefly detained by military police in Kampong Speu province on Wednesday after trying in vain to stop employees of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company from clearing his land, marking the third arrest in a controversial land fight.

Rights workers condemned the action as an example of Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat, who owns the company, leveraging the military against villagers to further his business interests.

Around half a dozen military police officers arrested Sruon Kimseng, 43, near his home in Thpong district’s Omlaing commune at around 11am, witnesses said.

His wife, Nuon Sarim, said he had been protesting an attempt by the Phnom Penh Sugar Company to clear his land with a bulldozer.

Sruon Kimseng was held until 2pm at the company’s office, and released only after around 50 villagers gathered outside to protest, she said.

Nuon Sarim said a bulldozer had cleared a 200-metre-wide swathe of land in front of their house, and that he had only been trying to protect it.

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KDC sues activist in land row

By May Titthara and Irwin Loy
The Phnom Penh Post

ACOMPANY belonging to the wife of a government minister that is involved in a long-simmering land dispute in Kampong Chhnang province has filed a legal complaint accusing a local rights advocate of disinformation – another example, some observers say, of the courts being used to silence criticism in controversial land cases.

Sam Chankea, coordinator for the rights group Adhoc in Kampong Chhnang, said he is the target of a disinformation complaint filed in late May by KDC International Company, which is headed by Chea Kheng, the wife of Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem.

Sam Chankea said the complaint stems from a December 26, 2009, interview with Radio Free Asia, in which he suggested that the clearance of disputed land by the company might be against the law. “The reporter just asked me about my point of view related to the company clearing villagers’ land. I said that if this is a case of clearing land belonging to villagers, it is illegal,” he said.

In the complaint, the company denies clearing disputed land, though Sam Chankea said villagers have insisted otherwise. Sam Chankea said he suspected the complaint was an attempt to intimidate him, because he had recently urged the provincial court to investigate villagers’ claims that they had been victims of a fraudulent land deal.

The company “filed a complaint against me just to threaten me to stop working on this case”, he said. “But I am not worried about this because we are working on human rights.”

KDC representative Thai Hy confirmed that a complaint had been filed against Sam Chankea on May 25, but declined to discuss the allegations at length.

Provincial court prosecutor Penh Vibol also declined to discuss them beyond saying that he had asked police to launch an investigation. 

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Patrols combat illegal fishing

By Sebastian Strangio and May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

PREAH SIHANOUK PROVINCE
THE shallow aquamarine waters around Koh Rung Sangleum island, lined with coral reefs and rich with marine life, have long provided the island’s few residents with resources and livelihoods.

At the small wooden dock at the island’s Village 23, fishermen bring in fresh catches of squid, the surface of the creatures still alive with electric pulses of colour. Outside beachside homes in the village, a small cove ringed with coconut palms, residents set racks of squid out to dry, where they wither in the sun like rows of miniature deployed parachutes.

Despite the appearance of abundance, fishermen on this horseshoe-shaped island, 25 kilometres off the country’s south coast, are only just recovering from a wave of illegal poaching that, with the blessing of unknown local authorities, wreaked havoc on marine ecosystems and the age-old rhythm of life on the island.

But community fishing patrols – established last year by the provincial government – have allowed locals to fight back against illegal poachers and reclaim some of the marine area.

Lawless region
Residents of Koh Rung Sangleum say laws have always been weakly enforced. Following the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, the island existed in near complete isolation from the mainland, with only sporadic contacts with authorities.

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Villagers protest arson detention

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

Around 130 families from Kratie province’s Chhlong district protested outside the provincial court on Monday to demand the release on bail of a man accused of burning his own home to the ground, villagers said. Suoth Tuoch said 29-year-old Bi Phalla, who was arrested on Friday, was planting cassava with other villagers at the time of the fire. “It is an injustice,” he said. A total of 380 families, including those that gathered at the court on Monday, are embroiled in a land dispute with the Kasotim Company that dates back to 2008, when the company was granted a concession in Chhlong district.

Official backtracks on arson threat

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

AN official in Mondulkiri province has backed away from a threat to torch the homes of villagers resisting eviction from a gold-mining concession in Keo Seima district, but villagers said they were still concerned they would ultimately be forced from the site.

Last week, Len Vanna, the deputy district governor, told the Post that if villagers did not agree to tear down their homes, “we will burn them to the ground”.

When contacted Sunday, however, Len Vanna denied having ever threatened to burn the villagers’ dwellings.

Around 30 families in Keo Seima district face eviction after ignoring an order to vacate a concession to Australian mining company Oz Minerals.
During a June 13 meeting with the villagers, district authorities told them to dismantle their homes and relocate immediately or face harsh
reprisals.

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I AM NOT AGAINST GOVERNMENT POLICY ... BUT THEY MUST PROVIDE COMPENSATION.

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Despite Len Vanna’s reversal, villagers continued to express concerns about their future.

“I am worried about my home, because I heard a rumour that the authorities will burn it if I do not agree to tear my house down,” said Yor Noeun,
one of the residents who has refused to move from the land without proper compensation. 

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Lakeside corruption claim

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

COMMUNE officials in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak lake area are intentionally inflating the number of families affected by a massive development project in order to pocket compensation payments, Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema alleged Thursday.

In a meeting with provincial governors addressing controversial guidelines on so-called temporary settlements, Kep Chuktema claimed corrupt commune officials are hindering efforts to relocate residents living on disputed land by adding non-existent “ghost families” to the actual number of those affected.

“They add in ghost families,” the governor said.

“If there are only 100 families living in their commune, they report to us that there are 140 families.”

Kep Chuktema cited the Boeung Kak lake real estate development as an example, charging that some commune officials in the area are eager to claim promised compensation funds.

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Revenge suspected as motive in killing of boy and grandparents

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

THE bodies of an 8-year-old boy and his two maternal grandparents were found Tuesday morning in Kampong Speu province’s Oudong district, in what police suspect is a “revenge killing”.

Khem Samon, the police chief in Oudong district, identified the victims as Vong Heng, 60; his 55-year-old wife, Sorn Srey; and Beng Theang, their 8-year-old grandson.

Beng Theang’s parents, he said, were working at their garment factory jobs in Oudong district at the time of the killing, and his sister lives and works in Phnom Penh.

“We are still investigating this case, but it doesn’t look like it was related to robbery because the perpetrators did not steal any valuable property or money or a motorbike,” Khem Samon said.

“We suspect that this is a revenge killing, but we cannot tell you the names of the suspected perpetrators. We need to conduct more research.”
San Mean, who lives in the same village as the family, said he saw two men visit the family home on Monday night.

He said one of them had previously asked to marry Beng Theang’s older sister but was rejected by her parents.

Sam Mean said he discovered the three bodies the following morning.

“We saw Vong Heng, who was dead and covered in blood on the bed under his house. His wife and grandson were in the house,” he said. “Then we reported the case to local police.”

Sem Chausok, a provincial monitor for the rights group Licadho, said he had travelled to the village to investigate the case.

But he added that he did not have enough information to speculate about a possible motive for the killings.

Protest dispersed at Wat Botum

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

A GROUP of more than 200 demonstrators gathered in front of Wat Botum on Tuesday morning in the hope of delivering a petition bearing the thumbprints of 60,000 villagers affected by land disputes to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

After about two hours, the villagers settled for handing the petition to a representative of the premier’s cabinet before being ushered away by police.

Hor Sam Ath, a representative of the demonstrators, said it was regrettable – but not surprising – that they had not been able to confront Hun Sen directly.

“It would be better if we could explain directly to the prime minister the problems we face as a result of land disputes. Sometimes our cases are buried by officials who do not pass villagers complaints onto him,” he said.

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Reassuring the Khmer Krom

By James O’toole and May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

Pursat Province
KHMER Rouge tribunal co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley addressed a group of Khmer Krom residents of Pursat province on Sunday, intent on assuring them that the suffering inflicted upon their community under Democratic Kampuchea will not be overlooked by the court.

In speaking to a group of around 200 in Pursat’s Romlech commune, Bakan district, Cayley made the uncommon move of reaching out and explaining the status of the court’s investigation to survivors who have voiced concern that attacks and alleged genocide against them have yet to be acknowledged.

“I know there is a feeling amongst some of your community that you haven’t been properly considered by the court,” Cayley told the audience, speaking in the dusty courtyard of the Wat Romlech pagoda.

“But I want to say to you today, sincerely, why I’m here is because I do recognise what happened to you as a people.”

“Khmer Krom” is a term for ethnic Khmer with roots in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.

In January, the court’s co-investigating judges ruled that genocide charges and other offences would not be brought against the Khmer Rouge
leaders currently in detention based on the regime’s treatment of the Khmer Krom.

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Group 34 residents begin to rebuild, defying governor

 By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

RESIDENTS of Chamkarmon district’s Group 34 community have begun rebuilding homes destroyed by a fire more than a year ago, after receiving no response from the local authorities about a request concerning replacement land on the city’s outskirts.

Community representative Toch Sophan said villagers began building homes earlier this month in order to have shelter during this year’s rainy season.

A suspected arson on April 15 last year destroyed 150 homes and killed a 4-year-old girl in Group 34, a community in Tomnup Toek commune. After the blaze, authorities brokered a deal whereby residents could pay US$100 for replacement land in Dangkor district.

But Horm Noeun, a resident of the community, said villagers don’t trust the local authorities, who have seemingly ignored requests that they be allowed to settle the new land before handing over the $100 payments. 

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Veterans ask for govt land grant

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

AROUND 150 disabled military veterans representating hundreds of families from across the country protested in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh villa Wednesday, calling on the premier to grant them 4,000 hectares of protected land in Kratie province.

Yan Yoeuk, director of Association Cripple Development, an organisation representing disabled veterans, said 620 families filed a request to national and provincial authorities in 2008 for the right to settle on a protected area of land in Snuol district, where they hoped to each receive 5-hectare plots.

But on April 24, Kratie officials informed them that the land belonged to five private companies, he said. They also accused the veterans of submitting “fake documents” bearing the false signatures of senior officials, including National Assembly President Heng Samrin.

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NGOs urge donors to press govt on land fights, forced evictions

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

INTERNATIONAL donors must pressure the Cambodian government to resolve land disputes, local groups said Tuesday on the eve of a major donor conference.

At a press conference organised by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum, said that donors will be guilty of negligence if they overlook disputes affecting thousands of people.

Donors “have spent a lot of money on issues like land reform. But a number of donors still keep quiet,” he said.

So far this year, rights groups have recorded at least 81 new land disputes that could affect more than 1,300 families, he said. These include five high-profile disputes, all of which involve companies claiming farmland occupied by villagers. 

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Arrest in Samlot land row

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

A VILLAGE representative involved in a land dispute pitting residents of Battambang province’s Samlot district against military officials and an unidentified Korean company was arrested last week in connection with the case, villagers said Monday.

Sim Mey was questioned on May 24 and arrested the following day, said Man Ny, who was also questioned but then released. Man Ny added that the questioning concerned their alleged involvement in the torching of a tractor belonging to an official with Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Military Region 5 in 2008.

Man Ny said he suspects that Sim Mey was arrested for his continued advocacy on behalf on 141 families involved in disputes over 705 hectares of land. On April 4, Sim Mey was shot and injured by an unidentified gunman in an incident that villagers suspect was related to the dispute.

Tuy Bun Ly, deputy commander of RCAF Region 5, said Sim Mey had been arrested over a complaint filed in 2008 by a military officer whom he identified as Pen Savoeun. Provincial court prosecutor Sar Yos Thavrak could not be reached for comment Monday.