Prison through the eyes of a child

May Titthara

The Phnom Penh Post 

From behind the bars of their cells in the Kingdom’s biggest prison, mothers can watch their children play in a tiny playground inside the shabby building, which is surrounded by narrow gardens where the women can grow extra food.

“Every day, I see only the prison roof and the trees inside the fence,” says Dong, a five-year-old boy who was born inside Prey Sar Correctional Centre 2.

“I have never known anything outside this prison,” Dong said during an interview last week.

The interview followed a request to the Interior Ministry and, subsequently, to the prison chief.

They agreed, on the condition that no photographs be taken and no tape recording be made.

Dong said he lived with his mother in the prison because they had no relatives.

He and the 10 other children in the prison leave the cells every Monday to Friday morning for classes an NGO has arranged for them inside the prison.
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Kingdom’s three-year land rush

May Titthara

The Phnom Penh Post

 The government has granted more than 7 million hectares of land to private companies through concessions since 2008, with 222 private companies claiming more than 2 million hectares alone in economic land concessions, rights group Adhoc said yesterday.

Ouch Leng, head of Adhoc’s land program, said that data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and government sub-decrees revealed that the government had granted about 2,153,408 hectares in economic land concessions to private companies.

He added that the total figure reached 7,021,771 hectares out of a total 17,651,500 hectares in the Kingdom since 2008, if mining and forest concessions for logging purposes are included.
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Villagers try diplomatic route

May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

About 300 villagers from Kandal province locked in land disputes with private companies delivered petitions to embassies in Phnom Penh yesterday, before protesting in front of the provincial hall and calling for Prime Minister Hun Sen to help them.

Villagers told the Post they wanted an end to land disputes caused by companies that had “seized their land”, adding that they would “rather die” than go home without a result.

They said authorities had ignored their pleas for help while the companies had used the court system to have villagers who complained about the acquisitions arrested.

 

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