By Saing Soenthrith
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Hina Jilani, the visiting UN special representative of the secretary-general for human rights defenders, met with villagers embroiled in land disputes across the country Saturday, three people who attended the meeting said. The long-simmering conflict over more than 10,000 hectares of Battambang province's Bavel district topped the list of complaints. Oeun Sary, the wife of local activist Chhea Ny, 37, who was arrested on Aug 1, was at the meeting and said she was still fighting to secure the release of her husband and two other imprisoned community leaders. Oeun Sary said her husband was transferred Nov 21 to Prey Sar from Battambang provincial prison, where Hem Lok, 56, and Mol Sab, 72, who were arrested on Sept 4, remain. RCAF soldiers are still shooting at villagers and trying to frighten them into abandoning their harvest, Oeun Sary alleged. Intervention from high-ranking Cambodian politicians has so far done little to help the 3,170 families fighting for land in Bavel, villagers and rights workers said. Local authorities and RCAF officers have denied that they are guilty of land grabbing. Margo Picken, country coordinator for the UN center for human rights, said Jilani could not comment as she is on an unofficial visit. But she added that staff at the UN center "are concerned about what appears to be increasing use of criminal provisions in the Land Law to arrest and detain community members who are fighting for rights to land."
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