Villagers claim they were run off their Svay Rieng land by armed police colluding with a business owner to make room for a rubber plantation like this one in Ratanakkiri province. Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13 September 2007
Villagers in Svay Rieng province say armed police drove them off their land in collusion with a private company intent on stealing it.
Police brandished weapons and fired shots into the ground, forcing the villagers to leave a plot of land in order to turn it over to a rubber plantation, villagers told an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, which recently held a public forum in Svay Rieng.
When villagers left the land, their crops and homes were razed by a bulldozer, Chhim Savuth, the investigator said.
On Sept. 8, police confronted the villagers and "fired warning shots, and the shots made the dust fly from the ground," Chhim Savuth said. "There were hundreds of families. Now, the leveling of the land has affected almost 500 families, destroying crops and houses and about 2,000 to 3,000 mango trees."
A local official has been working as a representative of the rubber company behind the land grab, villagers told VOA Khmer.
Kim Nou, a villager who claims her potato field was ruined in the fracas, said authorities threatened to shoot her, too.
"Yes, they leveled my land for potato plants, and they threatened to shoot me," she said. "I went to stop them. I said don't level my land. I went to stop the bulldozer."
Police brandished weapons and fired shots into the ground, forcing the villagers to leave a plot of land in order to turn it over to a rubber plantation, villagers told an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, which recently held a public forum in Svay Rieng.
When villagers left the land, their crops and homes were razed by a bulldozer, Chhim Savuth, the investigator said.
On Sept. 8, police confronted the villagers and "fired warning shots, and the shots made the dust fly from the ground," Chhim Savuth said. "There were hundreds of families. Now, the leveling of the land has affected almost 500 families, destroying crops and houses and about 2,000 to 3,000 mango trees."
A local official has been working as a representative of the rubber company behind the land grab, villagers told VOA Khmer.
Kim Nou, a villager who claims her potato field was ruined in the fracas, said authorities threatened to shoot her, too.
"Yes, they leveled my land for potato plants, and they threatened to shoot me," she said. "I went to stop them. I said don't level my land. I went to stop the bulldozer."
4 comments:
the only iron fist Hun Sen has is slapping those poor, landless peasants. He doesn't care. Even if he does, I don't think he can do anything about it, as it is his own people who commit these illegal activities.
We need rebels to assassinate these many corrupted police and military police.
If they all died, who will be the next prime minister ?
Sam Rainsy and his clown (Eng Chhay Eang)?
Well Eng Chhay Eang is a deputy chief in the land's dispute. One SRP is in. Those that solve the problem.
Like the iron fist Hun Sen had saided : Why people cut trees and take land government, it's not belong to all of you. HE HAS FORGOT TO SAID : IT'S BELONG TO MY FAMILY AND RELATIVES !
you talk about Sam Rainsy and his clown. You talk as if you know someone who's more qualified than Sam Rainsy. Who would actually fight for people instead of powerful friends and relatives? No body, besides Sam Rainsy.
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