Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 25/12/2008. Boeung Kak resident fainting outside the Court of Appeal (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)25-12-2008
By Ros Dina
Ka-set in English
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With no surprise, the Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint lodged by Boeung Kak lake residents against private company Shukaku on Thursday December 25th. The Municipality of Phnom Penh had agreed for the latter to develop the area under a 99-year concession. After the hearing, there were tears and cries among the Phnom Penh residents living on and around the lake, which is in the heart of the capital. People's houses have been collapsing in turn into the water since the company started filling in the lake in August. A shopping centre and other facilities are due to appear in this area inhabited since the 1980s.
Lawyers' comments
The hearing went on for three hours. The Court's decision confounded the lawyer of the residents, Choung Chou Ngy. “The President of the Court declared in his ruling that the Shukaku company had nothing to do with the case!”, he said, considering the decision to be simply “unfair”. “How can he say they have nothing to do with it? We can clearly see that by pumping sand into the lake, the company is causing my clients to lose their homes!”, the lawyer fulminated. However, he has no intention to give up the fight.
After the ruling, the Shukaku company's lawyer, Cheng Peng Hâb, played shy with the journalists and tried to avoid them. His phone stuck to his ear, he returned inside the courtroom for shelter, until he was forced to come out after court staff turned the lights off. He then finally gave a terse comment on the verdict, “This case concerns the Municipality and the residents. It is therefore up to the Municipality to solve it. I cannot tell you anything more since I am only the company's lawyer!”
Exasperation of the residents
Immediately after the verdict, some forty Boeung Kak inhabitants gathered outside the court and let their anger burst, shouting insults at the judicial institution. Women choking with sobs and men red with anger expressed their scorn for the “corrupt court” which was “blinded by dollars”, “bribed by the company and powerful people” and “anything but independent”. They burned incense and said prayers. A woman in the crowd fainted, overwhelmed with anger and anxiety. “People's fate depends on these judges, but where is their heart?”, a resident wondered.
Be Pharom, one of the residents' representatives, declared she would not give up the fight and that she was ready to camp outside of Prime Minister Hun Sen's house for the whole week if necessary, until he takes action. “Appealing to Samdech Hun Sen is now our last resort. Boeung Kak residents are willing to accept the government's development project if a reasonable solution is found for us. We do not want to leave with tears in our eyes!”, she said.
Before the opening of the hearing, a small crowd of residents had decided to gather at the sacred site of Preah Ang Dangkeu in front of the Royal palace, for last-minute prayers so that spirits would convince the judges to rule in their favour.”We are filing a complaint before the 'natural Court'. He who sows the seeds of evil shall reap evil too! The natural Court has already tried one person!”, a fifty-year old person shouted in the crowd. Like many others, the Boeung Kak resident refused the compensation offered to the community for being far too little.
Lawyers' comments
The hearing went on for three hours. The Court's decision confounded the lawyer of the residents, Choung Chou Ngy. “The President of the Court declared in his ruling that the Shukaku company had nothing to do with the case!”, he said, considering the decision to be simply “unfair”. “How can he say they have nothing to do with it? We can clearly see that by pumping sand into the lake, the company is causing my clients to lose their homes!”, the lawyer fulminated. However, he has no intention to give up the fight.
After the ruling, the Shukaku company's lawyer, Cheng Peng Hâb, played shy with the journalists and tried to avoid them. His phone stuck to his ear, he returned inside the courtroom for shelter, until he was forced to come out after court staff turned the lights off. He then finally gave a terse comment on the verdict, “This case concerns the Municipality and the residents. It is therefore up to the Municipality to solve it. I cannot tell you anything more since I am only the company's lawyer!”
Exasperation of the residents
Immediately after the verdict, some forty Boeung Kak inhabitants gathered outside the court and let their anger burst, shouting insults at the judicial institution. Women choking with sobs and men red with anger expressed their scorn for the “corrupt court” which was “blinded by dollars”, “bribed by the company and powerful people” and “anything but independent”. They burned incense and said prayers. A woman in the crowd fainted, overwhelmed with anger and anxiety. “People's fate depends on these judges, but where is their heart?”, a resident wondered.
Be Pharom, one of the residents' representatives, declared she would not give up the fight and that she was ready to camp outside of Prime Minister Hun Sen's house for the whole week if necessary, until he takes action. “Appealing to Samdech Hun Sen is now our last resort. Boeung Kak residents are willing to accept the government's development project if a reasonable solution is found for us. We do not want to leave with tears in our eyes!”, she said.
Before the opening of the hearing, a small crowd of residents had decided to gather at the sacred site of Preah Ang Dangkeu in front of the Royal palace, for last-minute prayers so that spirits would convince the judges to rule in their favour.”We are filing a complaint before the 'natural Court'. He who sows the seeds of evil shall reap evil too! The natural Court has already tried one person!”, a fifty-year old person shouted in the crowd. Like many others, the Boeung Kak resident refused the compensation offered to the community for being far too little.
19 comments:
The government of a traitor does not care about the welfare of the people. What they acre about is to chase the poeple out of their houses, so can garb their land to sell to the foreigners.
UN must fill against Choung Chou Ngy for Human Rights Violation as soon as possible. UN must start from him, sooner is batter.
All Cambodian people if you really want justice, don't go to Cambodian Court, you must all go to UN. Ask and ask UN help.
Why you vote for CPP ,their systems will protect you in return.
I agree Cambodian Court, Khmer government have never worked for justice to Cambodians, Look Mr. Hun Sen has asked help from UN and he got thousand million dollar each year, but that $-helps is for his pocket only. Why you all don't act now?
This is because you voted for Hun Sen. Now Hun Sen help you anything?
Cambodian court system is a joke. Simply a joke. It is just a tool that there are judicial process for the people but there is no such thing exist - not even close - only if you are rich and powerful. There is why you see people are so cruel to each other with no regard that they are too human beings. I am hurt and angry to see my people getting hurt under this HUN SEN government.
Justice served. Squatters will not be allowed to grab State's lands that is used for development of the country.
You use the word "country" as your disgusting pretex to steal the people to sell for own profit.
Once again, the Cambodian judicial process is a joke and simply a pretext to show the international stage that Cambodia has a existent judicial system.
The judicial system is highly corrupted and bias towards the ruling CPP. It is neither fair nor independent from political influence. Also with low revenues and high crime rates in Cambodia, the judicial system is too weak and incompetent when it comes to procedures. Honestly, there are a shitload of serious crimes, notably political killings, that always go unsolved. Police corruption and abusive imprisonment conditions remain endemic and therefore, Cambodian people are pretty much screwed when it comes to seeking justice! Sad...
eh, you Khmer dirt poor scums, keep voting for the CPP, for you will be saved ! Don't cry, enjoy your CPP hell. I have no pity for these people.
The CPP must protects Khmer's lands from squatters at all cost.
Are you cruel animal, 8:13? whoever they voted for does not bother your idiot assumption. Just think in a very statistically simple and smart way as an educated man. Some of them might vote for opposition parties that you fool always praise for.
Welcome to the Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Kam Phu Xia where AH KBAL PEE SAMDECH MAHA PLEUR HUN XEN is the dictator...
CPP are gonna go down because they are a bunch of uneducated peasants. CPP are gonna be massacred and their bodies are gonna be thrown in the Mekong river. The CPP followers are even worse because they think AH KBAL PEE SAMDECH MAHA PLEUR HUN XEN cares about them, but that bitch doesn't.
Alright, time to kill some CPP. Toss those damn CPP officials into the Mekong river like how we did with the Viets back during the Khmer Republic era.
"dey khmer, cheat khmer!"
these people are victims of the civil war in cambodia. the gov't still argue that the lands and the lakes was state land all along but allowed people to live there during the 1980s after the toppled KR regime was ousted from power. now they tell people to move out because they need the land back. i think people still need to be compensated fairly to relocate elsewhere as cambodia is very different now. gov't need to think about the welfare and fair treatment of its people, too. how else are the people going to live and support themselves if gov't don't do anything about this situation like given proper and fair compensation to the dislocated populated there! people must continue to voice their grievances to gov't until some kind of fair solution is in place for them. thank you.
2:36 AM,
I totally agree with you. When the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (present day CPP)took over Phnom Penh in the early 1980's under the supervision of Hanoi, only government employees, members of the government and their families were allowed to settle in the city.
Afterward, multitudes of refugees and former residents poured into the city. Some of the residents were former Phnom Penh citizens attempting to reclaim their estates that they had lost before 1975 when the Khmer Rouge forced them out of the city. Others were simply dislocated squatters. The KPRP government at first was stern with preventing this influx of people but later became lax towards it. Finally, the KPRP in the mid and late 1980's began encouraging residents to file documents to the claims of their estates while restricting filing claims for properties that the state saw should be in state possession. Wherever people lived, it was considered their legal residence as this process culminated. The lands and areas adjacent to the lake were homes to people for almost 30 years and now the CPP decides to kick them out and states that the people are lving there illegally and now are evicting them.
The government only does these type of things because they see $$$$$$$$$. They don't realize that filling up the lake will have ecological consequences when it comes to the rainy season. Because Phnom Penh lacks a proper storm drainage system, the lake actually provided itself as a natural. now with the lake being filled and all of this disastrous and incompetent urban planning by greedy and narrow-minded individuals in the government, Phnom Penh will see more floods.
Also, the government doesn't do much in compensating the residents. They don't provide any type of welfare nor rehabilitation for these people.
We don't compensate shit to squatter who try to grab State's land.
I agree with 2:36, but it's unfortunate that these families didn't take advantage of the Land Law which allowed them to gain title after i.e. 4 years of living on the land. As to the lake itself, I believe that under the new land law, it is public immovable property of the kind which can't be sold because it is a floatable waterway and, as such, is restricted from being sold or transferred particularly when the lake will be destroyed.
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