Cambodian army occupies villagers' farmland with tanks

Two of the seven tanks currently occupying people's farming land

April 2, 2009
Licadho

In November 2008, villagers in Preah Neth Preah commune lost farmland which they had used for 30 years when armed soldiers and tanks occupied the land. What was once peaceful fertile farmland is now home to military tanks, which has frightened and impoverished the local people.

Personnel from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Small Battalion Tank Unit #65 seized 98 hectares of land across three villages - Poi Samrong, Poi Kdoeng and Boh Bash - in the commune, which is in Preah Neth Preah district of Bantey Meanchey province. Claiming that they needed the land to build a headquarters for the Tank Unit, the soldiers restricted villagers' access to the land and destroyed their crops.

Background
Following the overthrow of the Pol Pot regime in 1979, the Vietnamese army occupied Preah Neth Preah commune and had a military base there, but local villagers were still permitted to grow crops and farm the surrounding land. Around 1988, the military base was returned to RCAF by the Vietnamese army, while farmers kept growing crops. After the civil war ended, from 1991 to 1993 RCAF gradually withdrew from the site and, afterwards, the villagers began expanding their farming activities to include the former military area.

Outbreak of the land dispute
On November 27, 2008 RCAF Deputy Commander and Army Commander Meas Sophea issued a letter ordering Tank Unit #65 to occupy and build a headquarters on an area that had previously been used by the RCAF (in reference to documents dated prior to 1993). As a result, the unit's personnel settled on the 98 hectares and restricted access to 133 families who had used the land for farming.

In February and March 2009 - in an apparent attempt to erase any evidence of long-term farming - soldiers destroyed and burned mango, bamboo and palm trees and potatoes plantations on the disputed land that belonged to the villagers. On March 2, several gunshots were fired into the air to threaten three villagers who wandered too close to the disputed land.

The affected villagers submitted letters to the district and provincial authorities asking for help to resolve the land dispute. The authorities met with the villagers on March 17 and 19, with both district and provincial officials proposing that the Tank Unit should only occupy 26 hectares of the land - the original size of the old Vietnamese military base. Villagers, however, disagreed with this proposal. The provincial authorities agreed to send a letter to the RCAF headquarters to seek a resolution to the dispute.

Authorities in Banteay Meanchey have however expressed concerns to LICADHO that the dispute might not be resolved, because it involves powerful national military officials. In the meantime, villagers are still not allowed to farm on the land, further jeopardizing families' livelihood.

LICADHO urges RCAF and national and provincial government authorities to ensure that the dispute is quickly and fairly resolved, and that villagers are able to continue to grow crops on farmland which they have used for years.

In addition, LICADHO once more calls for RCAF to ensure that soldiers are never mobilized or used against unarmed civilians in land disputes. The use of armed soldiers in land conflicts is an illegal misuse of power and increases the risk of violence, quite possibly with deadly consequences, against villagers.