CPP Suy Sem (L) and his wife Chea Kheng (R)Wednesday, 23 June 2010
May Titthara and Irwin Loy
The Phnom Penh Post
A COMPANY belonging to the wife of a government minister that is involved in a long-simmering land dispute in Kampong Chhnang province has filed a legal complaint accusing a local rights advocate of disinformation – another example, some observers say, of the courts being used to silence criticism in controversial land cases.
Sam Chankea, coordinator for the rights group Adhoc in Kampong Chhnang, said he is the target of a disinformation complaint filed in late May by KDC International Company, which is headed by Chea Kheng, the wife of Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem.
Sam Chankea said the complaint stems from a December 26, 2009, interview with Radio Free Asia, in which he suggested that the clearance of disputed land by the company might be against the law. “The reporter just asked me about my point of view related to the company clearing villagers’ land. I said that if this is a case of clearing land belonging to villagers, it is illegal,” he said.
In the complaint, the company denies clearing disputed land, though Sam Chankea said villagers have insisted otherwise. Sam Chankea said he suspected the complaint was an attempt to intimidate him, because he had recently urged the provincial court to investigate villagers’ claims that they had been victims of a fraudulent land deal.
The company “filed a complaint against me just to threaten me to stop working on this case”, he said. “But I am not worried about this because we are working on human rights.”
KDC representative Thai Hy confirmed that a complaint had been filed against Sam Chankea on May 25, but declined to discuss the allegations at length.
Provincial court prosecutor Penh Vibol also declined to discuss them beyond saying that he had asked police to launch an investigation.
The dispute originally involved 108 families who say they have lived for years on the land in Ta Ches commune’s Lorpeang village. The company says that it bought the land in 1996.
In 2007, the company asserted its ownership of roughly 145 hectares of disputed land, saying it had struck a deal with 105 of the families. Rights groups, however, say 64 holdout families never agreed to sign over their property.
If the disinformation claim proceeds to court, it will mark at least the sixth time KDC International Company has asked the legal system to wade into the dispute, Sam Chankea said.
Since 2002, the company has filed complaints against villagers five times, he said, including a case last year in which the village chief was convicted of forging residents’ thumbprints on a complaint letter detailing claims that villagers had never sold their land to KDC.
‘Criminalisation’ of advocacy
Rights groups say there has been a recent surge in the number of legal cases brought against community groups and advocates involved in land disputes, accusing authorities and well-connected officials of becoming increasingly fond of “intimidation” tactics.
According to Adhoc, at least 235 “human rights defenders” – a term that refers to individual protesters, community representatives or representatives of protesters – faced legal scrutiny in 2009.
Of these, 58 were incarcerated as of January this year, while 88 were on the run.
“Based on these figures, intimidation against human rights defenders in 2009 rose up noticeably, compared to 164 cases in 2008,” Adhoc’s Human Rights Situation report for last year states.
Whereas human rights advocates might once have been quietly accused of “inciting protests”, they are now much more likely to be charged with actual criminal offences, the report states.
“Intimidation is a way to psychologically frighten human rights activists and human rights workers in Cambodia so they will not be able to fulfill their missions....” the report concludes.
“In return, it will force the victims to accept the resolution offered by local authorities who collude with the powerful at the expense of the powerless.”
Yeng Virak, executive director of the Community Legal Education Centre, said there has been an alarming increase in the “criminalisation” of land-dispute cases.
“It means [the courts] are not resolving the problem. They just make the problem worse,” he said.
“If you’re talking about community representatives, it is like they have been victimised twice. Their land is taken away, and at the same time they face criminal charges.”
Sam Chankea, coordinator for the rights group Adhoc in Kampong Chhnang, said he is the target of a disinformation complaint filed in late May by KDC International Company, which is headed by Chea Kheng, the wife of Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem.
Sam Chankea said the complaint stems from a December 26, 2009, interview with Radio Free Asia, in which he suggested that the clearance of disputed land by the company might be against the law. “The reporter just asked me about my point of view related to the company clearing villagers’ land. I said that if this is a case of clearing land belonging to villagers, it is illegal,” he said.
In the complaint, the company denies clearing disputed land, though Sam Chankea said villagers have insisted otherwise. Sam Chankea said he suspected the complaint was an attempt to intimidate him, because he had recently urged the provincial court to investigate villagers’ claims that they had been victims of a fraudulent land deal.
The company “filed a complaint against me just to threaten me to stop working on this case”, he said. “But I am not worried about this because we are working on human rights.”
KDC representative Thai Hy confirmed that a complaint had been filed against Sam Chankea on May 25, but declined to discuss the allegations at length.
Provincial court prosecutor Penh Vibol also declined to discuss them beyond saying that he had asked police to launch an investigation.
The dispute originally involved 108 families who say they have lived for years on the land in Ta Ches commune’s Lorpeang village. The company says that it bought the land in 1996.
In 2007, the company asserted its ownership of roughly 145 hectares of disputed land, saying it had struck a deal with 105 of the families. Rights groups, however, say 64 holdout families never agreed to sign over their property.
If the disinformation claim proceeds to court, it will mark at least the sixth time KDC International Company has asked the legal system to wade into the dispute, Sam Chankea said.
Since 2002, the company has filed complaints against villagers five times, he said, including a case last year in which the village chief was convicted of forging residents’ thumbprints on a complaint letter detailing claims that villagers had never sold their land to KDC.
‘Criminalisation’ of advocacy
Rights groups say there has been a recent surge in the number of legal cases brought against community groups and advocates involved in land disputes, accusing authorities and well-connected officials of becoming increasingly fond of “intimidation” tactics.
According to Adhoc, at least 235 “human rights defenders” – a term that refers to individual protesters, community representatives or representatives of protesters – faced legal scrutiny in 2009.
Of these, 58 were incarcerated as of January this year, while 88 were on the run.
“Based on these figures, intimidation against human rights defenders in 2009 rose up noticeably, compared to 164 cases in 2008,” Adhoc’s Human Rights Situation report for last year states.
Whereas human rights advocates might once have been quietly accused of “inciting protests”, they are now much more likely to be charged with actual criminal offences, the report states.
“Intimidation is a way to psychologically frighten human rights activists and human rights workers in Cambodia so they will not be able to fulfill their missions....” the report concludes.
“In return, it will force the victims to accept the resolution offered by local authorities who collude with the powerful at the expense of the powerless.”
Yeng Virak, executive director of the Community Legal Education Centre, said there has been an alarming increase in the “criminalisation” of land-dispute cases.
“It means [the courts] are not resolving the problem. They just make the problem worse,” he said.
“If you’re talking about community representatives, it is like they have been victimised twice. Their land is taken away, and at the same time they face criminal charges.”
16 comments:
i think it's right for them to sue for disinformation because they are using the law against libel and slandering and disinformation, etc..., unless extremist group opposition people who always point fingers and bitching and whining nonstop abour everybody and everything, really! smart individuals will always use the law of the land. and if mad opposition people continue to ignore the law of the land, we will never win anything or anyone in cambodia because cambodia can always say they only use the law of the land or they do the right thing by using the law of the land to solve issues, not like hypocritical opposition and their trouble-making members! i think opposition and their members ought to focus more on how to improve infrastructure, clean water supplies, sanitation, etc in cambodia, instead of being political trouble-making like they always did! no wonder they get nowhere, only in circle like a cuckoo animal! wake up people; this is not the dark age or stone age, ok! cambodia now have good civilized law, etc... use the law, instead. you cannot win with the law of the land, really, think about it, ok!
when cambodian used the law of the land or the rule of law, radical opposition have no chance in cambodia, really! i think cambodian people in cambodia is getting smarter by the minute, really! opposition is still backward and stupid, and they still live in the dark ages and stone ages, at least in their mentality, you know! stop being stupid for a change, please, for the sake of cambodia, ok!
when cambodian use the laws of the land or the rule of law, ah Kwack Goverment will have no chance in cambodia, really! i think cambodian people in cambodia are getting smarter by the minute, really! opposition is still backward and stupid, and they still live in the dark ages and stone ages, at least in their mentality, you know! stop being stupid for a change, please, for the sake of cambodia, ok!
STOP paying with ah Kwack! and use people power to kick morhetfuckers to hell!
1:50 AM
when cambodian use the laws of the land or the rule of law, ah Kwack Goverment will have no chance in cambodia, really! i think cambodian people in cambodia are getting smarter by the minute, really! opposition is still backward and stupid, and they still live in the dark ages and stone ages, at least in their mentality, you know! stop being stupid for a change, please, for the sake of cambodia, ok!
STOP playing with ah Kwack! and use people power to kick morhetfuckers to hell!
1:50 AM
some individual like 2:21am still don't get it, he still advocate violence. wait until america or EU courts tell them to go to life in prison for their violence or terrorist-like tone of voice, etc... can't win with the rule of law, don't you opposition people get it? wake up and stop being behing time, ok! even cambodia is way advance than your mentality, really!
REALLY!!!
Government Minister were also can do business to make profit, while holding job in the office. Thus, there were in fact about minister earned a fortune.
(Signed) Hun Sen, Sok An, Mam Som Orn
REALLY!!! we need laws and justice!in Cambodia!
REALLY!!! we need laws and justice!in Cambodia!
Please help UN!!!!!
ah choy marai Ah suy sem is youn kom pot his nephew lives close to my home .ah niss youn gangs smoss. stupid khmwe ppls call him ach muy dump...hahahahahah sorry khmer !U guys respect youn gangs more than your compatriots.U R So dump!!!
I have more than 10 year of law background and practised law everyday. Now it is not time to use law against bad people, criminal, land grabbers now because all of them are governing, influent, powerful they always use court system as an instrument in order to oppress, threat, harrass to vulnerable people. So I need now power of people, strong solidarity of people rise up to protest against corruptive group, Even we have 1000.000.000.000 lawyers the court still support powerful party as a land case in Lor Peang, Kg. Chhnang province between people and KDC company owned by Chea Kheng. People already filed complaints against her, against court official but untill now it is useless, not yet process. So no need to use law now we need people power in the way to change bad situation in Cambodia.
Leng
YOU CAN'T COMPLAINT CAUSE THEY ARE THE ONE WHO LIBERATED US FROM POL POT REGIME. AS CPP ASIAD 7-JAN IS THE SECOND LIFE OF US. NO MATER THEY DID EVERYTHING TO US WE STILL OWE 7-JAN-1979.
THIS IS THE MESSAGE THAT HUN XEN AND HIS ALLY WANT TO TELL YOU!
YOU CAN'T COMPLAINT CAUSE THEY ARE THE ONE WHO LIBERATED US FROM POL POT REGIME. AS CPP ASIAD 7-JAN IS THE SECOND LIFE OF US. NO MATER THEY DID EVERYTHING TO US WE STILL OWE 7-JAN-1979.
THIS IS THE MESSAGE THAT HUN XEN AND HIS ALLY WANT TO TELL YOU!
suy tri and chea mikaiy...
Huynh Xanh OWNED the country!
The whole country is ruled by Hun Sen and his clones. No one could do anything to change Cambodia for the better as long as Hun Sen remains in power. We have laws in Cambodia but in reality they are not working at all levels of governance. Revolution like when the Khmer Rouge started is the only way to change and get rid off this corrupted and dictatorial regime.
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