When the shit hits the fan: widows fought back cops who came to evict them

Fury against the cops who ordered truck to take out dirt from widows' properties

24 April 2012
By Sreyna Koh
Koh Santepheap News
Translated form Khmer by Soch

Stung Treng – 3 sisters among a family of 8 siblings – the majority of whom are widows – had a fistfight with cops in a fit of rage. Some of the women took out gasoline and attempted to burn machineries which they accused the Preah Bat commune authority and the Stung Treng city authority ordered over to take out dirt stored on the women’s land. The dirt pile taken out from the sisters’ property is put to sale, however, the authorities accused them of encroaching on state land.

The incident led to a fit of rage and the sisters went to fetch 5 liters of gasoline in an attempt to burn down the machineries brought over to take out their dirt pile. The incident took place at 8:20AM on 22 April 2012, near an area known as Tuol Kruos (gravel hill), located in Pachong village, Preah Bat commune, Stung Treng city. The incident brought over the first commune councilor, the Preah Bat commune police chief, cops from the city of Stung Treng and a large number of civil society officials.

A woman by the name of Man Pho Phang along with other women shouted in protest. They said that they have many siblings, all of them women, and they only own this much land to share and live on, why did the authority give them such hardship. The women brought out a document requesting the occupation of the land parcel and it was approved by Sith Kim Teng, the current commune chief, and by Ek Sophal, the village chief. The document was approved on 25 February 1997 and it clearly recognized that Men Sarorn, the deceased father of the women, was the occupant of the plot measuring 220 m by 650 m. Men Sarorn occupied the parcel since 1986 and the plot is now occupied by his children, the protesting women. The women claimed that when their father asked to obtain the authorization to occupy the parcel, the village chief and the commune chief told them that it was sufficient that the authorization be approved by the commune level, and there is no need for him to obtain the authorization from the district authority.

Sith Kim Teng confirmed that he signed the land occupation authorization, but the land belongs to the state and the parcel is a commune safety hill (?). People are wondering why the commune chief, who knows that this is state land and commune safety hill, approved the occupation authorization for this parcel since 1997. The commune chief added that the order to evict was issued based from the city mayor.

Regarding the land ownership paper, it was noted that there are 3 other ownership deeds for the same plot. All of them were signed by the commune and the village chiefs. One of the deeds was issued to a cop for a parcel measuring 20m-by-50m, one for a woman for a parcel measuring 20m-by-50m, and one was issued to a retired jail official for a parcel measuring 50m-by-27m. Mrs. Khav Chantrea, a Preah Bat commune councilor, said that she ordered the machineries to be brought in to dig out the dirt based on an order issued by the provincial and city authorities. The land would then be turned into a plot to build the headquarters for the (CPP) party in Preah Bat commune. Villagers claimed that Loy Sophat, the provincial governor, never issued any order to his subordinates to evict people from their land, he even helps those who face such injustice.

Pheuk Soben, the Stung Treng city mayor, did not provide any clarification when reached by phone. He was too busy with meeting. Because of the strong protest from the three widows, the cops and the officials pulled back out for now.