We don't care if it's your property...! We only go by the plan..!

Farmer: Why are you measuring inside my property?
Gov't official: We don't care if it's your property...! We only go by the plan..!

Court delays hearing in land dispute case

Kampong Speu villagers embroiled in a land dispute with a local NGO protest outside the Appeal Court yesterday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Thursday, 01 December 2011
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

The Appeal Court yesterday delayed a hearing into a land dispute in Kampong Speu province between villagers and a local NGO because a representative of the organisation “felt sick”, a court official said yesterday.

The hearing involving two representatives from Treng Trayoeng commune’s village 3 in Phnom Sruoch district and NGO Farmer Association was delayed because military official and NGO representative Colonel Yi Sari asked the court to delay the hearing while he received medical treatment in Vietnam, presiding judge Pol Samoeun said.

About 50 residents who travelled from the village to attend the hearing stood outside the court with banners.

Village representatives and rights workers have claimed that a Supreme Court verdict granting 160 hectares of land in the commune’s village 6 to the NGO was being wrongly implemented in village 3, affecting 66 families who lived and farmed in the area.

UN urges Cambodia to tackle free speech concerns

Friday, June 03, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia is failing to address concerns about a worsening climate for freedom of expression, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the country said on Friday.

"The situation I'm afraid has not changed much with regards to freedom of speech. That's where I would like to see some progress made," Surya Subedi told reporters at the end of his fifth fact-finding mission to Cambodia.

Subedi said the situation had showed little improvement since his previous visit in February, when he voiced alarm over the narrowing space for people to express their views and told the government that criticism was not a crime.

UN rights envoy troubled by land, freedom of expression in Cambodia

Jun 3, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - The UN human rights envoy to Cambodia said Friday that land rights and freedom of expression dominated his concerns as he wrapped up a five-day visit.

Surya Subedi said he was also monitoring closely the tendency of parliament, which is dominated by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, to strip the immunity of opposition legislators who speak out.

'Democracy is about dialogue and debate on all issues of national importance, and this is especially so in the case of parliament, which by definition is a chamber where members of parliament can debate freely any issues of national importance,' he said.

'It is for this reason that they have been accorded parliamentary immunity,' Subedi said, adding that some legislators who had been prosecuted were unable even to represent themselves.

Cambodia Lags on Land, Freedom of Speech Rights, Says UN Official

Surya Subedi, U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, speaks at a press conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, during a trip in February 2011 (FILE PHOTO). (Photo: AP)

Robert Carmichael, VOA
Phnom Penh June 03, 2011

The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi wrapped up his fifth visit to Cambodia on Friday expressing concern about the lack of progress on land rights and freedom of speech in the country.

The main purpose of the visit - his fifth --was to assess how well parliament functions in upholding the rights of ordinary Cambodians.

On that score, he said that while human rights had improved in some areas, it had noticeably failed to do so in others such as land rights and freedom of speech.

Cambodia’s ruling party holds more than two-thirds of the seats in parliament. The opposition complains that allows it to push through legislation without taking anyone else’s concerns into account.

Candidates Assail Government at Land Forum

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13 June 2008

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer

Members of four political parties on Friday blamed the government and the ruling Cambodian People's Party for failure to address the growing problem of land disputes, and one official wept as he described landless poor forced to become beggars.

The Cambodian People's Party was not represented at the forum, which included members of the Funcinpec, Sam Rainsy, Norodom Ranariddh and Hang Dara Democratic Movement parties and was held by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee.

Funcinpec member Kim Vean blamed the National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution for failing to resolve land disputes for people; Norodom Ranariddh Party spokesman Muth Chantha blamed Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Duong Chan Soriya, of the Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party, said government leaders ignored land disputes in cases of the poor, who became landless beggars.

"In this regime, Cambodian people are facing the most difficulties," he said, as he began to weep, passing his floor time to Muth Chantha.

Land dispute authority spokesman Chun Bunrong said Friday the authority worked hard to resolve disputes. Without the authority, there would be confrontation and instability throughout the county, he said.