In Cambodia, growing social unrest over forced evictions

Former Boeung Kak lake residents demanding the release of fellow residents held by the police outside the Phnom Penh regional court on May 24. (Takeshi Fujitani)

June 17, 2012
By TAKESHI FUJITANI/ Correspondent
Asahi Shimbun (Japan)

"The Hun Sen government's autocracy lies at the root of the problem"

PHNOM PENH--Over the past year, tens of thousands of Cambodians have been forcibly evicted from their homes in the name of development.

The policy, implemented as this late-blooming Southeast Asian country embarks on economic catch-up in the region, has emerged as a serious social issue, along with gun-related violence and arbitrary arrests.

Baton-wielding riot police closed off nearby roads and established an intimidating presence outside the regional court in the capital on the morning of May 24 as dozens of protesters gathered.

More than 80 exiled inhabitants of Boeung Kak, a 90-hectare lake on the north side of the city, yelled repeatedly for the release of 13 former neighbors who were arrested two days earlier.

Work began two years ago to fill in the lake, which lies adjacent to an area that is home to the prime minister's offices and luxury hotels so that commercial facilities and other structures could be built.

The residents were forcefully evicted.

CAMBODIA: The culture of impunity and violence must stop

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

Phnom Penh, 30th May 2012- We, Cambodian and International civil society organizations represented in this statement, condemn the use of armed force and escalating violence against citizens peacefully defending their land, labor and natural resources rights. We are referring to not only the events earlier last week on 22nd May, when dozens of peaceful Boeung Kak Lake (BKL) protesters were violently dispersed and two days later when fifteen (fourteen women and one male) BKL residents were sent to Prey Sar prison and charged and convicted of unfounded criminal offenses, but also the recent shooting incidents—the killings of environmental activist Chut Wutty in Koh Kong province and 14-year old girl Heng Chantha in Kratie province, and the shooting of three young women protesting for better working conditions in Svay Rieng province. These incidents are particularly disturbing because they indicate an increasing readiness on the part of security and military forces to use lethal force against civilians.

The year 2012 has already witnessed at least five such instances, not including numerous other human rights abuses. We are deeply concerned, shocked and saddened about this escalation of violence, particularly in disputes related to Economic Land Concessions (ELCs). Pursuant to Article 41 of the Cambodian Constitution and international conventions to which Cambodia is a party, all citizens enjoy a fundamental right to free expression, which includes the right to protect against decisions of public authorities that infringe on their rights and livelihood . In practice, the exercise of this right is all too often denied or met with violent repression.

Cambodian citizens have a right to live under the rule of law. They deserve to be protected, served with dignity and fairness based on universally agreed basic rights. Public authorities not only have a duty and obligation to ensure that a culture of impunity is never condoned but also must make fighting against impunity a priority. All instances involving the use of firearms against civilians should be promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated. Investigations that find shootings to be “accidental” or the result of low-ranking officers acting on their own initiative should be supported by evidence gathered in a rigorous, transparent manner. At the very least, protection against threats and intimidation should be provided to witnesses and all victims should have access to effective judicial verdict and justice.

ការ​សម្លាប់​នៅ​ក្រចេះ​ឆ្លុះ​បញ្ចាំង​ពី​ការ​ពិត​ដ៏​ល្វីង​ជូរចត់

ម្តាយ​និង​​ប្អូន​​ប្រុស អង្គុយ​​មើល​​សព​​កូន​-បង​ស្រី ដែល​​ត្រូវ​​ទាហាន​​របស់​​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​​បាញ់​​សម្លាប់​។ រូបថត សហ​ការី

Friday, 25 May 2012
មូរ សុខហ៊ួរ The Phnom Penh Post

កម្ពុជា មិន​មែន​ កំពុង​ស្ថិត ​នៅ​លើ ​ផ្លូវ​ត្រូវ ​ទេ

ការ​សម្លាប់​យ៉ាង​សាហាវ ​នៅ​ខេត្ត​ក្រចេះ ​កាល​ពី​ ១០ ​ថ្ងៃ​មុន​លើ​នាង​ ហេង ចាន់​ថា វ័យ​ ១៤ ​ឆ្នាំ​ ដោយ​ទាហាន​ និង​ប៉ូលិស បាន​ធ្វើ​ឡើង​ បី​សប្តាហ៍ បន្ទាប់​ពី​ឃាតកម្ម​លើ​លោក ឈុត វុទ្ធី អ្នក​បរិស្ថាន ​ដែល​គួរ​ឲ្យ​គោរព​បំផុត​របស់​កម្ពុជា។

ការ​សម្លាប់​ក្មេង​ស្រី​នេះ បាន​កើត​មាន​ មិន​ដល់​ពីរ​សប្តាហ៍​ផង​បន្ទាប់​ពី​លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្រ្តី​ហ៊ុន សែន បញ្ជា​ឲ្យ​ផ្អាក​ជា​បន្ទាន់​នូវ​សម្បទាន​ដី​សេដ្ឋកិច្ច។

ដី​កសិកម្ម​របស់​កម្ពុជា​ជាង ២​លាន​ហិកតា និង​ដី​ព្រៃ​ជាតិ​របស់​យើង ១ លាន​ហិកតា រួម​ទាំង​ឧទ្យាន​ជាតិ​ ជា​ផ្នែក​មួយ​នៃ​សម្បទាន​ទាំង​នេះ​ត្រូវ​បាន​ចុះ​ហត្ថលេខា​ដោយ​ដៃ របស់​លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្រ្តី​ហ៊ុន សែន។

Cambodia's Current Tragedy: a Government Led by Greed

USA must immediately suspend military aid to the government of Cambodia. Remember other dictatorships aided by USA and others. How many more lives wasted before the killing stops?

----

Heng Chantha, 14-yr-old killed in Chhlong, Kratie (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Senseless Kratie killing reflects a bitter truth

Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

Dear Editor,

The savage killing in Kratie seven days ago of Heng Chantha, a 14-year-old girl, by soldiers and police comes three weeks after the murder of Chut Wutty, Cambodia’s most respected environmentalist.

Her killing comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered an immediate suspension of economic land concessions.

More than two million hectares of Cambodia’s arable land and one million hectares of our national forests and parks are part of these concessions, signed by the hand of the Prime Minister.

The military-style operation in Kratie was aided by a helicopter.

The authorities’ version of the operation was justified by deputy prime minister Sar Kheng as necessary to crack down on an association for a democratic movement and for the arrest of its ringleaders.

The order from the top is clear: aim to kill.

SRP-Europe Press Release: Murder of a 14-yr-old villagers by Hun Sen's armed forces

CAMBODIA: Excessive force against villagers causes death in land grabs

Land grabbing has been happening for years in Cambodia but is seeing some recent intensification. These people stand dazed as a company destroys their homes during a land grab in the Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2008. Image: LICADHO

Thursday, May 17, 2012
WNN Breaking

Are we to believe that a few hundred villagers armed with sticks and crossbows are trying to start their own country?

Tensions continue as violence results in death of teenage girl in Cambodia over land grabs

(WNN) Kratie, CAMBODIA: Human Rights organization LICADHO – Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights recently condemned the reckless and bloody attack on a Kratie village by soldiers and police on Wednesday, which resulted in the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl.

“The authorities must conduct an immediate investigation into the shooting, and prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law,” said LICADHO rights advocates.

The military-style operation saw hundreds of soldiers, military police and police lock down the village a day prior to the shooting. The next morning the armed forces, aided by a helicopter, stormed the village of Kampong Domrey. Authorities claim the operation was organized solely to arrest three ringleaders in an alleged “secession” plot. Villagers, meanwhile, say that the attack was motivated by an ongoing land dispute with Casotim, a firm that claims villagers are infringing on their land concession.

“This is a textbook case of excessive force, regardless of why this operation took place,” said LICADHO Director Naly Pilorge. “The village was sealed off, the forces were heavily armed and tensions were high. The possibility of injury or death was not only foreseeable, it was highly probable. The authorities’ recklessness was a direct cause of this girl’s death.”

The Killings Go On in Cambodia

By Mu Sochua

We mourn......

We demand and end to the killings of innocent villagers....

We ask the Prime Minister to stop selling Cambodia to companies......

Land is Life.

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Condolences for Heng Chantha

Teenage Girl Killed in Land Clash

Military police round up residents of Broma village, May 16, 2012. (RFA)

Hundreds of security personnel force villagers to evacuate land in eastern Cambodia.

2012-05-16

Radio Free Asia

Security forces in eastern Cambodia fatally shot a teenage girl Wednesday during a clash over a land rights with villagers armed with axes and crossbows, rights groups and officials said, highlighting a spate of shootings by authorities on protesters and activists in the country.

The victim, 15-year-old Heng Chentha, was wounded after at least 400 military personnel carrying guns moved to disperse some 200 armed villagers from an area of land marked for development. She later died from her injury in a nearby hospital.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior blamed the leader of a Cambodia-based land rights organization and four others for leading the villagers in the clash, which occurred in Kratie province’s Chhlong district.

Authorities said that military police and soldiers moved into the area after community leaders had rejected demands to vacate farmland in Kampong Domrey commune’s Broma village for several months.

They said that the government owns the land, but activists contend that it had already been awarded as a concession to Russian firm Casotim, which plans to set up a rubber plantation.

SRP MPs' Statement on the shooting in Kratie

KPPM's Statement

LICADHO Calls for Investigation into Deadly Kratie Shooting

Released by Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)
Source: http://licadho-cambodia.org/pressrelease.php?perm=277
Hashtag for this shooting is : #May16Shooting

May 17, 2012 - LICADHO condemns the reckless and bloody attack on a Kratie village by soldiers and police on Wednesday, which resulted in the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl.

The authorities must conduct an immediate investigation into the shooting, and prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.

The military-style operation saw hundreds of soldiers, military police and police lock down the village a day prior to the shooting. The next morning, the armed forces, aided by a helicopter, stormed the village in Kampong Domrey commune. Authorities claim the operation was organized solely to arrest three ringleaders in an alleged "secession" plot. Villagers, meanwhile, say that the attack was motivated by an ongoing land dispute with Casotim, a firm that claims villagers are infringing on their land concession.

"This is a textbook case of excessive force, regardless of why this operation took place," said LICADHO Director Naly Pilorge. "The village was sealed off, the forces were heavily armed and tensions were high. The possibility of injury or death was not only foreseeable, it was highly probable. The authorities' recklessness was a direct cause of this girl's death."

According to witnesses, soldiers arrived at the village on the afternoon of May 15 and blocked off all access points. Early on the morning of May 16, approximately 300 or 400 villagers gathered to discuss the situation. They decided that they needed to leave the area, meet with external organizations and ask for help. At around 8 a.m., as they were getting ready to leave, the group heard gunshots.

About 20 villagers broke off from the group to investigate and confronted a column of 15 soldiers who were approaching them. The soldiers told the villagers to stop, but the group kept moving. The soldiers responded by firing an estimated five shots at the crowd. The size of the crowd began to swell. A second wave of shooting followed.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Anarchists

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Teenage girl gunned down by security forces in eviction

The body of Heng Chantha, 14, lies on a mat at her family’s home in Kratie province yesterday. She was shot dead by heavily armed officials who opened fire on a group of about 1,000 families they were sent to evict from the province’s Chhlong district. Two other villagers were injured during the confrontation. Photograph: supplied

Thursday, 17 May 2012
May Titthara and David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

Police and military forces shot dead a 14-year-old girl yesterday when hundreds of heavily armed officers stormed a village in Kratie province and sprayed automatic gunfire during a forced eviction.

Two other people were injured and five were arrested during the clash with residents of Prama village, in Chhlong district’s Kampong Damrei commune, some of whom were armed with crossbows or axes.

The killing of the teenager is just the latest, but perhaps most shocking, incident in a bloody wave of violence that military forces have committed against activists and protesters this year.

Witnesses said that about 8:30 yesterday morning, hundreds of military police, supported by a helicopter, had stormed into the village, rounded people into separate groups and opened fire on them with automatic weapons.

Teang Kem Srin, 28, said the forces had sprayed heavy automatic gunfire at them twice.

SRP calls for probe of Siem Reap violence

Military police man a checkpoint in Siem Reap's Anlong Samnor commune following outbreaks of violence Sunday. (Photo by: KYLE SHERER)

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Written by Chrann Chamroeun and Kyle Sherer
The Phnom Penh Post

Siem Reap province:

Local officials and rights groups say armed confrontation between police and villagers is the result of long-simmering land dispute between rival communes.

WITH some villagers in prison, others in hospital with serious bullet wounds and more still missing, the mystery surrounding the swift yet brutal eruption of violence Sunday in a long-simmering Siem Reap land dispute continues, with opposition lawmakers petitioning the National Assembly for an investigation.

In a formal request to parliament Monday, Ke Sovannroth, the Sam Rainsy Party's representative from Siem Reap, asked for a probe into Sunday's fighting between rival communes and local authorities in Chi Kraeng district, which saw at least four people injured.

Some 90 armed security personnel, sent by local authorities, opened fire on a crowd of about 300 Chi Kraeng villagers when they prevented the arrest of community representative Kim Savoeun, the SRP said.

Chi Kraeng villagers have been locked in dispute with neighbouring Anlong Samnor commune over a 92-hectare plot of land for years now, the SRP added.

"Authorities should have solved the problem peacefully because they have tried to solve this dispute several times already," Ke Sovannroth said in the party's request to the National Assembly.

In a statement Monday, Siem Reap's provincial Department of Information said that troops opened fire on the crowd in Chi Kraeng district at 9am Sunday, as they confronted about 100 villagers carrying machetes and wooden sticks.

The department said police and military police were sent to enforce a court-ordered arrest warrant for Kim Savoeun, who was hiding among the crowd.

According to the statement, villagers from neighbouring Chi Kraeng and Anlong Samnor communes are disputing the plot of land that abuts the two communes, and that authorities have made many attempts to resolve the problem.

Nou Puthyk, provincial coordinator for Cambodian rights group Licadho, told the Post that the group would launch its own investigations into both the land dispute and the response by the authorities.

"We visited three victims today with serious bullet wounds," he said, adding that a fourth injured man was being treated in hospital.

"We are undertaking a thorough investigation to clear up the problem of who has the right to the 92 hectares of farmland."

He said that provincial Governor Sou Phirin ruled on February 2 that Anlong Samnor residents could continue farming the land, while Chi Kraeng commune residents would receive a social land concession.

Sou Phirin said Monday that he regretted the violence and that those injured would have their medical bills paid for.

Despite Sunday's violence, 155 Chi Kraeng families continued Monday to squat land, in what Anlong Samnor commune chief Seng Young described as an "invasion".

He said that the altercation erupted Sunday when Anlong Samnor farmers attempted to harvest their rice but were forced to call the police when Chi Kraeng farmers refused them access to the land.

"My people tried to harvest their crops, but the people from Chi Kraeng village went to fight them and took the crops," he said.

"The police went to settle the problem, but the Chi Kraeng people wanted to fight the police instead," Seng Young said.

"They don't listen to the governor or the military police. They just fight whoever goes near them."

Licadho's Nou Puthyk said that of the 40 people arrested, those who were allowed to return home had to sign a statement promising not to continue the dispute.

Those remaining in police custody are accused of masterminding the violence and could be charged with robbery for allegedly taking the land, Ty Sovinthal said.

Chhuon Leng, a Chi Kraeng villager, also confirmed that only nine people, including representative Kim Savoeun, remained in prison, while the other 30 had been released.

"There are still people who are missing, and we are looking for them now," he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VONG DARA

More Than 20 Families Forced From Homes

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
22 February 2008

Cambodian police and military police launched tear gas into a crowd of residents, injuring several, prior to forcibly evicting them from their Phnom Penh neighborhood early Friday morning, rights investigators and witnesses said.

Around 500 security forces armed with batons and riot shields forcibly evicted the families, in Russei Keo district, firing multiple rifle shots into the air and accompanied by a water cannon and bulldozer, witnesses said.

"I no longer have a home to live in," said one evicted resident who, like others, asked not to be named.

"Where is the justice for the protection of the people?" asked another. "They don't help the people, but they come to destroy the people. I saved money from one cent to build the house, for 20 years."

Police fired around 27 canisters of tear gas, according to a statement by the rights group Adhoc.

"I protected my house," said a third resident. "When they forced me out, I refused. They stoned me in the head."

Russei Keo District Chief Khlang Hout said the forces were carrying out a court order.

"The court verdict is an independent power, and we have a duty to cooperate with the court to do this," Khlang Hout said.

Chan Saveth, an investigator for the group, called the eviction "very brutal" and condemned "the carrying out of a court verdict with the blood and tears of the people."

Police arrested 11 people during the eviction, and at least seven were injured, Adhoc said.

Keo Remy, vice president of the Human Rights Party, called the eviction "a violation of the people's rights and additional tragedy for them."

"The land problem is more important than the political problem right now, because the land problem is related to personal interests, and [those who take the land] can use all means, through both a company and powerful men, to capture land," Keo Remy said.

The value of land in Cambodia doubled from 2006 to 2007, Adhoc has said.

Cheap Cambodian children lives in Thailand: Thai police shot two Cambodian children accused of chicken theft, killing one and injuring the other

Thai police shot two Cambodian children killing one and injuring the other

Thursday, June 14, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Local newspapers reported that Thai police shot and killed one Cambodian teenager and shot and broke the leg of another child: 16-year-old Khorn Bunmean who was shot and killed, and 16-year-old Sieu Ratanak who was shot and injured. The two teenagers were hired as cow herders for a Thai boss in Aranyaprathet, Srakaew province, Thailand. A source indicated that the two children were working for the Thai boss for 3 to 4 years already and they live in Thailand’s Nongsang village. The injured boy said that when he and his companion were herding cows in the rice fields in Thailand, Thai police started to shoot at them. One of the bullet hit Khorn Bunmean but he did not die on the spot, as for him, since he was injured on his right foot, he was able to flee into Cambodian territory. The young boy who was injured claimed that his companion, Khorn Bunmean, did not die from the shot, but that the Thai police officers force fed him poison and killed him, his body was left in the middle of the rice field. There is no independent verification on the young boy’s claim, but the Thai police claimed that they shot the two boys because they were stealing chicken.

$25: the going rate for shooting a man in the back 6 to 7 times

Suspect Seriously Wounded, Left by Police, Group Says

Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21/04/2007

A fleeing man was shot at least six times in the back by police and then left seriously injured near his home Wednesday, a rights worker said.

Yun Chea, 35, a farmer in Khduol village, Banteay Meanchey province, was shot when he tried to flee his house, after it was surrounded by 10 policemen searching for a kidnapper, Soum Chanthea, a rights worker for Adhoc said.

The policemen surrounding his house caused the man to panic and flee, and he was shot after shouts from the police to stop went unheeded, Soum Chanthea said.

Police then left the man where he lay, Soum Chanthea said.

"The police said stop, stop, and they fired six to seven rounds," Soum Chanthea said. "He panicked and jumped down. He collapsed, and the police just walked away and did not rescue him. Nothing has been done since then."

Bantey Meanchey Deputy Police Chief Chan Kosal said police made a decision to shoot a fleeing suspect.

"It is difficult in this case," he said. "We called to him to stop. He might be running away. We were looking for a fugitive running from one place to another one."

Chan Kosal said provincial police gave $25 to the man's family, but his wife said she had not received it.

Cambodian-Canadian man shot dead by Ontario's Hamilton police

Apr 9, 2007
Why did police have to kill? slain man's family asks

By DANA BORCEA and WADE HEMSWORTH
The Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)

Family and friends of a man shot dead minutes after he attacked a pool hall operator with a hatchet say Hamilton police should not have killed him.

Soun Saing, 46, was shot outside M&J Billiards and Video on Parkdale Avenue North during an early morning confrontation with police on Good Friday.

"Why did they have to shoot him to die? Why didn't they shoot him in the hand?" asked his brother-in-law Sam Oeur. "I'm not angry with police but it is not fair."

Oeur's frustration over Saing's death was echoed by other relatives and friends still reeling from the loss of the father of two described as a quiet and religious man who moved to Canada as a refugee from Cambodia in the late 1980s.

Six officers confronted Saing early Friday morning. Two shot and killed him. Neither the province's Special Investigations Unit, nor city police will discuss the investigation.

Hamilton police Chief Brian Mullan would not comment on whether the shooting -- the first fatal shooting by city police in more than two decades--was warranted.

"That's one of the things that the SIU investigation will determine," he said. "That's exactly why they're called."

He said that as long as the SIU is investigating, he is not permitted to discuss the shooting at all and that he has not spoken to the officers involved, since he is not permitted to do so under provincial law.

SIU spokesperson Rose Bliss said the unit, which investigates all deaths and serious injuries involving police, is still in its fact-finding stage.

dborcea@thespec.com
905-526-3214

whemsworth@thespec.com
905-526-3254

Killer-cop still at large

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

By KS
Cambodge Soir
Translated from French by Tola Ek

The police officer who shot and killed a 27-year-old woman on Sunday evening, during a raid against the illegal trade of M’reah Prov tree oil is still at large. Pen Sarath, the deputy prosecutor of the Pursat provincial court said yesterday that he has not charged the man since he did not receive yet a written police report. “The police commissioner only gave me a verbal report by phone, so I cannot bring charge,” he explained.

According to the Pursat police commissioner, the police officer who belongs to a unit for the protection of the Cardamom mountain chain, was patrolling with three other officers when they decided to follow 2 cars with 3 passengers transporting 1,400 kilos of M’reah Prov tree oil, a tree extract used in cosmetic and in making ecstasy pills. The officers lost track of the cars at one point as the cars they chased drove into the forest, and finally they found the car again and made the arrest. “One of the car drivers took off, but the officers arrested the other driver. One of the officers opened fire in the direction of the driver’s wife, hit her and she died on the spot,” the commissioner reported based on eyewitnesses report. To the observers of human rights groups, this action constitutes “a severe violation of the citizen’s rights.” “We want to know under which circumstances, the police officer made use of his weapons. Even though he is a police officer, he is now a criminal, and he must be arrested,” said Chan Saveth, an investigator of the Adhoc NGO.