Cambodian Government Reaction to Amnesty International's Statement

Legal eviction? Eviction in Spean Chhes, Sihanoukville (Photo: Licadho)

No coercion? More than 1000 military cops move in to evict the Sambok Chap squatters (AFP)

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
15 February 2008

Cambodian government Thursday denied the accusations in a recent report by the Amnesty International (AI) that the government practiced massive forced evictions.

In a two-page statement, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected AI’s report saying that it is an attempt to distort the situation in Cambodia.

The rights organization was quoted as saying the authority used equipments to destroy homes, leading to people's homelessness. Many residents in Phnom Penh have been displaced and gathered to live in the outskirt of the city in the name of development.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that there are no such things as illegal displacement and coercion.

Photos from a resettlement village: Hun Sen's regime denied illegal evictions of these poor people as AI claims

A Cambodian boy transports a metal barrel containing water through the resettlement village for people who were evicted from a slum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Cambodia's government denied Thursday, Feb. 14, 2007 that it illegally evicts poor people from their land, accusing an international human rights group of concocting the allegation to get publicity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian motorcycle taxi driver goes past a small shrine at the resettlement village for people who were evicted from a slum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Cambodia's government denied Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 that it illegally evicts poor people from their land, accusing an international human rights group of concocting the allegation to get publicity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian girls look out of their home at the resettlement village for people who were evicted from a slum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Cambodia's government denied Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 that it illegally evicts poor people from their land, accusing an international human rights group of concocting the allegation to get publicity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian woman carries a saw as she walks in the resettlement village for people who were evicted from a slum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Cambodia's government denied Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 that it illegally evicts poor people from their land, accusing an international human rights group of concocting the allegation to get publicity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A family sits behind a water jar, foreground, in their home at the resettlement village for people who were evicted from a slum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Cambodia's government denied Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 that it illegally evicts poor people from their land, accusing an international human rights group of concocting the allegation to get publicity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A baby sleeps in a hammock at the resettlement village for people who were evicted from a slum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Cambodia's government denied Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 that it illegally evicts poor people from their land, accusing an international human rights group of concocting the allegation to get publicity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Hun Sen's gov't on AI accusation of illegal forced land eviction: Deny! Deny! Deny! [-Will Hor Nam Bora call for a regime change at AI also?]

2008-02-14

Cambodian government disputes human rights group's charges of illegal forced evictions

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia's government denied Thursday that it illegally evicts poor people from their land, accusing an international human rights group of concocting the allegation to get publicity.

London-based Amnesty International has tried «to manipulate facts, exaggerate the situation and invent reality in Cambodia» in making such allegations, the Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement called the allegations deplorable and accused Amnesty of trying «to make sound bites and grab headlines in the news without due regard for truth and reality in the country.

On Monday, Amnesty released a report titled «Rights Razed - Forced evictions in Cambodia» that examined cases of land and housing rights violations that have affected poor Cambodians in both rural and urban areas in recent years.

It said at least 150,000 Cambodians across the country now live at risk of being forcibly evicted due to land disputes, land-grabbing and commercial development projects.

Catherine Baber, director of the group's Asia-Pacific Program, accused the Cambodian authorities of failing to protect people's rights and being «instrumental in demolishing villages, setting homes ablaze and making poor people homeless without due process and at the behest of those who wield economic and political power.

The victims, Amnesty said, have been ejected from their homes and land with little or no advance notice, no access to adequate alternative housing and no recourse to justice.

The evictions are in «sharp contrast to the rhetoric of the government's pro-poor policies and in breach of international human rights laws and standards,» Amnesty said.

The Foreign Ministry said the government, in trying to establish public and social order, has to remove illegal occupants from state land.

The authorities have always given those evicted «advance notice with a spirit of great tolerance,» the ministry said, adding that «there is absolutely no unlawful and forcible evictions in Cambodia.

Political Cartoon: Xmer Law

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

Khieu Kanharith dismisses AI findings: "Maybe Amnesty International doesn’t know Cambodian law" -sic!-

At least 40 were injured during the eviction in Kbal Spean, near Poipet, including 14 seriously, and 30 villagers were arrested. (Photo: Licadho)

Rights Group Seeks to Stop Forced Evictions

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
11 February 2008

Click here to listen to Chun Sakada reports in Khmer

The international rights group Amnesty International called on the government Monday to end forced evictions.

The displacement from people from land claimed by government officials or businesses is causing thousands to suffer, the group said, citing dozens of cases.

Speaking from the disputed Dey Krahorm neighborhood of Phnom Penh, Brittis Edman, a researcher for Amnesty International, called on the government to cease forced evictions until better laws are in place to guarantee property protection.

At least 150,000 people have been affected by forced displacement, she said, adding that the government has an obligation under international law to protect populations from such removal.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith dismissed the group’s findings.

“Maybe Amnesty International doesn’t know Cambodian law,” Khieu Kanharith said. “If you only talk jokingly like this it could destroy your reputation.”

Sam Ny, a 33-year-old resident of Dey Krahorm, an area where many families are facing eviction, said companies who want the land should buy it at a fair market price.

“We only want appropriate compensation for us to move from this land,” he said. “And then we won’t be against them anymore.”

Forced evictions in the area have lead to the razing of 80 homes and clashes between police and residents. Thirteen people have been arrested a result.

Forced evictions in Cambodia: homes razed, lives in ruins

Villagers arrested after the eviction (Photo: Licadho)
For a month, tenants stayed in temporary shelters amidst the rubble. (Photo: Licadho)
After a year at the resettlement site, lack of basic services prevailed.(Photo: Amnesty International)

Click here to read the full PDF report
(Right click on the link above to down load the report)

11 February 2008
Amnesty International

Amnesty International report published today reveals horrors faced by thousands

'I lost my house, rice and belongings like clothes and utensils. All houses were burned down and destroyed by the excavator and the bulldozer. They kept good-condition corrugated steel and planks of wood for themselves. They even took water jars and looted our chickens and ducks. They never came to evict us like this before.'

A villager in Sihanoukville, who lost her home on 20 April 2007.

A new Amnesty International report published today reveals the devastating effect forced evictions are having on Cambodians in both rural and urban areas.

The report, entitled Rights Razed - Forced evictions in Cambodia, reveals that at least 150,000 Cambodians across the country are known to live at risk of being forcibly evicted in the wake of land disputes, land grabbing and development projects.

Those actions are in sharp contrast to the rhetoric of the government's poverty reduction policies and in breach of international human rights laws and standards.

The Cambodian authorities are not only failing to protect - in law and practice - the population against forced evictions, but are actively involved in these unlawful practices.

Catherine Baber, Director of Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Programme, said:

'The authorities have been instrumental in demolishing villages, setting homes ablaze and making poor people homeless without due process and at the behest of those who wield economic and political power.

'It is clear that relevant laws are seldom and arbitrarily applied, and the authorities have not protected the human rights of people affected by forced evictions.'

Rights Razed shows how affected groups have had no opportunity for genuine consultation before eviction, received little or no information on planned evictions, and had no access to adequate alternative housing. In addition, they have been left with no recourse to justice. The cases presented in the report also show how, contrary to international human rights law, the authorities have opted for eviction long before all other alternatives have been explored.

Catherine Baber said:

'Unless the Cambodian government takes immediate and effective steps to ensure that its population, particularly those living in poverty, is protected against forced evictions, its poverty reduction agenda rings hollow. Cambodia urgently needs to end all forced evictions.'

Amnesty International calls on the Cambodian government to:

• End all forced evictions and introduce a moratorium for all mass evictions until legislation and policy is put into place that requires any further evictions to be conducted in full compliance with international human rights laws and standards.
• Ensure that those victimised by forced evictions have access to, at the very least, minimum essential levels of shelter, clean water, sanitation, health services and education, including through the provision of humanitarian assistance where necessary.
• Abide by its obligations under international human right law to give those affected by eviction an opportunity for genuine participation and consultation.

Background:

• A forced eviction is 'the permanent or temporary removal against the will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection,' according to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Forced evictions have been recognized by the UN Commission on Human Rights as a gross violation of human rights, and are also - as in the cases presented here - associated with other human rights violations.
• As a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and other international human rights treaties which prohibit forced eviction and related human rights violations, Cambodia has an obligation to stop forced evictions and to protect the population from forced evictions.

Cambodia: Rights razed: Forced evictions in Cambodia

Homes set ablaze during forced eviction at Mittapheap 4 village, Cambodia, 20 April 2007 (Photo: Licadho)

11 February 2008
Amnesty International

"Before, we did some farming… I was able to feed my seven children. Now there is nothing."

"Vireak" and his seven children became homeless on 20 April 2007. That day, most of the village of Mittapheap 4 in the coastal town of Sihanoukville in Cambodia was burned to the ground by law enforcement and military officers, forcibly evicting more than 100 families. Months later, Vireak still lives under a tarpaulin on the roadside.

Vireak's situation is mirrored countless times across the country as land grabs, landlessness, and disputes spread further and faster. Like thousands of other victims of forced eviction in Cambodia, Vireak and his neighbours were never consulted before the eviction and were given no formal notice.

The underlying land dispute was not settled before the village was demolished. International human rights standards say that forced eviction must be a measure of last resort. The authorities violated this.

The Cambodian authorities follow a pattern of behaviour, using the court system as a means to stop and silence activists seeking to defend their homes and lands. A growing number of residents and human rights activists are imprisoned across the country, including in Sihanoukville.

Following the loss of their homes, 13 of Vireak’s neighbours were arrested and charged with criminal offences. Nine were found guilty and sentenced to short prison terms, despite a lack of evidence. Although they have served their term, they have not been released but remain in prison in what constitutes arbitrary detention, pending the hearing of a prosecution appeal.

Most of the Mittapheap 4 villagers were subsistence farmers, beach vendors and small-scale fishermen. The loss of access to a means of supporting themselves and their families means that they risk sinking still further into already entrenched poverty.

Sopheap, an elderly widow, told Amnesty International: “My son was arrested and beaten up while he was collecting belongings from the house. Before, he went fishing and farming. Now who can I rely on?”

The Cambodian government has adopted policies, supported by its international donors, aimed at developing and improving the lives of the poor. But such policies are in stark contrast to the realities experienced by Vireak, Sopheap and other victims of forced evictions, who sink deeper into poverty through the actions of the authorities.

As seen in Mittapheap 4, instead of protecting the population against forced evictions, government representatives are often involved in arbitrarily expropriating land from marginalized people living in poverty.

As long as this situation is allowed to continue, thousands of Cambodians will remain under threat – not only in Sihanoukville and other urban centres, but increasingly in rural areas also. Forced evictions are recognized by the UN as a gross violation of human rights.

A declared end to all forced evictions would send a clear signal that the government is intent on tackling land grabbing, landlessness and land disputes, while upholding its obligation to protect the right to an adequate standard of living as a foundation for its intention to develop the lives of Cambodia’s poor.

Names of individuals have been changed.

Cambodia urged to stop evictions

Residents are being moved to new sites a long way from the centre

Monday, 11 February 2008
By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Phnom Penh

"There's no need for evictions to take place in order to develop" - Brittis Edman, Amnesty International

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has called for an end to forced evictions in Cambodia.

Thousands of families have already been moved from their homes in the centre of the capital Phnom Penh, and more evictions are set to follow.

The authorities say this is a necessary part of Cambodia's development.

But in its report Amnesty disputes this, and says there has been a lack of accountability and consultation with local communities.

Members of threatened communities from across Phnom Penh are fighting on, although their homes may soon be reduced to rubble.

They have held a series of meetings to express solidarity and plead for help from outsiders.

The site of the latest gathering illustrates the size of the challenge they are facing.

'Legal title'

Dey Krahom was once a vibrant slum community. Now there are empty spaces where some residents have given up and abandoned their homes.

The gaps are filled with rubble, razor wire and garbage. Bulldozers belonging to the property developers park nearby.

Many residents say they hold legal title to their land and that threats and intimidation are being used to force them to leave.

Brittis Edman from Amnesty International says developers should adopt a cooperative approach instead.

"There should be discussions with the communities before an eviction is decided and the best option would obviously be to develop while the community is here, and develop the community as it is."

But that seems unlikely to happen. The Phnom Penh authorities have said they are committed to developing the city in partnership with private companies.

So far, that has meant relocating residents to sites that are in most cases a long way from the city centre, while developers build high-end housing and shops.

Faces of those who were illegally evicted by Hun Sen's regime

Brittis Edman, left, researcher for Amnesty International in Southeast Asia, talks to villagers at a slum area in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Feb. 11, 2008. The Cambodian government is actively involved in the unlawful and forcible evictions of thousands of poor people whose land is taken for commercial development, Amnesty International alleged Monday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Brittis Edman, left, researcher for Amnesty International in Southeast Asia, talks to the villagers at a slum area in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Feb. 11, 2008. The Cambodian government is actively involved in the unlawful and forcible evictions of thousands of poor people whose land is taken for commercial development, Amnesty International alleged Monday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Brittis Edman, left, researcher for Amnesty International in Southeast Asia, talks to a villager during her tours to a slum area in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Feb. 11, 2008. The Cambodian government is actively involved in the unlawful and forcible evictions of thousands of poor people whose land is taken for commercial development, Amnesty International alleged Monday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians threatened with eviction: Amnesty

Scavengers atop a sprawling, 100-acre garbage dump in Phnom Penh. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians are threatened with forced eviction as the government ramps up development in the country's cities, the human rights group Amnesty International said Monday

Monday • February 11, 2008
AFP

Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians are threatened with forced eviction as the government ramps up development in the country's cities, the human rights group Amnesty International said Monday.

"In sharp contrast to the rhetoric of the government's pro-poor policies ... thousands of people, particularly those living in poverty, have been forcibly evicted from their homes and lands," the group said.

"At least 150,000 Cambodians across the country are known to live at risk of being forcibly evicted," Amnesty added at the launch of its new report, "Rights Razed -- Forced evictions in Cambodia."

As Cambodia experiences spiralling land prices -- the result of unprecedented economic growth -- the country's poor are being increasingly pushed aside to make way for multi-million-dollar development schemes.

In the capital Phnom Penh and other urban centres, this has resulted in thousands of families being made homeless, or forced to move to squalid relocation sites outside the cities.

Amnesty called these evictions "one of the most widespread human rights violations affecting Cambodians in both rural and urban areas."

Land disputes have sparked some of the worst violence suffered by Cambodia since the end of its protracted civil war a decade ago.

At least two people were seriously injured in clashes over land late last month as workers for a development company squared off with villagers in a Phnom Penh slum that is slated for demolition.

Late last year, at least one person was killed and a foreign tourist taken hostage for several hours during an ongoing property dispute in northern Cambodia.

The United Nations has repeatedly raised the alarm over rising land disputes, with several rights envoys warning that these could de-stabilise the country.