A view of the shooting location, Inset: the victim of shooting (Photo: Ta Som)20 March 2008
By Sok Serey Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
A villager was seriously injured: both of his hands were broken, and his calf was pierced after he sustained several shots from guards protecting the land allegedly belonging to the Thai Bun Rong Company in Sihanoukville. Four other villagers were also arrested stemming from the dispute over 13-hectare of land in Sihanoukville on Thursday.
Hieng Sophon, the younger sister of Vat Kiet, the shooting victim, told RFA over the phone from the incident location, about Thursday’s violence: “They shot him 4 times in his arms which were broken off. They arrested many people, you can’t count them all, they shoved them inside a car…”
A source indicated that the violence erupted among 125 Cambodian families stemming from a dispute over 13-hectare of land with the Thai Bun Rong Company, near the 7-story hotel in Sihanoukville. This dispute lasted many years already.
An anonymous police inspector from Sihnaoukville who is in charge of resolving this land dispute, told RFA that his police force did not receive any order to use violence to resolve the land dispute. He believes that the dispute erupted between the security guards working for the Thai Bun Rong Company, and the villagers: “It was not (my officers), they were other military police standing guard there because there are a lot of problems in that location. Let me call the city military police unit first.”
Chan Chamroeun, an investigator for the human rights organization Adhoc in Sihanoukville, said that the villagers were only protecting their lands, but they sustained the violent attack instead.
Chan Chamroeun said: “This case is a severe violation of human rights because the villagers do not have any weapon to fight back. Here they are only protecting their lands, and the armed military police used their weapons to shoot at the villagers. This is a case of human rights violation.”
A source indicated that a large number of people was arrested by the authority, and the victim of the shooting is still in serious condition.
Land dispute violence is erupting at a time when Prof. Yash Ghai, the UN Special Envoy on Human Rights in Cambodia, issued a 25-page report criticizing the serious human rights violation in Cambodia, as well as the land-grabbing by private companies and influential powerful people in Cambodia.
Hieng Sophon, the younger sister of Vat Kiet, the shooting victim, told RFA over the phone from the incident location, about Thursday’s violence: “They shot him 4 times in his arms which were broken off. They arrested many people, you can’t count them all, they shoved them inside a car…”
A source indicated that the violence erupted among 125 Cambodian families stemming from a dispute over 13-hectare of land with the Thai Bun Rong Company, near the 7-story hotel in Sihanoukville. This dispute lasted many years already.
An anonymous police inspector from Sihnaoukville who is in charge of resolving this land dispute, told RFA that his police force did not receive any order to use violence to resolve the land dispute. He believes that the dispute erupted between the security guards working for the Thai Bun Rong Company, and the villagers: “It was not (my officers), they were other military police standing guard there because there are a lot of problems in that location. Let me call the city military police unit first.”
Chan Chamroeun, an investigator for the human rights organization Adhoc in Sihanoukville, said that the villagers were only protecting their lands, but they sustained the violent attack instead.
Chan Chamroeun said: “This case is a severe violation of human rights because the villagers do not have any weapon to fight back. Here they are only protecting their lands, and the armed military police used their weapons to shoot at the villagers. This is a case of human rights violation.”
A source indicated that a large number of people was arrested by the authority, and the victim of the shooting is still in serious condition.
Land dispute violence is erupting at a time when Prof. Yash Ghai, the UN Special Envoy on Human Rights in Cambodia, issued a 25-page report criticizing the serious human rights violation in Cambodia, as well as the land-grabbing by private companies and influential powerful people in Cambodia.
