Cambodian hilltribes shouldn't just resort to levy mere fines, they should put voodoo curses on colluding high-ranking gov't officials also

Cambodian hilltribes turn to tradition to stop land rush

Mon, 21 Jan 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian hilltribe people will try self-policing and implement traditional fines in an effort to stop illegal land sales, a rights activist said Monday. Pen Bonnar of local human rights organization Adhoc confirmed local media reports that the Kreung ethnic minority of Rattanakiri province in the country's far north-east had turned to tradition to stop members of their community selling off land.

"They have to do something because people are selling off all their land even though it is illegal and they need it to grow crops," Bonnar said by telephone.

People found selling community land will now face fines of a jug of rice wine and a pig. Community leaders will have to forfeit a jug of wine and a cow. Cash fines would also be enforced, he said.

Land-grabbing and illegal sales of land are massive problems in Cambodia, which has only recently established a cadastral commission after 30 years of civil war. The Khmer Rouge regime wiped out ownership, and many people are uncertain which land is for the state, the community or themselves.

Remote ethnic minorities also sometimes fail to understand a cash economy, selling land without understanding they can no longer work on it after they receive the money.

Sam Rainsy meets and listens to victims of land grabbing in Ta Ches commune, Kampong Chhnang

17 January 2008: Villagers in Kampong Chhnang province (Ta Ches commune, Kampong Tralach district) met with MP Sam Rainsy to express their sufferings following violent evictions from their lands and the destruction of their homes on 9 January 2008.

Everyone wants development, but at what cost?

I wish to thank The Cambodia Daily for its full page story on the work of human rights defenders and the victims of land grabbing and forced evictions, in the article "Envoy Lambastes Government on International Human Rights Day" (Dec 11). Praise must be given to the UN human rights envoy Professor Yash Ghai for fulfilling his mission and for his tireless efforts to bring to light the grave violations committed by the Cambodian government in dealing with land issues and forced evictions—all in the name of development.

The failure of the government to meet with Professor Ghai shows its lack of responsibility as a signatory to UN conventions, in particular to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

CEDAW provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life—including the right to vote and to stand for election—as well as education, health and employment.

Among the principles covered in the CRC is the right to life, survival and development and the requirement to a child's best interests in all matters affecting them.

The government’s lack of policy and disregard for the Land Law, police brutality and corruption in the judiciary dealing with evictions are grave violations of our rights to be treated as human beings and destroy our children's hopes for a life free from fear and injustice.

Hundreds and thousands of our women, children and men continue to be victims of land grabbing and forced evictions because the city needs to be "beautified" or because the government is in need of land for development

I do not believe that our people are against development and progress, but the destruction of our children's hope for a better future and the damage to the well-being of their families is too high a price tag.

The governments win-win development policy benefits a few while victimizing and brutalizing too many.

Mu Sochua
Deputy Secretary-General,
Sam Rainsy Party