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Showing posts with label Ethnic minority complain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethnic minority complain. Show all posts
Friday, August 13, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Angry messages to the Family of the Thieves of the Nation
Report and Video by Uon Chhin, Radio Free Asia
Friday, May 28, 2010
Hydrodam Plans Stir Ratanakkiri Unease
A woman with her children in a small boat pass a flooded house in Cambodia. (Photo: AP)Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Ratanakkiri, Cambodia Thursday, 27 May 2010
“If they build dams, it’s not certain we would have electricity for use here. And if we do have electricity, we are not sure if we can afford to pay for the power supply.”Patt Paing has five hectares of land by the Sre Pok river. She has a small wooden house, and she raises pigs. The 55-year-old leads a quiet life here in Village Two, in Ratanakkiri’s Koun Mom district. But over the past three years, life has been more difficult.
That’s because of the floods.
“I don’t have enough rice to eat because of the floods for the past three years,” she told VOA Khmer in an interview last week. “In previous years, I could harvest more than 1,000 buckets or over 10 tons of rice per season.”
The floods were caused by water releases from dams upriver, she said.
“The consecutive floods caused by the dams have left me almost nothing to eat,” she said.
At least five more dams have been planned on the Sre Pok and its sister river, the Sesan, both of which run into the Mekong River. Those dams will follow the 2002 construction of a 720-megawatt dam at Yali Falls on the Sesan in Vietnam.
Villagers, who gathered for an annual celebration of the 3S Rivers Protection Network here last week, say they don’t want more dams, the flooding from which damage livestock and farmland.
“The existing dam in Vietnam has already severely affected our livelihoods, so what will it be like if more dams are to be built on these rivers on the Cambodian side?” asked Meas Samith, a representative of indigenous villagers on the Sre Pok.
“For generations, I have never heard that when a dam is built, an escalator is also set up for fish to travel on,” he said. “When a dam is built, there is no more fish migration.”
Villagers here say the dams and the power they generate are not worth the cost.
“Can the electricity be eaten?” asked Piev Chhin, a 65-year-old fisherman from the Brov ethnic minority. “We live along the river, so if our house gets flooded, what is the use of having electricity?”
“The electricity is of no importance for us,” added Dy Bopi, a 55-year-old farmer in Koun Mom district. “We would rather us batteries or paraffin lamps instead.”
However, officials say that if Cambodia is to grow its economy, it will need more than batteries and lamps. Only about 20 percent of the country’s homes have access to power, and most of those are in the capital. And electricity prices here remain high, while Cambodia purchases electricity from Vietnam and Thailand.
Ratanakirri Governor Pao Hamphan told reporters here last week the proposed dams were not confirmed and that villagers should not worry about them too much at the moment.
“It’s just the information, as no company has come to talk to us about them yet,” he said.
A vice governor of Koun Mom district, however, said the government would proceed with the dams if assessments showed more benefits than costs.
“We don’t build dams to kill people,” he said, addressing a crowd of villagers. “We build them for their benefit.”
If Cambodia does not build dams, other countries will, he said. “How can we alleviate people’s poverty if we just wait and buy electricity from other countries?”
Villagers said last week the government should consider methods other than dams if it needs electricity.
“If they build dams, it’s not certain we would have electricity for use here,” said Nen Sokei, an ethnic Tompuon villager. “And if we do have electricity, we are not sure if we can afford to pay for the power supply.”
Friday, March 19, 2010
Minorities Demand End to Land Concessions
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
18 March 2010
Original report from Phnom Penh
18 March 2010
Ethnic minorities from 15 provinces on Wednesday called on the government to suspend land concessions they say are hurting their communities and daily income.
The government has provided at least 1 million hectares of land in these provinces to concessions, according to Chhit Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum.
This has led to clashes between companies and residents and “human rights violations,” he said.
“We urge the royal government to suspend concessions that have caused an impact to ethnic minorities in 15 provinces,” said Ven Samin, a representative of the Suoy ethnic group in Kampong Speu province, as she sobbed in a press conference.
“The concession holder was not consulting with the local community, [and working] without the agreement of residents,” she said, as other representatives from the provinces of Kampong Thom, Mondulkiri and Rattanakkiri pointed to the impact on their traditional culture, especially forests where their ancestors are buried.
“Where there is investment, land and forest for wildlife will be lost,” Ven Samin said.
In February, ethnic representatives submitted a report to the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in which they said they were subject to violations and discrimination committed by Cambodian authorities and asked the UN to intervene.
On Thursday the UN committee issued a statement saying it was “particularly concerned about reports of the rapid granting of concessions on land traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples without full consideration or exhaustion of procedures provided for.”
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith, said developments in concessions were in the long-term interest of minority groups.
“Firstly we plan to preserve their cultures and keep their sacred places, and we already planned to allocate land for them,” he said.
Minority representatives say they want to be involved in concession decisions where their land is involved.
The government has provided at least 1 million hectares of land in these provinces to concessions, according to Chhit Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum.
This has led to clashes between companies and residents and “human rights violations,” he said.
“We urge the royal government to suspend concessions that have caused an impact to ethnic minorities in 15 provinces,” said Ven Samin, a representative of the Suoy ethnic group in Kampong Speu province, as she sobbed in a press conference.
“The concession holder was not consulting with the local community, [and working] without the agreement of residents,” she said, as other representatives from the provinces of Kampong Thom, Mondulkiri and Rattanakkiri pointed to the impact on their traditional culture, especially forests where their ancestors are buried.
“Where there is investment, land and forest for wildlife will be lost,” Ven Samin said.
In February, ethnic representatives submitted a report to the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in which they said they were subject to violations and discrimination committed by Cambodian authorities and asked the UN to intervene.
On Thursday the UN committee issued a statement saying it was “particularly concerned about reports of the rapid granting of concessions on land traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples without full consideration or exhaustion of procedures provided for.”
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith, said developments in concessions were in the long-term interest of minority groups.
“Firstly we plan to preserve their cultures and keep their sacred places, and we already planned to allocate land for them,” he said.
Minority representatives say they want to be involved in concession decisions where their land is involved.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Indigenous Cambodians call for land protection
March 18, 2010
ABC Radio Australia
ABC Radio Australia
Cambodia's indigenous community has called on the government to live up to its obligations under local and international law and protect their interests. Representatives of Cambodia's 17 ethnic groups are urging the government to suspend hundreds of concessions awarded to foreign and local companies they say are operating on their land. The call comes after a recent United Nations committee hearing submitted evidence about serious shortfalls in Phnom Penh's commitment to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Pheap Socheat, indigenous Bunong people representative; Chhit Sam Ath, executive director Cambodian NGO Forum; Graeme Brown, consultant, indigenous people's rights
CARMICHAEL: Representatives from four of Cambodia's indigenous communities said Wednesday the government must start protecting their interests, and stop carving up traditional lands into concessions for investors.
Cambodia's indigenous people are worried that their way of life, traditions and customs are being destroyed as investors get huge parcels of land in 99-year concessions with no consultation or compensation for those who have used the land for generations.
The representatives from four of the country's 20 or so tribal groups were in Phnom Penh Wednesday to give their thoughts on the findings of a United Nations committee that earlier this month examined Cambodia's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The UN committee found extensive problems with the government's award of land concessions affecting indigenous people, including corruption, impunity and widespread reports of intimidation against those who try to protest the loss of communal land.
The UN committee says "a proper balance" must be found between the country's development needs and the rights of its people. Economic development, it says, cannot come at the cost of the rights of the most vulnerable.
Pheap Socheat is a representative of the Bunong people from the north-eastern province of Mondolkiri. He explains that the lives, culture, tradition and religion of Cambodia's indigenous people are inextricably bound up with the land and natural resources.
The answer, he says, has been provided by some experts who believe that those traditions will die out. And the loss of land pushes the indigenous people further into poverty, contrary to donor-funded goals and the government's commitment to reduce widespread poverty.
For that reason alone the representatives stress that donors - which last year provided almost 1 billion US dollars to the government - must monitor Phnom Penh's compliance on the issue.
Graeme Brown is an independent consultant on the rights of indigenous people. He says the problem of land loss has reached crisis point with vast tracts given over to concessions for agriculture and mining as well as hydropower projects.
CARMICHAEL: Asked what can be done about it, Brown says the answer is straightforward.
BROWN: The solution in actual fact is really quite simple. It's like the indigenous people say: Implement the laws - there is no shortage of laws in Cambodia to rectify the problem. Then we have to examine deeper why the laws aren't being implemented, and people have to be held to account for that. So: who is supporting who, and what's not being done need to be asked.
CARMICHAEL: Chhit Sam Ath heads the civil society grouping called NGO Forum, and says at least 1 million hectares of economic land concessions have been granted so far.
He says indigenous people should be given traditional rights to forests - which they have used for generations as a source of food, medicine and for cultural purposes.
Chhit Sam Ath says the irony of land registration in Cambodia is that investors are able to get huge economic concessions with ease, but indigenous communities have as yet been unable to register even a single parcel of communal land.
CHIT SAM ATH: As we already repeated again and again, the indigenous people's land has not been registered and the land concessions have been given almost on a daily basis. And the land registration is so, so, so slow that as of now there is not one piece of land registered yet. And when the land has been granted as a concession how can we register the land because there is no land to be registered?
CARMICHAEL: Dam Chanthy, a woman from the indigenous Tampuon tribe from Ratanakkiri in north-eastern Cambodia, says that if the government is serious about preserving the identity and traditions of the indigenous people, then it must start to pay attention to what they need too.
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Pheap Socheat, indigenous Bunong people representative; Chhit Sam Ath, executive director Cambodian NGO Forum; Graeme Brown, consultant, indigenous people's rights
CARMICHAEL: Representatives from four of Cambodia's indigenous communities said Wednesday the government must start protecting their interests, and stop carving up traditional lands into concessions for investors.
Cambodia's indigenous people are worried that their way of life, traditions and customs are being destroyed as investors get huge parcels of land in 99-year concessions with no consultation or compensation for those who have used the land for generations.
The representatives from four of the country's 20 or so tribal groups were in Phnom Penh Wednesday to give their thoughts on the findings of a United Nations committee that earlier this month examined Cambodia's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The UN committee found extensive problems with the government's award of land concessions affecting indigenous people, including corruption, impunity and widespread reports of intimidation against those who try to protest the loss of communal land.
The UN committee says "a proper balance" must be found between the country's development needs and the rights of its people. Economic development, it says, cannot come at the cost of the rights of the most vulnerable.
Pheap Socheat is a representative of the Bunong people from the north-eastern province of Mondolkiri. He explains that the lives, culture, tradition and religion of Cambodia's indigenous people are inextricably bound up with the land and natural resources.
The answer, he says, has been provided by some experts who believe that those traditions will die out. And the loss of land pushes the indigenous people further into poverty, contrary to donor-funded goals and the government's commitment to reduce widespread poverty.
For that reason alone the representatives stress that donors - which last year provided almost 1 billion US dollars to the government - must monitor Phnom Penh's compliance on the issue.
Graeme Brown is an independent consultant on the rights of indigenous people. He says the problem of land loss has reached crisis point with vast tracts given over to concessions for agriculture and mining as well as hydropower projects.
CARMICHAEL: Asked what can be done about it, Brown says the answer is straightforward.
BROWN: The solution in actual fact is really quite simple. It's like the indigenous people say: Implement the laws - there is no shortage of laws in Cambodia to rectify the problem. Then we have to examine deeper why the laws aren't being implemented, and people have to be held to account for that. So: who is supporting who, and what's not being done need to be asked.
CARMICHAEL: Chhit Sam Ath heads the civil society grouping called NGO Forum, and says at least 1 million hectares of economic land concessions have been granted so far.
He says indigenous people should be given traditional rights to forests - which they have used for generations as a source of food, medicine and for cultural purposes.
Chhit Sam Ath says the irony of land registration in Cambodia is that investors are able to get huge economic concessions with ease, but indigenous communities have as yet been unable to register even a single parcel of communal land.
CHIT SAM ATH: As we already repeated again and again, the indigenous people's land has not been registered and the land concessions have been given almost on a daily basis. And the land registration is so, so, so slow that as of now there is not one piece of land registered yet. And when the land has been granted as a concession how can we register the land because there is no land to be registered?
CARMICHAEL: Dam Chanthy, a woman from the indigenous Tampuon tribe from Ratanakkiri in north-eastern Cambodia, says that if the government is serious about preserving the identity and traditions of the indigenous people, then it must start to pay attention to what they need too.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Indigenous Cambodians decry foreign land concessions
By Prak Chan Thul
PHNOM PENH, March 17 (Reuters) - Indigenous Cambodians on Wednesday urged the government to suspend hundreds of concessions awarded to foreign and local companies they say are operating on disputed land.
Representatives of Cambodia's 17 ethnic groups said the government had not consulted local communities or given fair compensation before approving large concessions to companies to grow rubber, run mines and build hydroelectric dams.
"I ask the government to suspend the concessions in all 15 provinces and cities," said villager Ven Samin, who is embroiled in a dispute over land leased by Chinese firms in Kompong Speu province, 48 km (30 miles) outside Phnom Penh.
"The Chinese concession was agreed without consultation or approval with and from local communities. It has seriously affected indigenous people," she added.
In a bid to attract foreign investment to improve its fledgling economy, the impoverished country has awarded big concessions to companies, mainly from China, Vietnam and South Korea, to run mines, power plants and farms.
Cambodia is relying on foreign help in modernising and expanding its agriculture, mining and energy sectors in the hope of creating jobs and boosting exports, especially of commodities like rice, rubber and sugar.
Rights groups and international donors have long complained that government officials have rode roughshod over people's rights, ordering mass evictions from farmland and prime urban real estate to lease to foreign companies.
Sao Vansey, executive director of Cambodia's Indigenous Community Support Organisation, called on foreign investors and donors to reconsider deals with the government.
"They should examine if their investments support equity, if they are appropriate to the local circumstance and if their activities to date are in respect of indigenous peoples' rights," Sao Vansey said.
Indigenous organisations in 15 Asian countries sent an open letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen complaining that concessions were awarded without the consent of local people.
The government has approved nearly 100 mining deals throughout the country, many intruding on land occupied by indigenous groups, according to a report submitted by the Indigenous People NGO Network to the United Nations.
Another Cambodian non-governmental organisation, Forum on Cambodia, said one million hectares of disputed land had been made available for local and foreign companies.
"Their land is being grabbed by these companies, the powerful and investors," said the group's executive director, Chhit Sam Ath. "The violations of indigenous peoples' rights are serious."
(Editing by Martin Petty)
Representatives of Cambodia's 17 ethnic groups said the government had not consulted local communities or given fair compensation before approving large concessions to companies to grow rubber, run mines and build hydroelectric dams.
"I ask the government to suspend the concessions in all 15 provinces and cities," said villager Ven Samin, who is embroiled in a dispute over land leased by Chinese firms in Kompong Speu province, 48 km (30 miles) outside Phnom Penh.
"The Chinese concession was agreed without consultation or approval with and from local communities. It has seriously affected indigenous people," she added.
In a bid to attract foreign investment to improve its fledgling economy, the impoverished country has awarded big concessions to companies, mainly from China, Vietnam and South Korea, to run mines, power plants and farms.
Cambodia is relying on foreign help in modernising and expanding its agriculture, mining and energy sectors in the hope of creating jobs and boosting exports, especially of commodities like rice, rubber and sugar.
Rights groups and international donors have long complained that government officials have rode roughshod over people's rights, ordering mass evictions from farmland and prime urban real estate to lease to foreign companies.
Sao Vansey, executive director of Cambodia's Indigenous Community Support Organisation, called on foreign investors and donors to reconsider deals with the government.
"They should examine if their investments support equity, if they are appropriate to the local circumstance and if their activities to date are in respect of indigenous peoples' rights," Sao Vansey said.
Indigenous organisations in 15 Asian countries sent an open letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen complaining that concessions were awarded without the consent of local people.
The government has approved nearly 100 mining deals throughout the country, many intruding on land occupied by indigenous groups, according to a report submitted by the Indigenous People NGO Network to the United Nations.
Another Cambodian non-governmental organisation, Forum on Cambodia, said one million hectares of disputed land had been made available for local and foreign companies.
"Their land is being grabbed by these companies, the powerful and investors," said the group's executive director, Chhit Sam Ath. "The violations of indigenous peoples' rights are serious."
(Editing by Martin Petty)
Indigenous people say way of life at risk from land development
Wed, 17 Mar 2010
DPA
DPA
Phnom Penh - Cambodia's indigenous communities warned Wednesday that their culture and customs risk disappearing as the government grants further land concessions to investors. Representatives from four indigenous communities called on the government to respect the rights to which it has committed itself under local and international law.
They added that foreign donors, who last year provided almost 1 billion dollars to the government, should monitor Phnom Penh's compliance with those obligations.
Pheap Sochea, a representative of the Bunong tribe in the north-eastern province of Mondolkiri, said indigenous peoples' lives, traditions, culture and religion are inextricably linked to the land and natural resources.
"If we don't have land, what will happen to our traditions, to our customs?" he asked at a press conference in Phnom Penh. "Some experts have found that a lot of tradition is going to become extinct."
The comments followed a meeting of the United Nation's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva this month, at which Cambodia's compliance with its obligations under the convention that created the committee was evaluated.
The committee concluded that Phnom Penh must do more to protect indigenous peoples' lands. It said the government must take measures to prevent the intimidation of those who protest the loss of communal lands and to prosecute those who intimidate.
Chhith Sam Ath, the head of the non-profit group Forum, a coalition of civil society groups, said the government typically makes land concessions without consultation and local people do not benefit.
"The key issue is economic land concessions, which affect land, forest, culture and burial grounds," he said at the press conference, where the representatives gave their feedback on the UN committee's meeting.
In its released remarks, the committee said "a proper balance" needs to be found between Cambodia's economic development needs and the rights of its more vulnerable people.
Dam Chanthy, from the Tampuon minority in the north-eastern province of Ratanakkiri, called on the government to ensure development projects protect the environment.
"If the government wants to preserve the identity and traditions of the indigenous people, then it must pay attention to protecting the environment because the environment is linked to the livelihoods of the indigenous people," she said.
Development without benefits, she said, would impoverish already poor communities, "so please pay attention to the indigenous people's communities before granting concessions."
The UN committee also called on Phnom Penh to delay issuing further land concessions in areas where indigenous people have applied for that land in their collective name.
Chhit Sam Ath said at least 1 million hectares have been granted in land concessions to commercial concerns whereas none have been registered for indigenous people because the system in operation for them was "so, so slow."
"And once the land has been granted as an economic land concession [for 99 years], how can we register the land because there is no more land to be registered?" he asked.
Graeme Brown, an independent consultant on the rights of indigenous people, said the problem has reached a crisis point with large tracts of land given over to land concessions, mining and hydropower projects.
"There are some areas such as Kratie and Stung Treng provinces where about 90 per cent of the whole province has been given away to industrial development," he said.
Solving the problem is urgent, he said, because all the indigenous people in Cambodia are under threat. The solution, he added, is simple: "Implement the laws - there is no shortage of laws in Cambodia to rectify the problem."
They added that foreign donors, who last year provided almost 1 billion dollars to the government, should monitor Phnom Penh's compliance with those obligations.
Pheap Sochea, a representative of the Bunong tribe in the north-eastern province of Mondolkiri, said indigenous peoples' lives, traditions, culture and religion are inextricably linked to the land and natural resources.
"If we don't have land, what will happen to our traditions, to our customs?" he asked at a press conference in Phnom Penh. "Some experts have found that a lot of tradition is going to become extinct."
The comments followed a meeting of the United Nation's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva this month, at which Cambodia's compliance with its obligations under the convention that created the committee was evaluated.
The committee concluded that Phnom Penh must do more to protect indigenous peoples' lands. It said the government must take measures to prevent the intimidation of those who protest the loss of communal lands and to prosecute those who intimidate.
Chhith Sam Ath, the head of the non-profit group Forum, a coalition of civil society groups, said the government typically makes land concessions without consultation and local people do not benefit.
"The key issue is economic land concessions, which affect land, forest, culture and burial grounds," he said at the press conference, where the representatives gave their feedback on the UN committee's meeting.
In its released remarks, the committee said "a proper balance" needs to be found between Cambodia's economic development needs and the rights of its more vulnerable people.
Dam Chanthy, from the Tampuon minority in the north-eastern province of Ratanakkiri, called on the government to ensure development projects protect the environment.
"If the government wants to preserve the identity and traditions of the indigenous people, then it must pay attention to protecting the environment because the environment is linked to the livelihoods of the indigenous people," she said.
Development without benefits, she said, would impoverish already poor communities, "so please pay attention to the indigenous people's communities before granting concessions."
The UN committee also called on Phnom Penh to delay issuing further land concessions in areas where indigenous people have applied for that land in their collective name.
Chhit Sam Ath said at least 1 million hectares have been granted in land concessions to commercial concerns whereas none have been registered for indigenous people because the system in operation for them was "so, so slow."
"And once the land has been granted as an economic land concession [for 99 years], how can we register the land because there is no more land to be registered?" he asked.
Graeme Brown, an independent consultant on the rights of indigenous people, said the problem has reached a crisis point with large tracts of land given over to land concessions, mining and hydropower projects.
"There are some areas such as Kratie and Stung Treng provinces where about 90 per cent of the whole province has been given away to industrial development," he said.
Solving the problem is urgent, he said, because all the indigenous people in Cambodia are under threat. The solution, he added, is simple: "Implement the laws - there is no shortage of laws in Cambodia to rectify the problem."
Friday, March 12, 2010
Development of the Indochinese Triangle under criticisms
Native people living in Cambodia east along the Indochinese Triangle zoneFriday 12 March 2010
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer
Please help support the Free Press Magazine Online by providing your donation
It has been almost 11 years since the Triangle Development zone (also known as the Indochinese Triangle) was initiated by the Khmer PM. This zone includes various regions where Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam meet, and the goal was to turn it into a special economic zone. As this zone is undergoing development as planned, it also attracts criticisms from human rights organizations, as well as from environmental protection groups.
For Cambodia, the Indochinese Triangle encompasses the province of Kratie, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri – provinces which are known to have fertile lands, filled with forest resources and are mainly populated by numerous ethnic minorities.
The Triangle development plan which was initiated since 1999 pushes investors, rich and powerful people alike to grab lands – including rice fields, plantations and sacred lands – from Cambodian ethnic minorities, even though such action is not condone by the Cambodian land law. Under this condition, Cambodian ethnic minorities became victims after losing their personal belongings, their community and traditional lands which they owned for several generations long. In all these cases, the government does not seem to provide any resolution to help protect the safety of the ethnic minorities as stipulated by the land law which was introduced by the government.
Nevertheless, on Thursday, officials from human rights groups indicated that the speed of the development is affecting both the communities involved and the environment. Crimé Bonne, a facilitator for the International Forest Community NGO, indicated that the development was conducted at a too fast pace and no thought was given to the rights of the ethnic minority people. He added: “These four provinces have the largest number of native people. Therefore, the developers should take into account this issue in their plan. We hope that the development plan will respect the human rights of the native people.”
In February a group of Cambodian ethnic minority people representing 20 groups participated in a meeting organized by the UN regarding the issues faced by native people. During that meeting, the group demanded that the Cambodian government immediately put an end to the violation of their rights.
For Cambodia, the Indochinese Triangle encompasses the province of Kratie, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri – provinces which are known to have fertile lands, filled with forest resources and are mainly populated by numerous ethnic minorities.
The Triangle development plan which was initiated since 1999 pushes investors, rich and powerful people alike to grab lands – including rice fields, plantations and sacred lands – from Cambodian ethnic minorities, even though such action is not condone by the Cambodian land law. Under this condition, Cambodian ethnic minorities became victims after losing their personal belongings, their community and traditional lands which they owned for several generations long. In all these cases, the government does not seem to provide any resolution to help protect the safety of the ethnic minorities as stipulated by the land law which was introduced by the government.
Nevertheless, on Thursday, officials from human rights groups indicated that the speed of the development is affecting both the communities involved and the environment. Crimé Bonne, a facilitator for the International Forest Community NGO, indicated that the development was conducted at a too fast pace and no thought was given to the rights of the ethnic minority people. He added: “These four provinces have the largest number of native people. Therefore, the developers should take into account this issue in their plan. We hope that the development plan will respect the human rights of the native people.”
In February a group of Cambodian ethnic minority people representing 20 groups participated in a meeting organized by the UN regarding the issues faced by native people. During that meeting, the group demanded that the Cambodian government immediately put an end to the violation of their rights.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Rattanakiri: Deputy Military Police commander grabbing community lands?
12 November 2007
By Ratha Visal
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
By Ratha Visal
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
About 300 ethnic minority families from Tin village, Kaun Mom district, Ratanakiri province, complained about Ros Vanna, the deputy commander of the district military police, for grabbing 28-hectare of lands belonging to the collective community and turning them into his private property so that he can plant rubber trees.
The protest by the ethnic villagers was made on Sunday 11 November 2007 through 8 village representatives who brought the complaint over to the office of Adhoc human rights organization, to ask for their intervention and protest to the authorities involved in order to provide justice for them.
Chum Sophal, one of the villagers’ representatives said: “Mr. Ros Vanna and the district governor borrowed this land for a one year period, but later on, we saw Ros Vanna building a fence and planting rubber trees, when we, the community representatives, went to ask him, he said that he didn’t borrow it from the community.”
Tou Chuon, one of the complainers, added: “He grabbed lands belonging to ethnic monitory people to plant rubber trees, he cleared the land, built a fence surrounding them. Would the government please help us, we are poor people.”
Sab Vong, Tin village chief, indicated that the villagers’ protest was not resolved by the authority even though the latter knows that the lands are the property of the collective community, and the district governor himself borrowed these lands to plant potatoes in 2005 also.
Sab Vong said: “We sent a report already, we sent complaints to the provincial governor, the district governor, they wouldn’t resolve the issue for us. This seems like they want to grab lands belonging to ethnic minority people.”
RFA could not get an answer yet about the accusations made against Ros Vanna, (the person answering his phone) claimed that he traveled to a faraway forest and he did not take a phone with him.
Chamoeung Phang, the Tin commune chief, indicated that the commune authority did not hear about and agree to the occupation of community lands by (Ros Vanna,) the deputy commander of the military police. He said that this is a violation.
Nou The, the Kaun Mom deputy district governor, said that the disputed lands were occupied by a forestry official once already, but he decided to return them back to the community after the latter protested just as it is doing now. He said that he is doing a research on the officials involved in the occupation of the community lands.
Nou The said: “I am asking the community to research from where they took (the land), who sold it to them … Right now, I am also preparing to do a search just in case this involves district officials and (military police) forces.
According to an Adhoc report from Ratanakiri province, this is the second time that the community complained about the violation and grabbing of the collective lands which are considered state properties. The ethnic community association calls for an immediate investigation into this case, and the confiscation of these lands back and leaving them to the care of ethnic minority people, according to their traditions.
The protest by the ethnic villagers was made on Sunday 11 November 2007 through 8 village representatives who brought the complaint over to the office of Adhoc human rights organization, to ask for their intervention and protest to the authorities involved in order to provide justice for them.
Chum Sophal, one of the villagers’ representatives said: “Mr. Ros Vanna and the district governor borrowed this land for a one year period, but later on, we saw Ros Vanna building a fence and planting rubber trees, when we, the community representatives, went to ask him, he said that he didn’t borrow it from the community.”
Tou Chuon, one of the complainers, added: “He grabbed lands belonging to ethnic monitory people to plant rubber trees, he cleared the land, built a fence surrounding them. Would the government please help us, we are poor people.”
Sab Vong, Tin village chief, indicated that the villagers’ protest was not resolved by the authority even though the latter knows that the lands are the property of the collective community, and the district governor himself borrowed these lands to plant potatoes in 2005 also.
Sab Vong said: “We sent a report already, we sent complaints to the provincial governor, the district governor, they wouldn’t resolve the issue for us. This seems like they want to grab lands belonging to ethnic minority people.”
RFA could not get an answer yet about the accusations made against Ros Vanna, (the person answering his phone) claimed that he traveled to a faraway forest and he did not take a phone with him.
Chamoeung Phang, the Tin commune chief, indicated that the commune authority did not hear about and agree to the occupation of community lands by (Ros Vanna,) the deputy commander of the military police. He said that this is a violation.
Nou The, the Kaun Mom deputy district governor, said that the disputed lands were occupied by a forestry official once already, but he decided to return them back to the community after the latter protested just as it is doing now. He said that he is doing a research on the officials involved in the occupation of the community lands.
Nou The said: “I am asking the community to research from where they took (the land), who sold it to them … Right now, I am also preparing to do a search just in case this involves district officials and (military police) forces.
According to an Adhoc report from Ratanakiri province, this is the second time that the community complained about the violation and grabbing of the collective lands which are considered state properties. The ethnic community association calls for an immediate investigation into this case, and the confiscation of these lands back and leaving them to the care of ethnic minority people, according to their traditions.
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