Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the Municipality of Phnom Penh continues to implement its so-called city development and beautification plan with its intention to yet again forcibly evict 146 families living in Group 78, Village 14, Tonle Bassac commune, Chamcar Mon district, near the centre of Phnom Penh and next to Bird’s Nest village whose inhabitants had been forcibly evicted last May. Those families have been offered each a sum of USD 500 and a five by two metre plot of land on the outskirts, 20 kilometers away from Phnom Penh, to rebuild their houses in a relocation area where roads, public utility infrastructure and educational and health care facilities have yet to be built.
The authorities have issued the eviction order without recourse to any due process of law and without offering any fair and just compensation. Those families have resisted the eviction owing to the fact that they are lawful owners of the land with certificates of ownership duly issued by the Municipal Cadastral Office in 1992 and because that they do not want to move elsewhere. Say Sophal, their representative, said that they had been living in the area for more than 20 years and stated, we are so poor that we are not allowed to live next to the rich, referring to the surroundings which are owned by companies, one of which is a casino.
The compensation offered is pitiful and is not fair or just when land in the same area could fetch up to USD 700 per square metre while the land offered in exchange costs a mere fraction of this price. The families would be prepared to leave on the condition that they were offered compensation of USD 700 to USD 1,500 per square metre of their land. However, Prum Samkhan, Deputy District Governor, said that the authorities could not afford to meet their demand. He played down this demand by claiming that they do not have any title deed recognised by the Ministry, meaning the Ministry of Land Management, although their land has been legally recognised by the local authorities.
The AHRC challenges Prum Samkhan’s claim of their lack of title deeds to justify their eviction. The Ministry of Land Management was not created until 1998 and the procedure on title deeds was not properly put in place until after the enactment of a land law in 2001. Before that, the recognition of ownership by local authorities was the title deed itself. Even today such recognition is still valid. The AHRC has also learned that, because of ignorance and costs of application for title deeds, and delay in cadastral work, many lawful owners of land, especially the poor, have not applied for such title deeds and therefore do not have any.
The use of state power to evict those lawful owners without any recourse to the due process of law and without fair and just compensation acceptable to them is tantamount to nothing short of a plunder of their land with far reaching consequences. It would gravely pervert the rule of law and grossly violate the right of those people as guaranteed and protected by article 44 on confiscation of land for public interest of the Cambodian constitution. It would also increase the insecurity of land tenure which has already been seriously affected as a result of widespread land grabbing and forcible evictions during recent years. This would further affect social stability and the reputation and development of Cambodia.
The AHRC urges the Cambodian government and the Municipality of Phnom Penh to immediately stop the eviction of the 146 lawful owners without fair and just compensation for them.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities in Cambodia seeking their intervention in ensuring that the 146 lawful land owners are not forcibly evicted from their land.
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To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ______________,
CAMBODIA: Authorities use state power to plunder lawfully owned land
I write with much frustration at the news that yet more people are to be forcibly evicted from their land in Cambodia. I have learned that the Municipality of Phnom Penh continues to implement its so-called city development and beautification plan with its intention to forcibly evict 146 families living in Group 78, Village 14, Tonle Bassac commune, Chamcar Mon district, near the centre of Phnom Penh and next to Bird’s Nest village whose inhabitants had been forcibly evicted last May. Though I am aware that the families have been offered financial compensation and alternative plots of land, I also know that the amount offered is far less than what their land is worth and that the new location is 20 kilometres aware from Phom Penh and currently has no roads, public utility infrastructure or educational and health care facilities. I question any authority if they truly believe that this is a fair and just arrangement for those being displaced.
The authorities have issued the eviction order without recourse to any due process of law. The families have resisted the eviction owing to the fact that they are lawful owners of the land with certificates of ownership duly issued by the Municipal Cadastral Office in 1992 and given that they do not want to move elsewhere.
I challenge the Deputy District Governor, Prum Samkhan’s claim that the evictees do no have any title deeds recognised by the Ministry. The Ministry of Land Management was not created until 1998 and the procedure on title deeds was not properly put in place until after the enactment of a land law in 2001. Before that, the recognition of ownership by local authorities was the title deed itself. Even today such recognition is still valid. I have also learned that, because of ignorance and costs of application for title deeds, and delay in cadastral work, many lawful owners of land, especially the poor, have not applied for such title deeds and therefore do not have any.
The use of state power to evict the lawful owners without any recourse to the due process of law and without fair and just compensation acceptable to them is tantamount to nothing short of a plunder of their land with far reaching consequences. It would gravely pervert the rule of law and grossly violate the right of those people as guaranteed and protected by article 44 on confiscation of land for public interest of the Cambodian constitution. It would also increase the insecurity of land tenure which has already been seriously affected as a result of widespread land grabbing and forcible evictions during recent years. This would further affect social stability and the reputation and development of Cambodia.
With this in mind, I urge the Cambodian government and the Municipality of Phnom Penh to immediately stop the eviction of the 146 lawful owners of this land unless and until the time that appropriate compensation and alternative land is provided and the families are willing to leave.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Samdech Hun Sen
Prime Minister
Office of the Council of Ministers
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: + 855 23 426 054
2. H.E.Mr. Sar Kheng
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Interior
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
3. Mr. Ang Vong Vathna
Minster of Justice
No 240, Sothearos Blvd.
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: + 855 23 364119
4. H.E.Mr. Svay Sitha
Secretary-General
National Authority for Resolution of Land Disputes
Council of Ministers
Royal Government of Cambodia
Address: #41, Str Confederation de la Russie
Tel: +85512 970 608
Fax: +85523 881 045
E-mail: pressocm@pressocm.gov.kh
5. H.E. Sok An
Deputy Prime Minister
Office of the Council of Ministers
Fax: + 855 23 880624
E-mail: ocm@cambodia.gov.kh
6. Mr. Douglas Gardner
UNDP Resident Representative in Cambodia
53, Pasteur Street
Boeung Keng Kang
P.O. Box 877
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: + 855 23 216 257
E-mail: douglas.gardner@undp.org
7. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Cambodia
N° 10, Street 302
Sangkat Boeng Keng Kang I
Khan Chamcar Mon
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 23 987 671 / 987 672, 993 590 / 993 591 or +855 23 216 342
Fax: +855 23 212 579, 213 587
Email: cohchr@online.com.kh
8. Prof. Yash Ghai
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 91 79214
Fax: +41 22 91 79018 (ATTENTION: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE CAMBODIA)
9. Mr. Miloon Kothari
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9265
Fax: +41 22 917 9010 (ATTENTION: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ADEQUATE HOUSING)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
