CAMBODIA: Police beat villagers appealing for Prime Minister’s intervention on land grabbing

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the victims of land grabbing who went to the residence of Prime Minister Hun Sen to submit their petitions seeking his intervention were beaten by the police guarding his residence. Six of the victims were injured during the incident.

CASE DETAILS: (According to information from the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO))

On the evening of May 29, 62 victims of land grabbing who had come from the village of O Voalpreng, Khnay Romeas commune, Bovel district, Battambang province arrived at the residence of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Upon arrival, they camped out along the roadside opposite the entrance of the large estate where the Prime Minister resides. His residence in located in Tuol Krasaing village, Kompong Samnanh commune, Takhmau district, Kandal province, some 15 kilometers from Phnom Penh City.

The following day, at around 7:30am, while they were waiting to enter the residence to hand over the petition they were carrying to the Prime Minister, some 20 police officers ordered them to move inside an enclosed plot of land to prevent them from being seen by the dignitaries who usually pass through the entrance when they visit the Prime Minister.

However, the petitioners defied the orders of the police. They attempted to reason with the police that they were there as a last resort to get the Prime Minister’s attention in the hopes that he would intervene in their plight. They explained to the officers that they had already made petitions to the provincial authorities, asking them to intervene into getting their lands back, but they had all failed. Thus, their presence there was to meet the Prime Minister in person to give him their petition.

However, the police refused to compromise with the demonstrators. They instead insisted on enforcing what their orders leading to a violent confrontation with the petitioners. A police officer used his portable radio set to beat six of the demonstrators injuring them about the head. Another police officer also attempted in grabbing and taking away a boy, Thom Reaksnei, who was also in the crowd. The protestors were able to rescue the boy when they wrestled with the police. Only at that time did a superior officer order his men to restrain from using violence on the crowd.

Those injured were Chim Sara, 45 years old; Chhuom Phalla, 38; Tuy Pov, 27; Horn Sophal, 37; Kim Heap, 36; and Soeuy Sin, 31 and they all received head wounds. Chim Sara’s injury was the most serious among them requiring medical attention. She was very bitter with the police violence as she had already been beaten previously in her village when the police evicted her and other villagers from their land.

After their confrontation with the police, the deputy director of the prime minister’s office, Lim Leang Se, called the representatives of the 62 petitioners and allowed them to finally hand over their petition. Lim had also made the pledge, which was written at the margin portion of the copy of their petition, that he would dispatch a team to conduct an investigation into the land grabbing by June.

After obtaining this promise, some of the 62 villagers returned home, but over 40 of them remained in Phnom Penh City to make sure that an investigation team would actually be dispatched.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The 62 petitioners were among some 200 land grabbing victims who had marched since May 23 from their province in Battambang towards the city of Phnom Penh, a distance of over 300 kilometers. While on their way, at the later stage of the march, some land grabbing victims from Banteay Meanchey provinces had also joined them for the purpose of bringing their grievances to the Prime Minister’s notice.

During part of the march, half of the marchers returned home when senior officials from the Ministry of Interior and officials from Battambang province had promised to settle their grievances in their favour. The rest, which includes the 62 petitioners who had reached the Prime Minister’s house, remained skeptical of the promises and carried on with their plan.

The 62 petitioners formerly occupied 161 hectares of land when they were forcibly evicted in 2004 by three businessmen who had allegedly used their influence in courts and the provincial authorities. Now that it was the beginning of the planting season, since farming is their only means of livelihood, they urgently needed their lands back.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

For many years now land grabbing has been a serious issue in Cambodia. The rich and powerful people are, through illicit means, able to acquire lands which are usually occupied by poorer people. For individual cases about this phenomenon, please read the previous appeals the AHRC has issued: AHRC-UAG-007-2008; AHRC-UAU-006-2008; UA-189-2007; UP-063-2007; UA-328-2006.

In Cambodia, there are supposedly two adjudicating mechanisms regarding cases involving land grabbing created by law:

Firstly, for registered lands, the courts have the power into adjudicating disputes over land registered with the cadastral office. However, like all other state institutions in Cambodia, the courts are very much under the heavy influence of political power and money; thus, it is not possible for them to decide on cases of nature independently.

Secondly, for unregistered lands, it is the National Cadastral Commission (NCC) who had the adjudicating power. They are being assisted by the provincial and district commissions. These two lower commissions’ power however is only for conciliation between two parties involved. But, in reality all these commissions, too, are not well organized and they lack resources in doing their work effectively.

As cases of land grabbing had gone up, the government created the National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution. However, this office has also been unable to dispense their duties effectively. Apart from that, ad hoc “inter-ministerial commissions” to “conciliate” were created by the government to handle politically sensitive land cases. But, these ad hoc commissions as well had been unable to effectively deal with land grabbing cases.

For a variety of reasons, of which corruption is amongst them, the victims of land grabbing have already lost confidence. They, instead of seeking interventions from these adjudicating authorities, have had to appeal to the Prime Minister for his personal intervention into getting their lands back. The extent of political intervention in government agencies is shown by the desperate attempt by victim’s themselves to seek the Prime Minister’s notice on this case.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities listed below to urge them to conduct an investigation into the police’s use of violence on the 62 victims of land grabbing wanting to meet their Prime Minister. Appropriate action must be taken against the policemen involved in beating them.

The AHRC has also written letters to the Representatives to the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia, Special Rapporteurs on the question of torture and promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER