CAMBODIA: Arrest of four villagers after testifying in court against illegal possession of their land in Kampot province

[NOTICE: To facilitate your intervention of the urgent appeals issued by the AHRC, we have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of all the Cambodian authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that on 4 May 2007 the investigating judge Houn Many of the Kampot Provincial Court allegedly ordered the police to arrest four villagers after questioning them in court regarding a controversial 45-hectare piece of farm land in Cham Ka 3 village, Sang Pong Tek, Khan Domnak Chang Eur, Kep municipality, Kampot province. The arrest of villagers was based on Judge Many’s summons warrant number 27 issued on 27 April 2007. The four villagers presently in detention, namely So Dek (53), Oun Rin (37), Kuy Yung (48) and San Nek (75), were charged on 10 February 2004 by a 75-year-old businesswoman Teng Ly for alleged violation of Article 253of Land Law 2001, the use of violence against a land possessor.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information we have received, the villagers, are representing the 30 families that have been farming in the disputed 45-hectare land since 1994 following the integration of Khmer Rouge soldiers into the government. The Ministry of the Interior had issued a notice authorizing the former Khmer Rouge commander Chouk Rin in the area to divide 30m x 600m of the 54 hectares land for each of the families. The families were permitted to build their houses in nine hectares of land, which is only covers a space of 30m x 100m space for 30 families. The rest of the 45 hectares, which is 30m x 500m for 30 families, was intended for growing rice or other crops. Since then the villagers have lived peacefully and earned their livelihoods from their farms.

But in 10 February 2004, a 75-year-old businesswoman named Teng Ly, a resident of Phnom Samley village, Kompong Trach west commune, Kompong Trach district, forcibly evicted the villagers by using tractors and bulldozers to flatten their homes. Ly also allegedly hired military and police, armed with rifles and electric batons to forcibly evict the villagers. All the crops cultivated by the villagers were destroyed. Ly claimed she had also been awarded a land by former Khmer Rouge commander Rin.

By the end of 2006, Ly was reported to have filed a complaint against the 30 families before the Kampot court accusing them of using violence against the possessor under Article 253 of the Land Law 2001. It was learned that Khan Domnak Chang Eur governor Mr. Tep Yuthy allegedly issued a warrant number 005 providing the 45 hectares of villagers’ farm land to Ly to occupy for a private property in 19 May 2004. A half of a month later, a local NGO named Adhoc based in Kampot province intervened by filing a complaint before the Kampot Provincial Court to reject the governor’s warrant for violating the procedure of the Land Law 2001. The governor has no authority to issue warrant in the land issue.

On 4 December 2006, Kampot provincial court prosecutor Ouk Kim Tet issued a summons warrant against the four villagers who represents the 30 families to testify in court on 19 December 2006. After questioning the four villagers regarding the land, prosecutor Tet immediately charged them for alleged violation of Land Law 2001. The prosecutor then turned over the case to Judge Many. On 27 April 2007, Judge Many issued a summon warrant for the four villagers to appear in court on May 4. Judge Many however allegedly ordered the police to arrest the four villagers immediately after giving their testimonies in court.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

In 2004, Cambodian Prime Minisiter Hun Sen had earlier made assurance in a cabinet meeting and by his speeches later on, that for any persons who are able to occupy land continuously for five years could own them. Prime Minister Hun Sen also assured that no violent force would be used in evicting people or people convicted over land disputes. The Article 44 of the Cambodian Land Law of 2001 likewise provides granting automatic land ownership to any person who had continuously and peacefully occupied the land for more than 5 years.

The case of the four villagers and the 30 families they are representing are contradictory to the provisions of the law regarding land ownership. It is necessary that the Kampot Provincial Court must conduct a proper inquiry regarding the legitimacy of the ownership of the disputed land. The filing of charges against the four villagers, where the alleged offense arose from the questionable possession of ownership by Ly, should instead be properly investigated and that the people providing testimonies in court should have not been arrested. The people whom Judge Many arrested had been occupying and cultivating the land since 1994; therefore, they should have already been automatically given the right to own the land as provided by the law.

Forcible eviction and filing of arbitrary charges by wealthy and influential persons against villagers in an effort to forcibly evict them from the land that they are occupying and cultivating is a frequent occurrence in Cambodia. And for the Kampot Provincial Court to order the arrest of the villagers, in absence of digging deeper into the legitimacy of Ly’s claim of owning the land is completely unacceptable.

The AHRC therefore urges the relevant authorities to investigate the legitimacy of Ly’s claim of ownership over the land. The offense Ly has filed against the villagers was a result of a land dispute. We are disappointed of the authority’s tolerance in permitting Ly to illegally forcibly evict the villagers and arbitrarily charge them in court.

The municipal government of Kep must immediately conduct an investigation into Teng Ly’s arbitrary acts and for allegedly employing security forces and using the government’s resources, in particular tractors and bulldozers in carrying out the forcible eviction and destruction of the villagers’ crops in 2004. The government must also ensure provision of compensation towards the 30 families affected.

The Kampot Provincial Court must conduct a proper investigation regarding the issues of land ownership into the dispute land. The charges against the villagers must be withdrawn and that they are released unconditionally should there be no sufficient proof to hold them for trial. There must be an inquiry conducted regarding the arbitrary acts by the police and military in carrying out the forcible eviction of villagers upon. It must also be determined how Ly was able to secure permission from a local governor to occupy the land, which is contrary to the provisions of the land law.

The action taken by Judge Many of Kampot Provincial by arresting the villagers after giving testimonies in court is completely unacceptable. The Cambodian government must take appropriate and necessary measures to ensure that the rights of their citizens, in particular the poor, are respected by ensuring that its own policies are effectively implemented. The Cambodian government must exercise a high level of competence to ward off any corrupt practices and arbitrary acts within the Cambodian judiciary.

SUGESSTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities listed below to urge them to intervene in this case. The Kampot Provincial Court must consider the dropping of charges filed against the villagers and to release them without delay. There must also be an inquiry regarding questionable possession of businesswoman Teng Ly of the land where the villagers had long been occupying and her alleged use of security forces in forcibly evicting and destroying the farm crops of the villagers.

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