CAMBODIA: 74 families face imminent eviction in Sihanoukville

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that on 22 May 2007, 74 families in the Prey Nop district in Sihanoukville received an eviction notice issued by the district governor Ban Sarom, notifying them to leave their land within 10 days. The villagers had previously received a similar notice from the Sihanoukville governor. We are concerned to hear that no resettlement or rehabilitation plans have been put forth by the authorities to compensate for the imminent loss of the concerned families. The AHRC is also concerned about the large number of families that have been evicted or threatened to be evicted recently in the Sihanoukville municipality. In most of the cases, the affected families have not received any compensation or rehabilitation from the concerned local authorities. For details of previous cases, please refer to UA-003-2007, UA-172-2007, UP-010-2007, UP-063-2007, UA-053-2007, UA-209-2006, UA-026-2007, UA-328-2006 and UP-068-2007.

CASE DETAILS:

On 22 May 2007, the Khan (district) Prey Nop governor Ban Sarom has allegedly issued an eviction notice advising 74 families to leave their three respective villages in Sangkat (commune) Bet Trang, Khan Prey Nop, Sihanoukville, within 10 days. Although this eviction notice has not yet implemented, the affected families are now facing immanent eviction. Ban Sarom’s eviction notice was made based on the Sihanoukville governor Say Hak’s prior eviction notice number 314, issued on 15 September 2006. Ban Sarom issued his notice without any approval from the National Land Dispute Authority or any warrant from the court, instead looking only to the Sihanoukville governor for authority. The AHRC is concerned that neither appropriate compensation nor a new settlement with ownership titles were offered to the families facing eviction.

According to the information we have received, Ban Sarom issued three eviction notices in the same day: notice number 84 to evict 8 families from a 2000-square meter in Kor Ki I village; notice number 85 to evict 57 families from a 50-hectare plot of land in Pu Toeung village; and notice number 86 to evict 9 families from a 3-hectare plot of land in Chom Naut Ream village, in Sangkat Bet Trang, Khan Prey Nop, Sihanoukville. On 15 September 2006, the Sihanoukville governor Say Hak had already issued his own eviction notice, number 314, to evict the families from their three respective villages without offering any resettlement schemes or resettlement fees. The Sihanoukville governor Say Hak and the Khan Prey Nop governor Ban Sarom have allegedly accused the families of the three villages of living illegally in the state public immovable property and in the immovable private property.

We have also learned that the families of the three villages have been living peacefully in their land since 1985, and that the Ministry of Interior had allegedly acknowledged the families as residents on their land. Each family also has a family book to identify that they were living on the land legally through the permission of the state in the past decades.

According to further information, the Sangkat Bet Trang governor Lak Kean has allegedly refused to cooperate with the Khan Prey Nop governor Ban Sarom and the Sihanoukville governor Say Hak after verifying that the families have been living peacefully on the land since 1985 and thereby should be granted ownership titles according to the Cambodian Land Law 2001.

As far as we know, no adequate resettlement or rehabilitation plan has been announced or suggested by the concerned local authorities to the affected families.

The AHRC is concerned that the imminent eviction of 74 families without adequate resettlement and rehabilitation violates the state’s obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the affected peoples’ rights to land, housing and health under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Cambodia is bound to this treaty as a state party.

Specifically, the authorities have breached their treaty obligations under articles 2, 11 and 12 of the ICESCR. The State has also been violating its obligations as elaborated in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comments Nos. 4 and 7 on the right to adequate housing and forced evictions. Besides, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Cambodia is a state party, specifically requires that States parties protect the rights of children to adequate housing (Article 27, 3).

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The AHRC is deeply troubled about the large number of families that have been evicted or threatened to be evicted recently in the Sihanoukville municipality. Since September of 2006, the AHRC has issued a number of appeals on the behalf of more than 800 families, in all three of the districts, Khan Metapheap, Khan Prey Nop, Khan Stung Hav, in the Sihanoukville municipality, who have found themselves illegally evicted without any adequate resettlement, rehabilitation or compensation by the local authorities. To learn the details of all the relevant eviction cases in the Sihanoukville municipality, please see UA-003-2007, UA-172-2007, UP-010-2007, UP-063-2007, UA-053-2007, UA-209-2006, UA-026-2007, UA-328-2006 and UP-068-2007.

The AHRC has observed that in half of the eviction cases we have followed in the past ten months, it is alleged that the Sihanoukville governor Say Hak was directly involved in the unlawful eviction. In addition to his involvement in the current case above, the Governor Say Hak has reportedly issued numerous eviction notices and even undertaken violent evictions. We have noted that he was particularly interested in appropriating properties in Khan Metapheap. On 17 December 2006, the Governor Say Hak reportedly attempted to forcibly evict 229 families from village 1, Sangkat 1, Khan Metapheap, without any court order or due process of law (UA-003-2007). On 19 January 2007, he reportedly issued an eviction notice to remove 105 families from Sangkat 4, Khan Metapheap, again without any court order or due process (UP-010-2007). In both of the above cases, violence was reportedly used to evict the villagers and resulted in the destruction of property as well as human casualties.

In both of the above cases, the AHRC has been made privy to popular allegations that the land evictions are connected to the private interests of a senator tycoon, who was himself involved in a land eviction on 25 September 2006. The senator evicted 12 families, also from Sangkat 4, Khan Metapheap, also without any court order or due process of law (UA-328-2006). It make us suspect that the Governor Say Hak evicted the 105 families from Sangkat 4, Khan Metapheap, for the senator’s private use. A similar suspicion arises relating to the land taken from the 229 families in Sangkat 1, Khan Metapheap. Clearly, corrupt practices are taking place. For whatever reason, the Sihanoukville governor Say Hak seems to have colluded with the senator in these corrupt and illegal acts.

Just as the AHRC has noted in the current case above, other land evictions in the Sihanoukville municipality may also be traced back to the Sihanoukville governor. In the above case, the Prey Nop District governor Ban Sarom issued an eviction notice on the back of Say Hak’s earlier notice. We are concerned that perhaps the eviction notice issued by the Stung Hav district governor Mey Kaing on 23 May 2007 (UA-172-2007) may also be related to Say Hak. Furthermore, wee are suspicious that Say Hak is taking land away from rightful owners for personal gain.

The AHRC has already pointed out the blatant violation of the Cambodian Land Law 2001 in these eviction cases a number of times. It has become increasingly clear to us that the Sihanoukville governor Say Hak and the authorities under his supervision are working over the court and the National Land Dispute Authority to process its illegal land evictions. The AHRC urges the Cambodian government to immediately conduct a thorough investigation into such activities of governor Say Hak and relevant authorities so that the corrupt authors of these illegal evictions will be brought before the court.

We also urge the National Land Dispute Authority to inquire about the alleged unlawful evictions in the Sihanoukville municipality and if they are found to be true, take effective action in punishing the Sihanoukville governor Say Hak and Khan Prey Nop governor Ban Sarom, who have allegedly taken law into their own hands without consulting any authority involved in the issued of land dispute.

SUGESTED ACTION:
Please immediately write to the relevant authorities listed below demanding their immediate intervention in the imminent eviction of the 74 families mentioned above. Please urge the Cambodian government to halt the eviction process and allow the families to live peacefully on the land with official ownership titles. In the case of eviction, urge the government to provide resettlement or rehabilitation options for the concerned families. Lastly, urge the Cambodian government in conjunction with the National Land Dispute Authority to launch an inquiry into the alleged frequent and multiple land evictions in Sihanoukville and ensure that no corruption is taking place.

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