NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of 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 Cambodian authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]
CAMBODIA: Corruption; collapse of the rule of law; illegal deprivation of the land; illegal destruction of property
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Right Commission (AHRC) wishes to inform you of a forced eviction of 250 families by a tycoon senator Mr. Ly Yong Phat with the collaboration of the police in Chi Khor Leu commune, Sre Ambel district, Koh Kong province, Cambodia on 19 September 2006. The police destroyed the villagers’ crops and houses by bulldozer and brutally attacked the villagers who resisted the eviction. Five villagers were reportedly injured by the police assault and two others were injured by police gunfire.
According to the report from a human right investigator, on 8 August 2006, the Cambodian government granted a land concession of 10,000 hectares in Chi Khor Leu commune to Mr. Ly Yong Phat’s Agriculture Duty Free-Shop Development Company with no clear cadastral demarcation of its borders and without prior consultation with the local villagers. In fact, this company had started to clear the land in the commune since 5 May 2006 even before getting the concession. The clearance encroached upon 5,000 hectares of adjacent land belonging to 250 families in the commune. Those affected families have been living on their land since 1979 and they have lawful ownership according to Land Law 2001 of Cambodia, which states that person(s) are entitled to have ownership over the land when he/she occupied and lived on for five years peacefully (without any ownership related dispute). However, in violation of Land Law, the authorities refused to give the villagers any title of ownership.
On September 19, Ly Yong Phat forcibly evicted those 250 families with the support of the police. Six agents from the military police and 3 from the national police, who were all equipped with assault rifles, were present while Mr. Ly’s men were destroying crops and property using tractors and bulldozer. Despite the villagers’ desperate pleadings to halt the clearance, the police officers tuned down it and launched an attack in order to disperse them. They fired live ammunition in the air and towards the ground to threaten the villagers and brutally assaulted them with sticks and rifle butts. During this time, one of the toes of a woman named Pet Nim was cut off and Mr. Em Chourng was shot in his right arm. Five other villagers were also reportedly injured by the police assault. The police then attempted to arrest the five villagers but they all escaped. This clearance was conducted without an evicting order from the court and the families were forced out of their land without compensation.
Ly Yong Phat, who is now a law maker, has broken the law when he resorted to the forced eviction of those villagers without beforehand securing such an eviction from a court of law. He has also allegedly broken the law when he used the military police to carry out this eviction when, according to Article 36 as amended of the Cambodian law on the criminal procedure, the jurisdiction of the military police is “offences related to military affairs” and flagrant crimes. Furthermore, under the same law, only public prosecutors are authorised to call on the military police to help enforce eviction orders. He has also abused his power when he used law enforcement agents to execute his unlawful eviction for his own private interests. He should have secured that concession and asked the cadastral service to mark the borders of his land first before starting to clear it.
The AHRC holds Senator Ly Yong Phat responsible for the destruction of the crops belonging to those villagers and for the injuries inflicted on some of them by the police whom he had illegally used to carry out this unlawful eviction. The AHRC urges the Cambodian government to seek the lifting of his parliamentary immunity and bring him to justice. He should be held accountable for the crimes against those villages and made to pay appropriate compensation to them not only for their injuries but also for their crops. The six military officers and three civilian officers should also be brought to justice for their crimes against those villagers and for their part in that unlawful eviction.
The AHRC urges the Cambodian authorities to immediately halt the clearance of this land and the unlawful eviction of the 250 families and restore and protect the ownership of their land. The AHRC also urges donor governments, UN agencies, international aid agencies and the international human rights community to work with the Cambodian government and courts to end this abuse of power by the rich and powerful and to establish the rule of law in Cambodia.
SUGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the relevant authorities mentioned below urging for immediate remedies and investigation into a member of the Senate in the forced eviction and destruction of villagers’ property so that disciplinary action may be taken against the alleged perpetrators.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ________,
CAMBODIA: Two villagers shot and several injured during the illegal forced eviction in Koh Kong
Victims: 250 families in Chi Khor Leu commune, Sre Ambel district, Koh Kong province, who are affected by forced eviction
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Senator Mr. Ly Yong Phat, who owns Agriculture Duty Free-Shop Development Company
2. Unidentified 6 agents from the military police and 3 from the national police
3. Unidentified men hired by Mr. Ly Yong Phat for eviction
Date of incident: 19 September 2006
Place of incident: Chi Khor Leu commune, Sre Ambel district, Koh Kong province, Cambodia
I am writing this letter to show my deepest concern a forced eviction of 250 families by a tycoon senator Mr. Ly Yong Phat with the collaboration of the police in Chi Khor Leu commune, Sre Ambel district, Koh Kong province, Cambodia on 19 September 2006. This clearance was conducted without an evicting order from the court and the families were forced out of their land without compensation.
According to the report I have received, on 8 August 2006, the Cambodian government granted a land concession of 10,000 hectares in Chi Khor Leu commune to Mr. Ly Yong Phat’s Agriculture Duty Free-Shop Development Company, without acknowledging that 5,000 hectares among 10,000 hectares are belonging to 250 families in the commune. The government did not give any clear cadastral demarcation of the land borders and this decision was made without prior consultation with the local villagers. Those affected families have been living on their land since 1979 and they have lawful ownership according to Land Law 2001 of Cambodia, which states that person(s) are entitled to have ownership over the land when he/she occupied and lived on for five years peacefully (without any ownership related dispute). However, in violation of Land Law, the authorities refused to give the villagers any title of ownership. I was also informed that this company had started to clear the land in the commune since 5 May 2006 even before getting the concession.
Subsequently, on September 19, Mr. Ly Yong Phat forcibly evicted those 250 families with the support of the police. Six agents from the military police and 3 from the national police, who were all equipped with assault rifles, were present while Mr. Ly’s men were destroying crops and property using tractors. The police officers also brutally attacked the protesting villagers with sticks and rifle butts and fired live ammunition in the air and towards the ground to threaten the villagers. During this time, one of the toes of a woman named Pet Nim was cut off and Mr. Em Chourng was shot in his right arm.
It is come to my knowledge that Mr. Ly Yong Phat, who has obligation to respect the law as a law maker, has in fact broken the law when he resorted to the forced eviction of those villagers without beforehand securing such an eviction from a court of law. He has also broken the law by using the military police to carry out this eviction when, according to Article 36 as amended of the Cambodian law on the criminal procedure the jurisdiction of the military police is offences related to military affairs and flagrant crimes. Furthermore, under the same law, only public prosecutors are authorised to call on the military police to help enforce eviction orders. He has also abused his power when he used law enforcement agents to execute his unlawful eviction for his own private interests. He should have secured that concession and asked the cadastral service to mark the borders of his land first before starting to clear it.
I therefore urge you to make Senator Ly Yongphat accountable for the destruction of the crops belonging to those villagers and for the injuries inflicted on some of them by the police during the eviction process. The Cambodian government should seek the lifting of his parliamentary immunity and bring him to justice. He should also be made to pay appropriate compensation to the villagers. I also urge you to take action against the concerned six military officers and three civilian officers and bring them to justice as soon as possible. I further urge you to ensure that the clearance of the concerned land is immediately halted and restore and protect the ownership of the villagers’ land.
Moreover, I also urge donor governments, UN agencies, international aid agencies and the international human rights community to work with the Cambodian government and courts to end this abuse of power by the rich and powerful and to establish the rule of law in Cambodia.
Sincerely yours,
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PLEASE SEND YOU LETTER TO:
- Mr. Samdech Hun Sen
Prime Minister
Cabinet of the Prime Minister
No. 38, Russian Federation Street
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Tel: +855-23-21 98 98
Fax: +855-23-36 06 66
E-mail:cabinet1b@camnet.com.kh
- Mr. Ang Vong Vathna
Minster of Justice
No 240, Sothearos Blvd.
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Fax: + 855-23-36 41 19/21 66 22
E-mail:moj@cambodia.gov.kh
- General Hok Lundy
National Police Commissioner
General-Commisariat of National Police
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Tel/Fax: +855-23-21 65 85/22 09 52
- Mr. Youth Phou Thang
Koh Kong provincial Governor
Koh Kong Cabinet office
Koh Kong province
Tel/ fax: 855-35-93-6049/35-93-6046
5. Mr.Douglas Gardner
UNDP resident Representative in Cambodia
Resident Coordinator of United Nations/ UNRC
NX 53, Pasteur Street, Boeung Keng Kang I,
Chamkar Mon, Phnom Penh,
Cambodia ( P.O.Box 877)
Tel: +855-23-214371/214397/211240/211205/216167/216217/213094
Fax: +855-23 216257/721 042/216 863/210 214
- Ms Margo Picken
Director
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Cambodia
N¢X 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
- Prof. Yash Ghai
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in
Cambodia
Attn: Ms. Afarin Shahidzadeh
Room 3-080
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)
- Mr. Miloon Kothari
UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing
Att: Ms. Cecilia Moller
Room 4-066/010
UNOG-OHCHR, CH-1211, Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9265
Fax: +41 22 917 9010
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
