Asean declaration allows Cambodia to flout human rights, warn campaigners
November 23rd, 2012, The Guardian, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Foreign Aid, International Relations, News Source, Technical Assistance, Timber/Wood
Human rights groups in Cambodia fear a new south-east Asian declaration of human rights could conversely offer the government in Phnom Penh a figleaf to clamp down on dissent. Cambodia signed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) human rights declaration on Sunday, two days before the arrival of the US president, Barack Obama, on his tour of the region. …
In Cambodia, recent alleged abuses include the fatal shooting by police of environmental activist Chut Wutty; the murder of Hang Serei Oudom, a journalist working on illegal logging stories; the killing of 14-year-old Heng Chanth allegedly by security forces during a forced eviction; the conviction in absentia of opposition leader Sam Rainsy; and the jailing of Beehive radio station owner Mam Sonando. …
Sam Campbell
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/nov/23/asean-declaration-cambodia-flout-human-rights
Cambodian land rights campaigner jailed for 20 years
October 1st, 2012, The Guardian, Disputed Land, Economic Land Concessions, Social Concerns, Social Land Concessions
A Cambodian court has jailed a 71-year-old broadcaster and land rights campaigner for 20 years after finding him guilty of leading an anti-state rebellion, a verdict condemned by activists as the latest crackdown on human rights.
Three judges at the Phnom Penh court convicted Sonando, who has joint Cambodian-French citizenship, and 13 others of inciting villagers in eastern Kratie province to rebel against the government.
The long-time rights campaigner and critic of the prime minister, Hun Sen, stood accused of inciting villagers to take up arms and of aiming to recruit up to a million people to topple the government…
Sonando, the head of Beehive Radio, had pleaded not guilty to the charges …
Reuters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/01/cambodia-land-rights-campaigner-jailed
Cambodian soldiers accused of land rights abuse in Prey Trolach forest
August 3rd, 2012, The Guardian, Disputed Land, Forests, Land Tenure, News Source, Social Concerns
Cambodian soldiers and police have been clearing undergrowth with pesticides and using bulldozers to bring down trees in an area of community forest, according to local groups. The alleged land seizure at the 1,335 hectare (3,300 acre) Prey Trolach commune forest, a four-hour drive from the capital Phnom Penh, began five to six weeks ago. …
The Prey Trolach forest in Roka Kiri district in Battambang province was established in 2004 and has gained national recognition from the ministry of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Planting of crops has already started on land that has been taken, according to After the Flood. The military have planted about 40 hectares of corn on land they cleared, and the military police have planted about 10 hectares, with activity stepping up this week. There is now a road from the disputed land’s southern to northern boundaries. The alleged seizure came just after a speech by the prime minister, Hun Sen, in which he spoke out forcibly against land “grabs”, an issue that was flagged up by the UN special rapporteur for Cambodia during a visit in May. …
More than 400,000 Cambodians have been affected by land “grabs” and evictions since 2003, according to the Cambodian league for the promotion and defense of human rights (Licadho), which works in 12 provinces across half the country. Last year there was a big increase in land disputes, the group said, with an additional 11,000 families affected. …
Mark Tran
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/03/cambodian-soldiers-land-rights-prey-trolach
Cambodian troops seal off village after land clashes
May 17th, 2012, The Guardian, Disputed Land, Economic Land Concessions, Land Tenure
Security forces have sealed off a village in eastern Cambodia and denied entry to human rights workers after the fatal shooting of a teenager in the latest violent eviction aimed at clearing land for development.
Soldiers said they needed to secure the area around Proma village, in eastern Kratie province, to continue the search for five accused ringleaders involved in a clash with security forces a day earlier, said Chan Soveth, a prominent investigator with Cambodian human rights group Adhoc. …
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/17/cambodian-troops-land-clashes
UN urges Cambodia to hold companies to account over land disputes
May 14th, 2012, The Guardian, Business & Commercial Development, Economic Land Concessions, Land Tenure, Social Concerns
Companies that have seized land, confiscated livestock and destroyed homes and property have gone unpunished, the UN special rapporteur for Cambodia has said. Surya Subedi, professor of international law at Leeds University, said all the communities he had met raised the issue of misconduct by concession companies or their subcontractors, as did written submissions.
“In some cases the authorities have held the companies to account for their actions,” Subedi said in a preliminary assessment after a recent eight-day visit. “One example is the shooting incident at the TTY concession in Kratie province this year. However, in many cases, there remains impunity for violations committed by the companies.”…
Mark Tran
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/may/14/un-cambodia-companies-land-disputes
Cambodian officer killed environment activist then took own life, army says
April 27th, 2012, The Guardian, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Forests, Protected Areas, Timber/Wood
The Cambodian military has concluded that one of its own police officers killed a prominent environmentalist then took his own life in an incident in a forest rife with illegal logging.
Chut Wutty had been taking photographs on Wednesday in a forest where a Chinese company is building a hydropower dam. He refused to stop when an officer called In Ratana asked him to, military police spokesman Kheng Tito said.
The two men began arguing and cursing each other, until In Ratana shot Chut Wutty with his AK47 assault rifle. …
Associated Press in Phnom Penh
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/27/cambodian-soldier-environment-activist-army?INTCMP=SRCH