May 18th, 2012, The Cambodia Daily, Disputed Land, Farmland, Land Tenure, News, Social Concerns
Kratie city – Soldiers and military police yesterday blocked all access to a village where a 14-year-old girl was shot dead by security forces on Wednesday while the authorities launched a massive operation to evict hundreds of families from the area under a cloak of secrecy.
Human rights groups also continued their condemnation of the government’s claim that the villagers were part of a secessionist movement, calling such statements a fabricated excuse to evict the families on behalf of a rubber plantation company, which the villagers have accused of stealing their farmland.
Kratie provincial governor Sar Chamrong said more than 600 families from Kompong Cham and Prey Veng provinces who had moved into the village in recent years had been rounded up and sent packing.
Mr. Chamrong said that an “original” group of 360 or so families were not expelled from the province, but he failed to explain how authorities made the distinction between the new and old villagers.
“The original villagers—more than 360 families—living there are very happy with our operation because they had been extorted by those anarchists for a long time,” Mr. Chamrong said. “We could not let them stay longer, otherwise those ringleaders would gather more and more people from everywhere to grab the state land and secede,” he said. …
About 200 soldiers, police and military police accompanied by a helicopter swept into Chhlong district’s Broma village on Wednesday morning, arresting at least four men and reportedly injuring several others.
Heng Chantha, 14, was shot in the abdomen by the security forces and died on the way to the hospital. Authorities claimed they had met resistance as they descended on the village, though no members of the security forces sustained any injuries.
Interior Minister Sar Kheng and national police commissioner Neth Savoeun had planned the operation days in advance. “The secession allegations are a very transparent pretext, and not a very persuasive one, to justify the unlawful use of the military against civilians,” Pung Chhiv Kek, president of human rights group Licadho, said in a statement. “Are we to believe that a few hundred villagers armed with sticks and crossbows are trying to start their own country? The more reasonable explanation is that they simply want to farm their own land.” …
Khuon Narim and Abby Seiff with additional reporting by Kuch Naren in Phnom Penh, P. 1
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/
May 18th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Disputed Land, Land Tenure, News
Hundreds of people fled in fear yesterday from the village in Kratie province where a bloody security forces crackdown the previous morning left a 14-year-old girl dead.
Joint police and military police forces locked down the area where a land dispute has raged this year, and claimed they had arrested seven villagers accused of plotting a succession with the group Democratic Association.
On Wednesday, joint forces estimated to have numbered close to 1,000 moved in, firing on those who stood in their way, to evict about 1,000 families from Pro Ma village in Chhlong district’s Damrei commune.
Fresh details emerged yesterday of what happened during the crackdown, which authorities have said was to capture the five masterminds of Democratic Association, including leader Bun Ratha, who has fled into hiding.
Pale-faced 44-year-old villager Pov Ban, who along with 10 others had taken refuge at an office of the rights group Adhoc and was still visibly in shock, said before the forces moved in, residents were given no opportunity to leave. …
May Titthara and David Boyle, P. 1
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051856248/National-news/mourning-villagers-flee.html
May 18th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Trade
The United Kingdom Trade and Investment Office would establish a permanent branch in Phnom Penh in the expectation that economic ties between the two countries would continue to grow, Cambodian and UK officials said yesterday.
Bilateral trade has risen by 300 per cent during the past five years and was worth about US$400 million in 2011, according to the British embassy in Phnom Penh.
It increased by more than 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2012. …
Don Weinland, P. 7
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051856232/Business/uk-to-open-investment-office.html
May 18th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Environment & Natural Resources, News
One of the journalists on the scene when environmentalist Chut Wutty was gunned down last month appeared in a Koh Kong provincial court yesterday to answer questions about the shooting incident, which also led to the death of military police officer In Rattana.
According to human rights group Licadho, Cambodia Daily reporter Phorn Bopha spent about two hours yesterday responding to questions from investigating Judge Min Makara. …
Chhay Channyda, P. 4
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051856240/National-news/koh-kong-judge-queries-reporter-in-wutty-case.html
May 18th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Foreign Aid, Garment Industry, Industry Updates, International Relations, Labor
Major international garment and shoe brands have expressed interest in funding a food program that would feed Cambodian factory workers lunches in an effort to improve health and productivity, a labour advocate said on Wednesday.
Dave Welsh, country director of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, said he raised the idea of a brands-sponsored food program with representatives of 14 brands that source from the Kingdom, including Nike, PUMA, Gap and Walt Disney …
Shane Worrell, P. 5
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051856238/National-news/brands-proving-free-lunches-might-exist.html
May 18th, 2012, The Cambodia Daily, Agriculture & Agro-business, Exports, Industry Updates, International Relations, Livestock
Growing demand for pork on the Thai market since March has lead to an increase in the price of live pigs in Cambodia, as Thai farmers reduce the amount of live pigs exported to Cambodia in order to fuel local demand, officials said yesterday. …
Phok Dorn, P. 25
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/
