ការអភិវឌ្ឍសង្គម
សិទ្ធិមនុស្ស
Jarai Man Exiled After He Opposes Land Deal
Commune authorities in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district have allegedly banished a local resident for persisting with a lawsuit that accuses them of selling 500 hectares of community forest to two Cambodian developers for $300,000. Romas Svang, who is a member of the ethnic Jarai minority, filed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051765682/National/jarai-man-exiled-after-he-opposes-land-deal.html
Two Held For Razing Huts In Land Dispute
Ratanakkiri provincial police on Monday arrested the chief of staff of a Vietnamese rubber concessionaire and his Cambodian translator who are believed to have burned down more than $5,000 worth of property related to a land dispute in O’Chum district, police said. Meas Pov Bora, chief ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051565632/National/two-held-for-razing-huts-in-land-dispute.html
Arrests Threatened In Ratanakkiri
Provincial authorities in Ratanakkiri have warned ethnic Jarai villagers that they will be arrested if they continue to stop bulldozers belonging to a Vietnamese company from clearing forest in O’Yadav district’s Paknhai commune, community leaders said yesterday. Sav Finh, leader of Lom village’s forestry protection committee, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051565625/National/arrests-threatened-in-ratanakkiri.html
The canes of wrath
Satiating the demands of the global sugar industry is big business for Cambodia’s sugarcane plantations. Yet accusations of human rights abuses and land grabs in the Kingdom have left a bitter aftertaste for many on the ground as companies vie for a larger slice of ...
Private property, public greed in Cambodia
Mark Moorstein knew little about Cambodia before he got involved in a lawsuit on behalf of land owners there. But as it’s turning out, the suit could end up affecting most every country in Asia. Moorstein is a land-use lawyer in Northern Virginia who, like many ...
High Risk Seen in Kingdom’s Business Environment: Report
Corruption, a weak judicial system and the potential for complicity with human and labour rights abuses are key risks for firms looking to invest in Cambodia, a new report [by Maplecroft, a UK-based global risk and strategic consulting firm] analysing investment risk in the Kingdom ...
Tales of intimidation
When activists Mom Sakin and Sorn Siyan took a stand against illegal logging in Kratie province last month, they were allegedly threatened with violence and lawsuits from officials. “Powerful people who wanted to intimidate us shot their guns into the air to prevent us from going ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050165357/National/tales-of-intimidation.html
Non-Government Groups Take Stock of the Country’s Rights Records
The government’s abuse of land rights and indigenous minorities were among the top concerns raised Tuesday by non-governmental groups at a workshop in Phnom Penh on Cambodia’s progress toward achieving a long list of U.N. human rights recommendations. As part of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/non-government-groups-take-stock-of-countrys-rights-record-21113/
Angry Villagers Confront Workers
Jarai minority villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district protested in two locations yesterday against a Vietnamese company that community leaders say has been clearing their protected land and forcing villagers to accept inadequate compensation. Community leader Sev Hem said 30 angry villagers directly confronted five Company 72 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050165347/National/angry-villagers-confront-workers.html
Draft of New Public Land Policy Is Released
The government on Friday released a draft of a new public policy guide on the county’s contentious land sector, a move that was welcomed by NGOs, who also called for the government to hold further consultations on the draft. Local rights groups have singled out ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/draft-of-new-public-land-policy-is-released-20672/
Adhoc defends Staffer in Incitement Claim
Human rights group Adhoc yesterday criticized a commune official in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district for accusing one of its staff of incitement and spreading disinformation after villagers traveled to Phnom Penh in March to protest over a land dispute with well known businessman Try ...
Rubber Firm Accused of Illegal Deforestation
A rubber company that has been repeatedly accused of encroaching on communal land belonging to an ethnic minority in Ratanakkiri province has cleared 150 hectares of forest outside of its economic land concession (ELC) in the past month, according to the senior investigator for local ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rubber-firm-accused-of-illegal-deforestation-20367/
Incitement, Disinformation Suit Filed Against Rights Worker
A commune official in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district has filed a lawsuit accusing a human rights worker of incitement and disinformation after villagers the NGO staffer spoke to traveled to Phnom Penh to protest over a land dispute involving a well-known businessman Try Pheap. Pursat ...
Land-Titling Project Denied Minorities of Property Rights
Hundreds of indigenous minorities in Ratanakkiri province are being made worse off by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s land-titling scheme which, rather than securing their property rights, is contributing to the loss of their ancestral lands, according to a new report. The report supports complaints aired since ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/land-titling-project-denied-minorities-of-property-rights-19528/
Tate & Lyle Defends Sugar Plantation Deal In Koh Kong
A U.K. firm being sued by 200 Cambodian farmers over the loss of their land to two sugar plantations has defended its business dealings, claiming that the affected families were dealt with legally and were properly compensated for the loss of their properties. Local farmers ...
Koh Kong Sugar Firm Makes Offer to Return Disputed Land
The Thai owners of a pair of sugar plantations in Koh Kong province accused of forcing hundreds of farmers off their land will give the land back if it can be proved that those evicted legally own the land, rights workers and a village representative ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/koh-kong-sugar-firm-makes-offer-to-return-disputed-land-18770/
Monitoring for Nothing: Is the ILO’s ‘Better Factories’ programme failing the Kingdom’s garment workers?
The United Nations in Cambodia has taken a beating in recent months. The UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal has been plagued by high-profile resignations and accusations of political interference. Elsewhere human rights activists have criticised the UN’s failure to take a firm stance against an increasingly ...
Frédéric Janssens
http://sea-globe.com/monitoring-for-nothing/
Villagers getting ready for DM Group hearing
The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court has issued letters to 11 ethnic Tampuon villagers from the province’s Lumphat district, instructing them to prepare for a hearing over accusations of using violence on the property of rubber company DM Group. DM Group first began setting up rubber plantations in ...
Hun Sen’s Land Titles Receive Rare Praise From Germany
Since Prime Minister Hun Sen announced an ambitious new plan some 10 months ago to make nearly half a million families official land owners, hardly a week goes by that a rural community does not complain of local officials trying to scam the project. But when ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sens-land-titles-receive-rare-praise-from-germany-17312/
Initial Mapping For Communal Titles Underway in Mondolkiri
Initial mapping of three ethnic minority Banong communities in Mondolkiri province got underway yesterday, a critical step in their plans to gain much coveted communal titles to their ancestral land. Established by the 2001 Land Law, communal land titles were designed specifically to protect the ancestral ...
European Lawmakers Press for Probe of Land Concessions
Lawmakers from the European Union (E.U) are again urging the block’s trade commissioner to investigate Cambodia’s Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) over a raft of alleged rights abuses and consider revoking the duty free access their owners currently enjoy to member states. Going mostly to industrial ...
Banong Families Close to Communal Land Titles
An indigenous ethnic Banong community in Mondolkiri province yesterday began the final stage in acquiring a communal land title, setting it up to become only the sixth community in the country to secure one of the coveted documents. Established by the 2001 Land Law, communal land ...
Titles closer, but ‘land damage done’
Three ethnic Jarai minority communities passed a crucial hurdle on the way to obtaining communal land titles in government-sanctioned ceremonies this week. But a human-rights activist tempered the celebration, saying mass deforestation in the province had already stripped most of the land the villagers are ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032264629/National/titles-closer-but-land-damage-done.html
NGOs query Lao’s telco promotion
Four NGOs asked the government yesterday to explain the decision to promote Lao Saroeun to an undersecretary of state position in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, even though he has not been cleared of alleged corruption. “In proper practice, people under investigation for alleged corruption ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032062034/Business/ngos-query-lao-s-telco-promotion.html