Boeng Kak residents beaten back as homes razed

Excavators flattened eight houses and shops at the north end of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak lake on Friday as baton-wielding riot police pushed back distraught residents and badly beat one protestor who was among hundreds of locals who rallied against the latest round of demolitions. The Housing Rights Task Force issued a statement condemning the municipality for not implementing a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen that ordered that land be set aside for the residents who have fought for years against eviction by Shukaku Inc, the company owned by CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin…