Land Rights Talks Held With Japanese Envoy
Japanese Ambassador Kuroki Masafumi met with human rights workers on Friday to discuss land rights in Cambodia, particularly implementation of the law and the use of force in evictions, two of the participants at the meeting said. Adhoc President Thun Saray, Licadho President Pung Chhiv Kek and Kazuko Ito, secretary-general of the Tokyo-based NGO Human Rights Now, met Ambassador Masafumi to share their concerns about land rights issues. Ms. Ito, whose organization last week issued a strongly-worded report on the effect that forced evictions, economic land concessions and violence was having on communities facing eviction and human rights workers in Cambodia, said the ambassador expressed concern during the meeting. … Cambodia’s Civil Code enacted in December 2011, is based on Japanese laws and was drawn up with the help of Japanese legal experts and Japanese funding. …
