ព័ត៌មាន
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 ...
Cambodian Land Rights Activist's Bail Plea Rejected
The Cambodian Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a jailed land rights activist’s appeal to be released on bail, drawing criticism from rights groups who said the whole case smacked of political interference and should be thrown out. “I am having heart, respiratory, and stomach ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-03272013191716.html
Land rights have key role in Cambodia
Faced with widespread evictions and opaque private sector deals, activists in Cambodia are calling on the government to be more open and transparent about land concessions, beef up mechanisms for resolving land disputes, and abide by the rule of law. It is estimated that ...
http://www.gulf-times.com/asean-philippines/188/details/345724/land-rights-have-key-role-in-cambodia
Six Cambodians Injured in Capital Land Clash
At least six people were seriously injured Wednesday in clashes between about 100 villagers demanding land compensation and 300 security personnel in front of the home of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, activists said. According to villager representative Tep Vanny, the evictees from Phnom Penh’s Boeung ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/clash-03132013184900.html
Shots fired as families evicted
Police, military police and forestry officials evicted 100 families in Koh Kong province’s Smach Meanchey district yesterday, shooting into the air during the forcible removal to disperse villagers with the threat of violence. It was the second day of evictions in an area authorities say ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761809/National/shots-fired-as-families-evicted.html
Most land disputes in Cambodia unsettled
Less than 30 per cent of complaints filed to the government’s National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution (NALDR) throughout 2012 were resolved, according to its annual report released yesterday. According to the document, distributed yesterday at the NALDR annual convention, the government body, which comprises representatives ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022161535/National/most-land-disputes-in-cambodia-unsettled.html
Land Is Life, and It’s Slipping Away
Nean Narin, a humble man and father of three children, says his family is going hungry. Narin lives in the village of Boeung Kak, situated on the edge of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. For years, he and other villagers relied on the Boeung Kak Lake ...
Cambodia's government takes back land
The government has slashed about 250,000 hectares of land from 79 economic land concessions (ELCs), forest concessions and wildlife protection concessions and will return it, replete with land titles, to “poor people”, January’s Royal Book says. The publication, issued on January 17 and obtained yesterday, says ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020761237/National/cambodia-s-government-takes-back-land.html
Committee Formed to Create Plan for Land Use Nationwide
Senior official from across the government have started drafting a master plan that aims to map out the future locations of everything from roads to cities and development zones across the country. Land Management Minister Im Chhun Lim chaired the first meeting of a 20-member National ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/committee-formed-to-create-plan-for-land-use-nationwide-8658/
Opposition Questions Shortcoming in Government Revenue
The National Assembly on Friday passed a law approving the government’s revenue and spending in 2011, drawing criticism from the opposition, which claimed the amount taken in by the government during the period was too low. All 77 CPP lawmakers present voted in favor of the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/opposition-questions-shortcomings-in-government-revenue-8468/
Soldiers Keep watch over Broma Villagers
More than seven months after government security forces violently evicted hundreds of people living in Kratie province’s Broma village to quell a so-called secessionist movement, more than 70 families are still being prevented by patrolling soldiers from returning to the site of their former homes, ...
Court Releases Anti-Eviction Activist, but Charge Stands
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday convicted 64-year-old Borei Keila resident Tim Sakmony for making a false declaration, but released the anti-eviction activist owing to time already served in prison. Ms. Sakmony’s day in court came, without explanation, at precisely the same time as the trial ...
Rights groups wary of ban on internet cafés
Rights workers cautioned yesterday that a sweeping ban on internet cafés near schools was little more than a thinly veiled act of censorship. Issued last month by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, the circular says all internet cafés within 500 metres of a school must ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/rights-groups-wary-of-ban-on-internet-cafes.html
Rights Groups Say Work to Go On Despite Hun Sen's Remarks
Rights groups said they will continue to advocate in land grabbing and eviction cases, and villagers involved in such disputes said they will continue to turn to NGOs for help despite a warning by Prime Minister Hun Sen for civil society to stay clear of ...
Rare hardwood sparks gunfights, corruption in Asia
KOH KONG, CAMBODIA — A Thai force dubbed the “Rambo Army” couldn’t stop the gangs, armed with battlefield weaponry, as they scoured the forests. Neither could a brave activist, gunned down when he came to investigate. Nor, apparently, can governments across Southeast Asia. The root of the ...
http://www.bradenton.com/2012/11/24/4291081/rare-hardwood-sparks-gunfights.html
Radio Free Asia reporter to face judge
A Radio Free Asia (RFA) reporter in Ratanakkiri province will be questioned at the provincial court today in relation to claims that he incited villagers to commit crimes against a rubber company that they have been locked in a land dispute with since 2004. Lim Chanlyda, ...
Before Obama visit, Cambodians clear streets -- or take to them
As Barack Obama prepares for the first visit by a United States president to Cambodia this month, the country is reportedly preparing for him too — by hiding street children from sight in Phnom Penh While the government has tidied its streets, protesters have begun camping ...
Cambodian Economy Hurt by Land Evictions
Kratie province – Cambodia’s transformation from war-torn basket-case to one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies is being overshadowed by a backwards lurch in human rights and land policies that critics say are entrenching poverty. Next week’s visit by Barack Obama, the fist by a U.S. ...
Insight: Land conflict, impunity dims Cambodia's awakening
Cambodia’s transformation from war-torn basket-case to one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies is being overshadowed by a backwards lurch in human rights and land policies that critics say are entrenching poverty. ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/12/us-cambodia-protests-idUSBRE8AB17J20121112
Ahead of High-Level Meetings, City Sweeps More Than Streets
Authorities in Daun Penh district have rounded up more than 120 so-called homeless people, drug users and sex workers ahead of next week’s high-level meetings for Asean and international delegates in Phnom Penh, a district official said yesterday. Phnom Penh City Hall has also focused ...
Last link in Wutty case freed
The only man convicted in relation to a murder case that made global headlines, the killing of environmentalist Chut Wutty and military police officer, In Rattana, walked free on Friday, less than two weeks after his sentencing, rights group Licadho said. Ran Boroth, who was ...
Protected forest reclassified as private land
The entirety of three protected forests are now classified as private land, an investigation from rights group Adhoc has found, along with tens of thousands of additional hectares of what has once been state public land In three cases, Adhoc’s findings show that entire protected forests ...
Record dogs new ACRA chief
The owner of a labor firm repeatedly accused of human trafficking, who is also the sister of one of the country’s top police officials, has been appointed head of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies (ACRA). Grave concerns have been expressed by rights groups over the appointment of Ung Seang ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102459382/National-news/record-dogs-new-acra-chief.html
Killer in Chut Wutty Case Could Be Free Within Days
The Koh Kong Provincial Court yesterday convicted a private security guard of accidentally killing the military police officer who allegedly shot dead the country’s most prominent environmental activist, Chut Wutty, and sentenced him to two years in prison. The presiding judge, Kham Sophary, then immediately suspended ...