Authorities Downplay Hostage-Taking in Land Dispute

Two days after Ratanakiri province villagers took hostage a group of local officials who were clearing land for a rubber plantation, authorities downplayed the incident, saying they had no plans to press charges and that “the problem has been settled.” A representative of the rubber company, however, said that violence has continued, and that ethnic minority villagers burned down one of their buildings yesterday, which local authorities could not immediately confirm. A human rights worker in the province warned that violence has become a means of last resort for vilagers to prevent the loss of their land. … Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for rights group ADHOC, said there was no doubt that villagers had taken matters into their own hands, and it was violent. “The villagers used violence to protect their land from being grabbed by the Jing Zhong Ri company,” Mr. Bonnar said, adding that the use of violence in land disputes appeared to be on the rise, and was becoming a means of forcing authorities to intervene and settle disputes for local communities.