Land Rights Worry UN
A mission to examine political rights in Cambodia has been increasingly overshadowed by the Kingdom’s dire land rights situation, the 2012 report from Cambodia’s UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights, published yesterday, shows. Cambodia’s rapporteur, Surya Subedi, conducted two fact-finding missions to Cambodia in drafting his 2012 report, and prepared an addendum of findings on the impact of economic land concessions to be published next month. … The “human cost of such concessions has been high”, he continues, explaining the addendum will provide an analysis and recommendations to “counter the negative impact of those concessions on the lives of Cambodians, especially the rural poor, indigenous peoples and those living on the margins of society”. … As well as in the context of land evictions, Subedi examined the role of state institutions in the context of elections and political rights. The problem, he writes, lies in the inadequate implementation of laws and the “genuine or perceived” lack of independence. …
