Land grab victims appeal for government intervention

(Tuesday, June 10, 2008)

Written by Cheang Sokha
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Villagers who lost their farms in one of Cambodia's most violent land grabs have traveled to Phnom Penh to seek government intervention in one of the country's longest-standing disputes over property.

Some 459 families in Koh Kong Province's Sre Ambel district say that millionaire Senator Ly Yong Phat has yet to pay them for land lost nearly two years ago when his Koh Kong Sugar Industry and Koh Kong Plantation companies were granted nearly 20,000 hectares in land concessions to cultivate sugarcane.

Nearly half the families have failed to receive the full 100,000 to 150,000 riels ($25 to $37.50) per hectare that was promised, while 265 families have been paid nothing, said villager An Haiya.

“We are here to get back our land, which the company bulldozed,” Haiya told journalists on June 9, speaking at the office of the Community Legal Education Center in Phnom Penh.

“We have protested and filed many complaints, but still there is no solution,” Haiya said.

Villager protests following the land deal in August 2006 were quelled with bulldozers and armed security, who villagers say fired bullets into the crowd, wounding several.

Guards recruited from local police and military continue to bar villagers from the land, and either shoot or seize livestock that wanders into the company compound, another villager, Teng Kao, said.

“Since the company came, we can not do anything,” Kao said. “We are starving and have nothing with which to survive.”

He said villagers have scrawled their demands along their fences, stating that the company should return their land or provide proper compensation.

Provincial authorities have so far proven unsympathetic to the villagers' complaints. Those charged with trying to mediate the row have accused a small group of agitators of inflaming the situation, and say many of the alleged victims are simply trying to wrestle more compensation from the companies who now own the land.

Koh Kong Deputy Governor Bin Sam Ol, who is charged with settling land disputes in his province, said that provincial authorities had brought village and company representatives together eight times, but they had failed to reach a solution.

“It is difficult for the authorities because the trouble never ends,” Sam Ol said.

“A small group of protesters are behind this problem. Outsiders also come to protest,” he added.

Sam Ol said the number of families complaining about land grabbing continues to rise, no matter how much compensation is paid out by the company.

“Some families have already been paid, but they return to protest again and again, aiming to get more money,” he said.

Koh Kong Sugar Industry Company representative Heng San declined to comment, but he previously told the Post that his company had already resolved the complaints of more than 400 families and only 20 families have not yet been paid.

In a similar development, villagers from northwestern Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province embroiled in a land dispute with another Yong Phat-owned company have also sent a representative to Phnom Penh. In that case, a village representative said that an unnamed enterprise had leveled nearly 7,600 hectares of land outside the boundaries of its sugarcane plantation concession in Samroang district.

“We came here asking to get our land back,” said Vey Sarin, adding that he was speaking for 256 families.

“Most of the farmers are homeless, and others do not have land for farming,” he said.

Am Sam Ath, a human rights monitor with the Cambodian rights group Licadho, said that local authorities fear intervening in Yong Phat's business, dragging out the disputes.

“If they were willing to solve the problem, it could be over in about a month,” Sam Ath said.

"But the villagers in Samroang will have the same problems as the villagers in Sre Ambel.”

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Sam Rainsy Party newspaper editor arrested

Written by Vong Sokheng
Monday, 09 June 2008
A pro-Sam Rainsy Party newspaper editor has been arrested for defamation over reports tying powerful Cambodian People's Party members, including Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, to Khmer Rouge atrocities.

Dam Sith, editor-in-chief of Moneaksekar Khmer, was detained on June 8, but some government officials are questioning his arrest, including Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, who told the Post on June 9 that authorities had "no clear reason to detain him."

“I signed a letter asking that Dam Sith be freed as soon as possible," Kanharith said, adding that the government had no role in the arrest.

The matter was “a personal lawsuit between Hor Namhong and Dam Sith,” he said.

Sith has been charged with "defamation" and "disinformation" over an April 18 article in which he quoted opposition leader Sam Rainsy as linking CPP members to the Khmer Rouge, whose 1975-79 regime resulted in the deaths of 1.7 million people and the devastation of Cambodia.

Hor Namhong has denied any ties, and has filed lawsuits against both Rainsy and Sith, who was questioned in Municipal Court earlier this month.

Sith's attorney, Kong Sam On, said that the court has yet to reply to Kanharith's request, while Ke Sakhorn, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and investigating judge Chhay Kong declined to comment.

Human rights monitors and free press advocates say the arrest is a threat to journalism in Cambodia, and question why Sith can be detained for the alleged defamation.

In May 2006, the National Assembly decriminalized defamation and mandated that all disputes related to the charge be settled through civil lawsuits, not imprisonment.

“The arrest of Dam Sith is a threat to the free press in Cambodia. Dam Sith does not deserve to be arrested because he can publish a correction in his newspaper,” said Chan Saveth of the Cambodian rights organization Adhoc.

“This case clearly shows that the politicians have influence over the courts," he said, adding that Sith was seized by about 10 uniformed and plainclothes military policemen in a Phnom Penh car wash and was being detained at Prey Sar prison.

The International Federation of Journalists and the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists have also called for the immediate release of their colleague.

The IFJ condemned the charges as unlawful and raised concerns over the effect “such harassment of journalists” might have on elections.

“Democracy cannot prevail where the media is hampered in its efforts to report on politics and the election campaign. Journalists must be able to report freely without fear of arrest or harassment,” an IFJ statement read.

Sith is also an SRP parliamentary candidate standing in the July 27 elections with hopes of representing Phnom Penh.

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Climate change threatens food security, warns UNDP

Written by Brendan Brady
Monday, 09 June 2008
Increasingly unpredictable weather caused by global warming poses a major threat to the Cambodia's already imperiled food supplies, says the UN Development Program.

The kingdom also needed to invest in environmentally-friendly energy sources like solar or wind power to help stave off the impacts of global warming, the agency said.

Agriculture-dependent Cambodia was especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change which have already triggered a damaging cycle of flooding and drought, said UNDP country director Jo Scheuer at a June 5 conference marking the UN's World Environment Day.

“When droughts, floods or storms strike, vulnerable people are forced to sell off productive assets, withdraw children from school and cut back on spending for nutrition and health,” added UN resident coordinator Douglas Broderick.

The conference, entitled “Kick the habit! Towards a low-carbon economy,” aimed at outlining ways for Cambodia to fight or adapt to climate change.

As Cambodia’s energy consumption increases, eventually making the country a net carbon emitter, it was becoming necessary to explore energy efficient technologies used in developed countries which have legal obligations to offset their carbon emissions, Scheuer said.

Solar and wind power projects in particular could be recipients of international funding, he said, adding that the UNDP and the Ministry of Environment had signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly attract such projects.

Prach Sun, secretary of state with the Ministry of Environment, said the government would also seek funds to plant trees to absorb greenhouse gases and would call on local businesses to reduce carbon emissions.

Tim Ponlock, national project coordinator for climate change at the Ministry of Environment, said Cambodia should also prioritize developing its bio-diesel technology to utilize the country’s substantial supply of discarded rice stalks and corn husks for fuel production.

Nop Polin, coordinator of the Climate Change Unit of the NGO Geres Cambodia, pointed to his agency’s energy-efficient stoves, which purportedly use just 25 percent of the wood or charcoal consumed by a traditional stove, to show that cleaner energy doesn’t have to be high-tech or expensive.

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US provides nearly $1 million for Bakheng temple restoration

Written by Peter Olszewski
Sunday, 08 June 2008
bakheng-ii.jpgPhoto courtesy of WMF/Glenn Boornazian
Thousands of tourists descend on Phnom Bakheng each afternoon to enjoy the sunset over nearby Angkor Wat temple.
The United States will provide almost a million dollars for continued preservation and conservation work on the Phnom Bakheng temple at the Angkor Archaeological Zone in Siem Reap, the US embassy said in a statement.

The $978,705, provided through the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation to the World Monuments Fund, will allow work to be done on the 9th century Hindu temple's most visible, but heavily-damaged portion.

“The historic city of Angkor is one of the world’s cultural and architectural wonders. Conserving its monuments, which are a crucial part of Cambodian history, is one way to promote peace and prosperity in the country," said US Embassy Charge d'Affaires Piper Campbell.

"This grant is therefore a significant diplomatic gesture, and it is important to note that it was made possible by strong Congressional interest," she added, speaking in Siem Reap on June 4.

Phase One of World Monuments Fund’s work at the temple was conducted between 2004 and 2007 with a separate $550,000 grant from the US State Department.

This work included archaeological research, conservation assessments, the creation of a plan for the management of tourism at the site and emergency conservation measures.

Phase Two will address some of the most urgent challenges at Phnom Bakheng –- protecting the temple structure from further deterioration through stabilization, waterproofing, repairs and partial reconstruction.

Located on a hilltop, Bakheng is a popular tourist spot to see sunset views of the nearby Angkor Wat temple, the most famous of the monuments in the Angkor complex.

But the large numbers of visitors who scramble each day up Bakheng's worn stairways makes it one of the most threatened temples in the park.

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Cambodian kickboxers triumph in South Korea

Written by Vong Sokheng
Saturday, 07 June 2008
boxing.jpgCambodian kickboxers Mey Sopheap, left, and Lao Sinath, right, both returned victorious from matches in South Korea.
In a major boon to the homegrown, cash-strapped world of Cambodian kickboxing, fighters Mey Sopheap and Lao Sinath recently triumphed over international competition at South Korea’s One Match Winner’s Cup, an amateur tournament held in the city of Nanchu.

Sopheap, 70 kg, outscored his Korean opponent in a three-round bout, while Sinath’s Korean rival conceded midway through a bruising second round in the 60kg weight division.

Oum Yourann, president of the Cambodian Amateur Boxing Federation (CABF), said June 4 that top local boxers hope to participate in more invitational tournaments abroad.

“Cambodian boxers could earn more money, experience and recognition for their country by competing in the international friendship tournaments,” Yourann said.

Sopheap and Sinath’s South Korean victories on May 31 earned them $200 each, rich spoils compared to the 350,000 riels (about $87) they fight for here.

Local paydays are also increasingly rare for Cambodia’s best boxers, as they lack viable competition. Yourann said at least 10 fighters in the CABF stable are waiting for international invitations, having vanquished the field of domestic challengers.

But the usual obstacle remains.

“The CAFB lacks funding to travel to international competitions, therefore we are looking for invitations with sponsors,” Yourann said.

Challenges occur inside the ring too, when fighting abroad. Sopheap and Sinath both suffered penalties for employing knees and elbows in clinches, acceptable blows here at home, which the Koreans deem too rough.

“There were some problems with rule violations when we hugged up during the fights. I used my elbows and knees, which were not allowed,” Sopheap said.

At present, boxers Chey Kosal and Birth Samkhan, 73kg and 65kg, respectively, are in France preparing for a tournament on June 22. If the CAFB’s application to the World Traditional Boxing Federation is approved, Cambodia may host its own international friendship tournament later in 2008. (Vong Sokheng)

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Gov't threatens legal action against police who abuse sex workers

Written by Nguon Sovan
Friday, 06 June 2008
Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng has threatened legal action against officials accused of sexually abusing or robbing sex workers taken into custody during an ongoing crackdown on prostitution.

The threat comes a day after sex workers gathered in Phnom Penh to protest the implementation of a new anti-trafficking law that critics say gives authorities a license to rape.

The law, promulgated in February, is aimed at curbing people smuggling, either for labor or sexual exploitation. It has resulted in mass brothel closures throughout the country.

Critics say implementation of the new law has led to rising abuses by police against sex workers. At a June 4 protest against the new law several sex workers alleged being raped, beaten and robbed while in police custody following brothel raids and sweeps through public places where prostitutes ply their trade.

“We have heard this information ... the government, especially the Ministry of Interior, will take legal action against the officials who are accused of rapes of sex workers," Sar Kheng said June 5

Sar Kheng added, however, that sex workers have yet to present any evidence of abuse.

He was speaking at the release of the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons study, which this year upgraded Cambodia to Tier 2, the middle of three tiers which indicates that the country is making efforts to address its trafficking problem.

Hundreds of sex workers attended the June 4 rally against the new legislation. In addition to alleged police abuses, they said the new law has hindered HIV/AIDS care and prevention programs among prostitutes.

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Economic growth to ease to 7.0 percent in 2008, inflation remains high: IMF

Written by Meixner, Seth
Friday, 06 June 2008
Cambodia's economic growth is expected to dip into the single digits this year, dropping more than three points to 7.0 percent, the International Monetary Fund said on June 6, citing a slowdown in the Kingdom's key garment sector.

But the decrease from 2007's growth of 10.25 percent is not likely to hurt Cambodia's position as one of the region's most robust economies, it said in a statement released at the end of a round of talks between IMF and senior government officials.

"Economic activity in Cambodia remains robust, although the pace of growth is expected to ease. ... The moderation mainly reflects slowing garment exports due to weaker external demand and heightened regional competition," the IMF said.

The garment sector is impoverished Cambodia's largest industrial employer – giving jobs to more than 330,000 people – and one of the main sources of foreign exchange.

But while exports topped $2 billion in 2007, orders plummeted by 46 percent in the last quarter of the year, raising fears that the industry would be badly shaken by increasing competition from China and Vietnam.

Inflation, which in January rose to 18.7 percent, will also hold back growth and continue to affect mostly poor Cambodians who have been hit hard by spiraling food and fuel costs.

"The mission shared authorities' concern with rising inflation and its adverse effect on the poor," the IMF said.

More than a third of Cambodia's 14 million people remain mired in poverty, living on the equivalent of $1 a day.

While record-high international oil and food prices have contributed heavily to inflation in Cambodia, domestic commercial bank lending, which increased 100 percent year-on-year in early 2008, has also flooded the economy with cash and added to inflationary pressures, the IMF said.

The government has tightened its monetary policies in an attempt to rein in inflation – including raising bank reserve requirements in a bid to curb high credit growth and reduce the demand for loans.

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Government moves to end price gouging as gasoline prices hit record highs

(Friday, June 6, 2008)

Written by Kay Kimsong
Friday, 06 June 2008
gasoline.jpgTracey Shelton
Pump prices remain at records highs, hovering just below 6,000 riels per liter.
Finance Minister Keat Chhon has ordered a special ministry committee to be formed to monitor the price of gasoline amid fears the fuel companies were gouging prices, which have crept towards record highs of 6,000 riels ($1.50) a liter during the past few days, a ministry official said.

The move, announced June 4, was the first time the government has intervened directly to try and ease spiraling gas prices, which have also driven up the cost of food and other consumer goods.

Finance Secretary of State Chea Peng Chheang told the Post that the ministry was worried that fuel companies were taking advantage of skyrocketing global oil costs to unfairly raise local pump prices

The new committee, while not putting caps on prices, would "work closely" with the fuel companies to determine how much should be charged for gasoline and diesel.

“Petroleum companies need not ask the ministry how much to raise prices, but they need to make sure they are not charging over market value,” he said.

The committee will also assess the cost of other consumer goods, which have risen sharply.

"The ministry just wants to understand why a company decides to raise prices for this or that, but the ministry will never interfere with a company's pricing decisions ... it is a free market in Cambodia," Chheang said.

Officials from fuel companies participating in the June 4 meeting with the finance minister said they welcomed the creation of the committee.

“I think the ministry wants to know the price of gasoline to make sure that petroleum companies are not overcharging,” said Hour Heng, vice president of the Cambodian fuel giant Sokimex.

“We accept the request of the ministry to control the price of gasoline and diesel,” he said. “It is an acceptable idea."

But they also pointed out that their pricing decisions were driven largely by international oil prices.

“We can’t predict future international oil prices and are not sure if the price of fuel in Cambodia will increase," Heng said, while Stephane Dion, managing director for Total Cambodge, wrote an email on June 5: “This is a simple question of supply and demand."

The government has already tried to curb the price of gasoline by not raising the tariff on imported fuel – a move that officials say will cost the government $300 million in uncollected tax revenue.

Diesel is currently taxed at $103 per ton, while the per ton tax on gasoline is $254.

Some one million tons of petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel, are imported each year into Cambodia, according to industry officials.

Even with this measure in place, fuel company officials say they are making very little money.

According to a senior official at Tela Kampuchea Company who did not want to be named, global oil costs have reduced the company's profits to about 200 riels per liter.

“We only make a little profit – many people do not know that," he said.

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• Mondulkiri families in land dispute plead for PM's help

Written by Khouth Sophakchakrya
Representatives of more than 800 ethnic Phnong families in Mondulkiri province arrived in Phnom Penh on June 3 to deliver a personal plea to Prime Minister Hun Sen asking that he order the return of traditional farmland allegedly confiscated and bulldozed by a private company.

Srev Kloek, 58, said he was representing 813 households in seven villages of Bousra commune, in Mondulkiri’s Pichenda district, whose plots of land – used sporadically by the Phnong for generations – were taken on April 9 by the Khov Chea Ly Company.

The company had illegally bulldozed more than 1,000 hectares of the ethnic minority’s traditional farmland and threatened villagers who complained with jail, Kloek said.

“We’re not scared by their threats; we just need our traditional rotating farmland. We can’t live without land for our rotating farms,” he said, referring to the Phnong’s agricultural cycle in which they use plots for three years before moving on, sometimes not returning to the same farmland for 12 or 15 years.

Kloek said the land the families were currently tending had not been cleared but those areas the group intended to return to in the future had been leveled.

Most Phnong in the region earned their living by collecting resin, vines and rattan in the forest or by growing cashews, bananas and rice.

However, Kloek said the Khov Chea Ly Company had destroyed almost all their land to make way for a rubber plantation.

“After they did that, it seems like we can’t even breathe,” he told reporters on June 3 during an outdoors press conference near the National Assembly in Phnom Penh.

A representative of the Khov Chea Ly Company, Chey Rithy, attended the briefing and called on the Phnong villagers to return to Mondulkiri.

“The company will give the land back if it really did illegally bulldoze the villagers’ traditional rotating farmland,” Rithy said.

“We only bulldozed those areas without farms or forests,” he added.

Rithy told reporters the government had provided Khov Chea Ly with a 2,700-hectare land concession and the company had so far only cleared land for a road and three bridges.

Mondulkiri deputy governor Nha Runchan said he did not know how legitimate the Phnong villagers’ complaints were, but noted that the tribe had built a reputation for being trustworthy.

“The Phnong ethnic minority always tells the truth, they never lie to anyone. So they would not complain if the company did not illegally bulldoze their farms,” Runchan said.

The Phnong representatives vowed to remain in Phnom Penh until someone working for the prime minister gave them a written statement saying they could continue to use the disputed land.

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• US upgrades Cambodia's anti-human trafficking rating

Written by Seth Meixner
sex-workers.jpgTracey Shelton
Once a teeming red light district, Street 70 in Phnom Penh is mostly quiet today. Authorities in recent weeks have pushed to rid the city of visible signs of the sex trade.
The US government has upgraded Cambodia's anti-human trafficking rating for the first time since 2006, saying that the Kingdom has made a significant effort to combat people smuggling.

The country has been placed this year in Tier 2, the middle category in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report, putting it alongside countries like Chile, Angola and El Salvador, which are among the 170 countries assessed.

Since 2006 Cambodia has languished on the Tier 2 Watch List after being relegated to the lowest category, Tier 3, in 2005.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so," said the State Department in its report released on June 5.

"Cambodia is placed on Tier 2 for the first time since 2004 due to the government’s increased engagement in combating trafficking in persons over the previous year," it added.

The assessment follows Cambodia's passage of new anti-trafficking legislation which criminalized all forms of human trafficking, as well as the formation in April 2007 of a national anti-trafficking taskforce.

"This legislation provides law enforcement authorities the power to investigate all forms of trafficking and is a powerful tool in efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers and have them face stringent punishments," the State Department said.

"High-level government officials have spoken publicly about a 'zero-tolerance' policy for officials profiting from or colluding in trafficking in persons," it added.

But the new legislation has been sharply criticized by advocates for commercial sex workers who say the law has also led to an increase in abuses by authorities cracking down on prostitution.

Many sex workers, advocates claim, have been beaten, raped or robbed while in police detention, and the mass closure of brothels has hindered efforts curb the spread of HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.

"This law ... increases violence, discrimination and human rights abuses against sex workers. It allows for corruption to spread among law enforcers," said Pich Sokchea of the Women's Network for Unity, who was speaking June 4 at a rally by sex workers against the legislation.

"Many times, when the brothels are raided police rape the women before arresting them," added Sokchea, who is also a sex worker.

Despite its progress, Cambodia remains a source and destination country for persons trafficked both for sex or labor, the State Department points out.

"Women and girls are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to Thailand and Malaysia.... Some Cambodian male migrant workers returning from India, South Korea, and Malaysia reported being subjected to conditions of forced labor and debt bondage," it said.

"Children are trafficked to Thailand and Vietnam to beg or work on the streets selling candy or flowers or shining shoes," it added, recommending that the government increase anti-trafficking training for authorities and step up court prosecutions of people smugglers. from Phnom Penh Post

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•Sex workers rally against new anti-trafficking law

sex-workers-demand-rights.jpgCat Barton
Chanting "save us from saviours," sex workers protest gross police mistreatment during the latest crackdown on commercial sex workers and human trafficking.
For six months they have endured worsening physical and sexual abuse at the hands of police over-zealously enforcing a new anti-trafficking law, but now Cambodian sex workers are fighting back.

More than 500 commercial sex workers rallied together on June 4 to protest the massive escalation of violent police raids on brothels and the criminalization of sex work due to new US-backed "model" anti-trafficking legislation, passed in February this year.

The "day of action," held at the Women's Network for Unity (WNU) in Phnom Penh, called for the repeal of the new anti-trafficking law, which critics say conflates prostitution with trafficking and is so over-broad that even carrying condoms can now get you arrested.

Chanting "save us from saviors" and waving placards saying "condoms protect, police threaten," hundreds of red-shirted sex workers demanded their human rights be respected and asserted they did not need to be "saved" from their jobs in brothels, least of all by lecherous, avaricious police officers.

“During brothel raids the police beat sex workers with sticks, stones, or weapons, and take all their money and jewelry," said Pheng Phally, a sex worker and team leader of the WNU.

"If any sex workers are pretty, the police gang rape them before sending them to the rehabilitation center where there is not enough food and very poor hygiene."

Video-taped evidence of the abuse of sex workers by Cambodian law-enforcement officials was presented at the event, which comes just one day before Minister of Interior Sar Kheng is due to make an announcement on the US State Department's annual assessment of the Kingdom’s anti-trafficking efforts.

WNU's Phally explained that after the new anti-trafficking legislation passed the police ramped-up brothel raids, began targeting street-based sex workers and closing down karaoke bars.

Not only does the new climate of fear and repression make it nearly impossible for the tens of thousands of women employed in the Kingdom's sex industry to earn a living, but they are being "beaten and treated like animals" during the raids, she said.

“We have gathered today to ask the government to repeal the law and stop the violent raids on us, we have rights too and we need to be allowed to earn money for ourselves and our families – sex work is work," Phally said.

The head of Cambodia's anti-trafficking police, Bith Kim Hong, on May 13 denied reports from groups like the WNU that large numbers of prostitutes were being rounded up under the new law’s soliciting clause, only to emerge from jail stripped of their money and possessions, or showing signs of physical and sexual abuse.

“It is not true police are using this law to arrest and extort money from the suspects. We never arrest prostitutes but rather we save them from brothels,” he told the Post at the time.

Cambodia’s “Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation” is based on US-style model anti-trafficking legislation that seeks to eliminate human trafficking by criminalizing the sex industry as a whole.

Activists claim it was only passed in a misguided attempt to meet anti-trafficking standards imposed by the US State Department, and point to the fact other US agencies –- such as USAID -– oppose the law. from Phnom Penh Post

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