O'kanteang Va Village, Pailin in Pailin Province's Sla Krau District, an Area Close to the Thai Border in in Cambodia's Fa
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
O’Kanteang Va Village, Pailin In Pailin Province’s Sla Krau District, an area close to the Thai border in in Cambodia’s far North West, residents of O’Kanteang Va and nine other nearby villages in Stung Trang commune have been affected by a dispute with local authorities, who accused them of illegally occupying and cultivating state land in June 2006. As a result, some local people have faced threats and intimidation, had their homes destroyed and been imprisoned. Pailin Province was a key stronghold of the Khmer Rouge for nearly two decades after their overthrow in 1979. Khmer Rouge forces retained significant control of the area during the civil war that followed until they underwent a process of integration in to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (“RCAF”) at the end of the 1990s. With the completion of that process, former Khmer Rouge Commander and Pol Pot’s former bodyguard,1 Mr. Y Chhean, was appointed Provincial Governor, and began working with General Hing Bun Heang, who leads Hun Sen’s Bodyguard Unit, to support local people to begin settling and farming in the area. Many former Khmer Rouge fighters were granted plots of land, as were a number of other families who moved to the area, several of whom CCHR interviewed. Mr. Pich Sothea first settled in what would become O’Kanteang Va Village in 2000 at the same time as seven other families. At that time the land was wild and uncultivated. He cleared a plot and began farming rice, corn and other crops. That year, Mr. Vor Roum, a local military leader, divided land in the area into plots and distributed them among the families living there, as well as families who were migrating there from other provinces to settle down and establish small farms. At the same time, Mr. Y Chhean and Mr. Hing Bun Heang visited local communities and distributed farming equipment, food, mosquito nets and other useful materials in order to support their efforts to secure sustainable livelihoods. This in turn drew more families to settle in the area. None of the villagers were issued with land titles, but in 2004-5, local authorities attempted to issue official notices of occupation. However, most residents of O’Kanteang Va Village, including Mr Pich Sothea, did not receive one, as the authorities were charging 15,000 riels (approximately US$ 3.75) per notice, so many people were not willing or able to pay. None of the villagers had any problems regarding their land occupation until a dispute arose in 2006. In June of that year, several representatives of the Sophany Aharan Nyharan company came to survey the area, joined by Mr. Vor Roum (by then deputy commune chief), commune chief Mr. Nim Phoeng, Mr. Klok Noy, a provincial cabinet member responsible for land dispute resolution, and Mr. Eich Saroo, a former Cambodian People’s Party member of the National Assembly. When local villagers asked about the purpose of their visit, they were told that the company had a plan to develop the area, but did not give any further explanation. The following month, between 16 and 18 July 2006, excavators 1 Meas Sokchea, ‘Pol Pot bodyguard Y Chhien to step down as governor’, The Phnom Penh Post (30 May 2014) arrived at Krinh Village, accompanied by police officers, RCAF soldiers and other security forces, attempting to clear land, but were prevented from doing so when a group of around 200 villagers gathered to protest. On 18 July 2006 two protestors, Un Sothea and Chheut Chhan, were arrested while protesting the destruction of their houses. Both men were detained overnight and then released. In April 2007, a mixed group of security forces led by provincial cabinet member Mr. Klo Noy demolished hundreds, and burned down two, houses in O’Kanteang Va Village, and forced a number of residents to sign documents authorizing the local authorities to take possession of their land, ostensibly to construct an airfield. On 27 May 2008 there were several arrests, including Pat Soeum, Pich Sothea and Saum Oeun, who were taken to the district office and accused of ‘inciting’ villagers to build houses on disputed land that had previously been cleared, but they were released later the same day. In response, over 100 villagers responded by protesting outside the local district police office and demanded the release of the three men – resulting in the release of all three on the same day. In August 2011, bulldozers again came to the area again to clear land at Phnom Khes point in Tumnup Thmei village, this time accompanied by provincial cadastral officer Si Voeun, district cadastral officer Sem Sakhan, police and military police officers. Some farm land was destroyed, but work was halted after around 400 protesting villagers intervened to prevent the works. On 06 June 2012, police and military police officers attended the bulldozing of around 95 hectares of farmland belonging to 19 families in Khren village, saying that they were acting under orders of Cambodia People’s Party National Assembly representative for Pailin Province, Mrs. Ban Sreymom, Mrs. Ban Sreymom is also the provincial chief of the Khmer Red Cross and the wife of Pailin governor, Y Chhien. However, the bulldozing was halted by the actions of over 100 villagers, who intervened to prevent the destruction. At this time, deputy district governor Som Sareth urged the 100 people not to intervene in the bulldozing because the state has designated this land as a provincial Special Economic Zone. He stated that the state would exchange this land for alternate lands at Phnom Khes. On 01 March 2014, provincial Deputy Governor Mr. Keurt Sothea led 14 trucks carrying a mixed group of 70 armed forces including RCAF members, military police, and border police to Phnom Krenh village, where families were ordered to vacate their houses if they wanted to avoid arrest on charges of illegally occupying state public land. Deputy commune chief Mr. Vor Roum allegedly urged Mr. Keurt Sothea not to arrest villagers and they agreed to allow the community to choose five representatives to engage in negotiations over the dispute. During negotiations, the authorities offered plots of land measuring 20 x 50 meters; however, the villagers refused because of the inadequacy of the offer. The next day, on 02 March 2014, Mr. Vor Roum informed the villagers that they had to vacate the land by 15 March, or they would be arrested and imprisoned. On 19 March 2014, after being denied meetings with provincial authorities, the community submitted a petition to the provincial governor to seek a solution to the dispute from the authorities. The petition was accepted by a provincial official, who told the people that they must not provoke any further problems and should await a resolution from the authorities. On 31 March 2014, community representatives Pich Sothea, Orm Sam Ath, and Orm Sam Ol were arrested for illegally occupying state public land. Mrs. Chhay Chhat and Mr. Tout Mak were also sought for arrest, but hid on their farms to evade the authorities. Mr. Tout Mak was eventually arrested on 01 April 2014, while Mrs. Chhay Chhay escaped. On 02 April the four representatives were charged at Pailin Provincial Court with infringing on public property, and held in detention. All four were released on bail on 10 July 2014. As of August 2015, the resolute villagers and activists remain hopeful that they will be given back their land. .