CCHR Media Alert ‐ Phnom Penh, 30 April 2012 Villagers will rally at a Public Forum in Battambang on 3 May 2012 over controversial injunction of Battambang Judge Around 400 villagers from Boeung Pi Point, Kraper Seseb Village, Lvea Commune, Bavel District, Battambang Province and Prasat Rang, Khcheay Village, Takong Commune, Malai District, Banteay Meanchey Province will be rallying at a public forum on “Human Rights and Development”organized by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) on 3 May 2012 from 1:30 pm‐5:00pm at Boeung Pi Point, Kraper Seseb Village, Lvea Commune, Bavel District, Battambang Province. During the public forum, the participants will discuss the injunction issued by Battambang Judge, Mr. Sa Ouen Kosal Mony on 29 February 2012 that offered Oknha Song Thorn and two other men, Tun Bunthoeun and Khun Tehsy, the right to enjoy on 638 hectares of land currently farmed by some 300 families in Boeung Pi Point, Kraper Seseb Village, Lvea Commune, Bavel District, Battambang Province and Prasat Rang, Khcheay Villages, Takong Commune, Malai District, Banteay Meanchey Province. The public forum will offer the villagers an opportunity to raise their issues and concerns, and request local authorities, government ministries and other relevant institutions, as well as civil society, to help them find a peaceful and acceptable solution. Land conflict in Boeung Pi Point and Prasat Rang has been a re‐occurring problem since 2006 when Oknha Song Thorn, Tun Bunthoeun and Pen Ke took bulldozers and razed over 600 hectares of land that villagers had previously used for farming. After hundreds of villagers took part in a number of protests to voice their anger about the land grabbing, in 2006, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey Provincial Authorities issued warrants confiscating the land from Oknha Song Thorn, TunBunthoeun and Pen Ke, with the land being kept as state property. The injunction issued by theBattambang judge to offer rights over land to the same persons who the Battambang and Banteay Meanchey Provincial Authorities previously confiscated it from is not only highly unusual but also raises questions about the role of the court in these disputes, while all the time contributing to the poverty of ordinary Cambodians who have been suffering as a consequence of this ongoing land dispute. The invited guest speakers in the forum: 1. H.E Sean Sout Thang Battambang Deputy Provincial Governor 2. H.E Ham Mony Member of Battambang Provincial Council 3. Mr. Chun Bun Chan Bavel deputy District Governor 4. Mr. Theang Saren Chief of Lvea Commune, Bavel district, Battambang province 5. Mr. Ke Vin Chief of Takong Commune, Malai district, Banteay Mean Chey Province 6. Mr. Sun Tek LICADHO’s Battambang Office Coordinator For more information, please contact CCHR’s Human Rights Network Project Coordinator Mr. Vann Sophath at 012 941 206 or e‐mail [email protected] .