Losing Ground - Human Rights Party.

Losing Ground
study schools.” The parents are also quick to point out that
the missionaries provide rice and noodles. “Almost everyone
else has forgotten us,” one resident said, adding: “We need
education for our children; they help.” Another noted that
they had not received legal assistance in more than a year.
Some residents admit to being troubled that their children
may lose their Buddhist heritage. When pressed, Mrs. Sarun
replied forlornly: “We have no choice.” She, along with a
small group of residents, have made six attempts so far to
meet the provincial governor to request land to relocate
their village on, since his appointment following Cambodia’s
national election in July 2008. On each of their visits to City
Hall the residents have requested land on which they can
rebuild their village. They say they have gotten no further
than the administration department, and that they are being
ignored.
“No one [in the government] wants to talk about this
anymore,” Mrs. Sarun said. “They always say they are going
to have a meeting to discuss this, but they never give us a
date.” Not a single official from the municipal government
has visited them, residents say. However, prior to the national
election in July 2008 they had been promised new land by an
official of the Cambodia People’s Party, but after the party’s
landslide victory this pledge was “forgotten,” residents say.
They say they plan to move back to the 16 hectare plot they
were evicted from if they don’t get new land soon. “We’ve
told City Hall that if we don’t get compensation [new land]
we will move back to our land,” Mrs. Sarun said.
This has provoked a threat. “A member of the Commune
Council warned us that if we try to do that the same thing
will happen to us again,” she said. “Now, we’re asking for just
half of our land,” she continued, adding that they would take
the section furthest back from the road because they believe
it is less valuable.
Tear gas and AK47s
At about 7am on April 20, 2007, more than 100 heavily
armed military, municipal and civil police blocked access to
the village and ordered the residents to leave immediately.
They refused. Over the next two hours the number of
armed police swelled to more than 300, residents say. They
were armed with AK47s, truncheons, electric batons, tear
gas, and water cannons that they used to flush the residents
out of their homes.
Police began by firing warning shots into the ground and
air. Terrified children ran towards the beach, the parents say.
Some residents fought back with stones, sticks and knives,
but were swiftly subdued.
“When a gun is pointed at your face it is hard to fight back,”
said Mr. Sang Pean, 49, who said he had been shot above the
knees in both legs during a previous, failed attempt to evict
the residents on November 25, 2006. There were far fewer
armed officers that day and the residents fended them off.
Left: In April 2007,
residents are forced to lie
on the ground at gunpoint
as their homes are torched.
They were prevented from
moving personal belongings,
including mats and
blankets, from their homes.
Right: Some of the
residents were knocked
unconscious after being
struck with truncheons and
electric batons. Residents say
police continued to hit them
after they had been forced
to lie on the ground.
Forced Evictions and Intimidation in Cambodia
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