Losing Ground - Human Rights Party.

Losing Ground
Who is Pheapimex?
The director of Pheapimex Group is an Oknha 1 and senator in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. The company
shares offices with Pheapimex Fu Chan Cambodia Co. Inc., at 17 Wat Langkar Street in Phnom Penh. The
senator is also a director of Shukaku Inc., which is currently filling Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh. Shukaku
was granted a 99-year concession to develop 133 hectares around the lake, where an estimated 4,225 families
face eviction. 2
Due to weak disclosure regulations on shareholders in Cambodia, it is unclear who else is involved in
Pheapimex and the extent of its ties to senior members of the government. The senator’s wife reportedly helps
run Pheapimex. She also is a member of the Cambodian Red Cross run by the wife of the Prime Minister.
Reports note that Pheapimex first came to prominence as a logging concessionaire in the 1990s, but in recent
years diversified into other activities including hydro electric dams and mining.
1 “Oknha” is a title given to “any generous person” who contributes $100,000 to the state, either in cash or materials.
2
Economic Land Concessions in Cambodia: A Human Rights Perspective, UN Cambodia Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights November 2004.
available at: http://cambodia.ohchr.org/report_subject.aspx
Further information: UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia, Land concessions for economic purposes in Cambodia: a
human rights perspective, November 2004, available at: http://cambodia.ohchr.org/report_subject.aspx
The Pulp Invasion: The international pulp and paper industry in the Mekong Region. World Rainforest Movement bulletin No 58, May, 2002.
Far Left: Oum Huot was in the mosque
during the 2004 grenade attack. He
hopes to get a community forest for his
village.
Left: Kim Seng in Boribo district of
Kampong Chhnang: “They’ve cut all the
big trees.”
Right: Kuch Veng: “All the people are
rice farmers but they also depend on the
forest.”
Forced Evictions and Intimidation in Cambodia
29