Losing Ground - Human Rights Party.

Losing Ground
Siem Reap, that “the case was suspended,” and there would
be no more arrests. “Go home,” he told them after handing
them a letter that he assured them guaranteed their safety.
However, he also admonished the farmers, as they sat on
the ground in a semicircle around him, telling them that they
had claimed on their complaint to the prime minister that
175 families were affected, but when officials visited them
they discovered that fewer than 40 people were present.
“There have been many similar cases in the past and you
did not show up when the government was providing the
people with a chance to discuss them,” he told them. “You
“We don’t want an investigation after we’ve been
killed. We want the government, NGOs and
reporters to keep an eye on us and intervene.”
Chi Kreang farmer
had your chance and you didn’t show up,” he reiterated,
without mentioning the time, place and venue the farmers
had failed to attend to seek a resolution. “If you need help
go to an NGO,” he told them before wishing them luck and
success in their case.
He spoke to them like they were children, one observer
noted. Still, Mr. Sareth said he felt “warm” when he received
the letter. Although the envelope was unsealed, he would
not even open it to read its content because, he explained,
the official had told him to deliver it directly to Siem Reap
authorities.
Soon after they had been told to leave the pagoda, they
began receiving phone calls warning that provincial police
were threatening their families. These reports of threats were
confirmed over the next few days by the steady stream of
residents from their villages seeking safety in Phnom Penh.
Moreover, the legal advice they were urged to obtain from
NGOs suggested the official letter was not as helpful as they
had been led to believe.
The farmers sought more assistance from NGOs and took
part in a press conference at LICADHO's office on March
30, in which they expressed fear for their safety. “We don't
want an investigation after we've been killed. We want the
government, NGOs and reporters to keep an eye on us and
intervene," Mr. Sareth told the handful of reporters who
showed up. 3
The next day they visited the Land Dispute Resolution
office and on April 1 they marched from Independence
Monument to the National Assembly to call for the release of
the nine jailed farmers, permission to harvest, and the arrest
of the police officer and soldier who had fired on them.
However, one week after their visit to the prime minister’s
estate, a Member of Parliament with the ruling Cambodia
People’s Party, denied the government knew about the case.
The MP told The Cambodia Daily that the government had
only received the complaint that morning.
By then the farmers who had fled Siem Reap were finding
it increasingly difficult to find refuge in Phnom Penh. They
had been driven from Hun Sen Park, where they had tried to
sleep, on March 29 by municipal police and were beginning
to feel the capital was becoming an increasingly dangerous
city in which to seek assistance.
“We don’t want to stay in the city because police and
military are chasing us around,” one farmer said. The
55-year-old farmer said, however, that they had no other
option because of the severity of their situation. Without
their land they could not survive, he said.
The farmers sought refuge at Ounalum Pagoda on March
30 but by April 10 they were ordered to leave it. “The order
came from the government,” a monk who had been helping
them said.
Venerable monk Sovath Loun, actually from Chi Kreang,
but who relocated himself to Ounaloum Pagoda after the
crackdown, said he was ordered to stop assisting the farmers
and instruct them to return to Siem Reap. By mid afternoon
all but four had left.
Some were afraid to return to Siem Reap and remained in
hiding.
“After [the groups] arrive here an advisor
comes to meet them quickly and tells them
to move to another place and promises they
will send someone to solve their problem.
Sometimes there are as many as three groups a
day. They come from all over the country, all 24
provinces.”
Vendor near entrance to
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s estate
3
Editors at some Cambodian newspapers say they are overwhelmed with reports on land disputes and lack the staff to investigate all of them.
Forced Evictions and Intimidation in Cambodia
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