adhoc presentation (novib)

8/14/2019 ADHOC Presentation (Novib)

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Presentation

on

The Management and

Resolution of Land Conflict

in CambodiaBy

The Cambodian Human Rights andDevelopment Association



I-Forms of Land Conflict

• Forced eviction: unfair compensation

• Land grabbing by powerful people

(military, gendarmerie, police, high ranking government officials)

• Violations on people’s land by Economic land concessionto private companies (more than 1 million ha of ELC)

• Non-respect of Communal land of Indigenous People

• Illegal deforestation has affected community forests andlivelihood of poor people, especially indigenous people



Forced Eviction at Bek

Chan, Ang Snuol

district, Kandal



Final Forced Eviction at Deikrahorm, Phnom Penh

on Jan 24, 2009



Resettlement site

Andong Damnak Trayeung



II-Causes of Land Conflict

• Fast increase of land’s prices• Increasing number of population• Improper governmental strategy of development (forced

evictions without fair compensation)• Economic land concession without proper assessment

of environmental and social impact• Corruption in the process of sporadic registration and

slowness of systematic registration• Failure or long process of resolution of land dispute by

land mechanisms (Cadastral Commissions at all levelsand National Authority for Resolution of Land Disputes)• Impunity of powerful and rich land grabbers• Installation of new military bases along the border during

tense situation with Thailand.



Statistics of Land conflicts - Graph

148

356335

450

382

306

145

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Case

Military

Police

Gendarme

Civilservant

Court

Compan



Statistics of Land Cases - Table

Year Case Arrested Military Police Gendarme Civil servant Court Company

2003 148 4 16 12 2 81 1 36

2004 356 26 46 23 6 226 15 40

2005 335 53 52 31 4 188 11 49

2006 450 78 66 32 11 206 9 126

2007 382 149 40 21 4 126 12 179

2008 306 150 125 23 7 65 13 73

2009 145 135 43 13 3 46 4 36Note: 2009 count from Jan-Aug



Installation of a new military base of the tank division No.

69 to protect the border at Preahnet Preah, Banteay

Meanchey, over 900ha of people’s land



ELC at Kg. Speu, Oral mountain, to HLH company

owned by a sister of a top leader, over more than 8000ha of land

of Suy Indigenous people community



III-Communal Land of Indigenous People

• No collective land registration and demarcation for IPwhich was recognized by 2001 land law and 2002 forestlaw.

• Insecure tenure of communal land: Widespread of illegalland occupation by powerful and rich people and illegaldeforestation

- Traditional rotation of cultivation is not respected

- Burial sites and spiritual forests are not well protected

- Indigenous people lands have been grabbed by armed force- Economic land concession over Indigenous people’s land

• No preservation of indigenous people identity



IV- ADHOC’s Intervention and Advocacy

A-Legal support• Investigate, collect information and organize fact finding

missions on land dispute cases before sendingintervention letters to relevant institutions.

• Regularly follow up each case until the end of theprocess (some cases last many years).

• Provide legal advice and legal assistance to poor andpowerless victims in land disputes.



Intervention with police commissioner to release victim

in land dispute at Borvel, Battambang



Meeting to convince provincial authority to find facts of

police shooting a villager in a land dispute at Chikreng



B-Strengthening people’s voice

• Helping local community members to establish networks throughsensitization sessions on how to protect their land rights and how toresolve their problems by peaceful means (including HR principles,land law, etc…)

• Strengthening the voice of victims by encouraging them to use

media through interviews with journalists, organizing pressconferences, issuing press releases and statements

• Supporting victims to discuss land issues with provincial authoritiesin various workshops and following up the implementation of therecommendations from those workshops in order to solve landconflicts in favor to the poor victims

• Providing legal advice and protection if victims’ communities prefer to organize peaceful marches or demonstrations

• Organizing different meetings or seminars between communityleaders for sharing experiences and lessons learned



Strike, Campaign and Spiritual Ceremony to urge resolution of

chronic land conflicts in Koh Kong and Rattanakiry



Campaign in Rattanakiry to stop

deforestation and land grabbing



People sensitization session in Rattanakiry

province



• Publish annual Human Rights Situation reports andthematic reports to sensitize national and internationalpublic on the issue,

• Highlight the issue into the NGOs report for the CDCF(Cambodian Development Coordination Forum) meeting

to attract the attention of donor’s communityrepresentatives to pressure Cambodian Government tosolve the problem,

• Organize press conferences or issue press statementsto urge Cambodian authorities to solve some seriouscases of land conflicts,

• Write parallel reports to the UN Human Rights Bodiesand HR Council on this issue (economic, social andcultural rights and UPR),

• Broadcast Radio talk show program to sensitize thepublic

C - Advocacy



Press conference on land issue at Phnom Penh and

Battambang



Workshop on Land Rights and Natural Resources

in Sihanouk Province



• In the context of weakness of judiciary and landdispute mechanisms, legal advice and legalassistance alone is not sufficient, strengtheningcommunity of the victims is an important

complementary factor to protect land rights of poor people, especially indigenous people• Help of donors’ community to put pressure on

the government is also useful to rectify thesituation

• Common voice from national, internationalNGOs, UN agencies and donors’ community onthe issue is very needed to make the pressuresuccessful

V-Lessons Learned



Challenges

• The judicial system became an oppression instrumentof the powerful and rich people against the poor andpowerless ones, more and more community leadersare arrested and detained by court order,

• Human rights activists who dare to protect thosecommunity leaders are intimidated through criminalcharge (ADHOC’s activists, Pen Bunna case,…),

• Freedom of expression and association are seriousconcerns for NGOs and journalists (draft NGO law and

Criminal code on defamation and insult)



43 people were arrested, 4 injured

at Anlong Samnor, Chikreng, Siem Reap

on March 22, 2009 in a land dispute



Recommendations

•

Register, as fast as possible, the communal land of Indigenous People,

• Strengthen the voice of poor and powerless victims of land conflicts,

• Stop forced evictions until the Government has adopted proper guideline’s policy on resettlement and relocation,

• Stop arresting and detaining victims’ representatives in land conflicts,

• Stop intimidating human rights activists by using the court charges

• Maintain and widen political space, especially freedom of expression, assembly and association.



Thanks for your kind attention

adhoc presentation (novib)

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