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the bassac journal 1
L A X - T o k y o = 16hrs
Tokyo - Singapore = 12hrs
Singapore - Cambodia = 2 1/2hrs
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the bassac journal 2
Cambodian Living Arts. need i say more.
we are proud to see such a gattering.
the past, present, and future all in one.
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the bassac journal 3
this session instrument is:
the " jah-phey-dong whayne "
aka the Long arm guitar, two strings.
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Phnom Penh's Poor Face Forced Evictions
By: Human Rights Watch
Published: Aug 2, 2006 at 08:38
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The Cambodian government has been forcibly evicting thousands
of poor urban dwellers from prime real estate in Phnom Penh and
elsewhere, Human Rights Watch said today.
The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen should immediately call
a moratorium on massive forced evictions until it adopts a
comprehensive national housing and resettlement policy in
accordance with its national and international human rights obligations.
In the coming days, two low-income communities - totaling 1,600 families
or 6,000 people - face eviction in Phnom Penh. This week, the authorities
have threatened 150 families with eviction from a plot of land
known as "Group 78," located in central Phnom Penh near the Bassac River.
By mid-August, the government is expected to begin evicting
another 1,400 families living nearby in Village 15, where the 7NG
Company has been awarded the land they occupy.
According to municipal officials, residents evicted from Group 78
will be trucked to an isolated and barren relocation site on the
outskirts of the city. The relocation site lacks basic infrastructure,
sanitation facilities or potable water, and is prone to flooding.
Schools, medical facilities, markets and jobs are not available in
this undeveloped area, located more than 20 kilometers from Phnom Penh.
"Despite Hun Sen's pledges to tackle poverty and provide land titles
to 100 urban poor communities a year, these recent evictions
suggest a contrary policy," said Sara Colm, senior Asia researcher
at Human Rights Watch. "The epidemic of forced evictions by the
government often involves the unnecessary use of force and has
devastating consequences for the livelihoods of the poor."
During a forced eviction last month, armed riot police wielding electric
batons injured several villagers attempting to passively resist the move.
The eviction process at Group 78 came up suddenly, with no notification,
consultation or explanation given to the community.
Their first eviction notice, issued on June 22, stated that the community
had to move "in order to contribute to the beauty and development
of Phnom Penh." The most recent eviction notice, dated July 24,
stated that the city needed the land as a tourist site because it drains
well and is near the river and government ministries. Residents have
also been told that the city wants to build a road on their land.
The majority of the families have lived in Group 78 since the early 1980s,
establishing the right under Cambodian law (see below) to possess
and occupy the land. Some have been issued documents by local
authorities showing they have lived there since the 1980s. Most of
the families have rejected the government's offer of US$500 and a
plot of land, far from the city, measuring five by 12 meters, given
that their property - located on prime real estate - would sell for
considerably more (as much as $550 per square meter at current market rates).
During the last three months, more than 1,500 families have been
forcibly evicted from their neighborhoods in Phnom Penh on the
grounds that the land is owned by private companies or is needed
for public projects. Many of the residents have lived in the
settlements for more than a decade.
The recent evictions bear striking similarities. Riot police armed with guns,
shock batons, tear gas and shields cordon off the eviction sites before
dawn to bar human rights monitors, U.N. observers and journalists.
In many cases, police use or threaten unnecessary or excessive force
to remove residents and tear down their homes. Affected communities
are not adequately informed or consulted about the pending evictions,
nor are they provided due process or adequate legal assistance.
Compensation, if offered, is far below the market value of the
properties that communities are vacating. Resettlement sites,
typically located in remote, undeveloped areas far from the city
center, rarely provide basic government services.
On July 2, more than 200 policemen with guns, tear gas, shock batons
and shields forcibly evicted 168 families living near Monivong Hospital
in Phnom Penh. Three people were injured as a result of the excessive
use of police force, including a pregnant woman shocked with an
electric baton. The government's grounds for the eviction were that
the land was state property. However, it is known that the government
has given a private company, Royal Group, the right to use the land.
In June, 700 armed police and military police evicted more than 1,000
families living in a shantytown at Sambok Chap (Village 14) near
the Bassac River. Eight villagers were arrested in the pre-dawn
operation, and three of them remain in detention. Journalists and
human rights workers were prevented from observing the arrests
and eviction. One of those detained was a villager who permitted a
worker from a nongovernmental organization to watch
what was happening from his house.
Residents were dumped at a relocation site 20 kilometers from
Phnom Penh, where the 1,000 families were resettled on one
hectare of land that was uninhabitable. It lacked running water,
sanitation facilities, houses and electricity. Using plastic sheets,
bamboo and cardboard, the relocated families erected simple
dwellings to shield them from the monsoon rains. A private company,
Suor Srun Enterprises, initiated the eviction proceedings in May,
but neither the municipality nor the company has produced any
documentation of the company's title to the land. The governor
of Phnom Penh has said that Sambok Chap "pollutes our city's beauty."
"The government is allowing a handful of powerful and
well-connected individuals to line their own pockets while
trampling the human rights of thousands of poor people,"
Colm said. "The agenda seems to be to rid the city of the poor
while handing over prime real estate to the rich and powerful."
Because the government and courts at present have shown
themselves to be incapable of offering a fair, transparent,
uncorrupt and nonviolent process to implement evictions,
Human Rights Watch called for a government moratorium on
massive forced evictions. The government should develop a
procedure for evictions that is in conformity with U.N. human
rights standards. This procedure would provide that, prior to
any evictions, all feasible alternatives are explored in consultation
with affected persons, with a view to avoiding, or at least minimizing,
the use of force. Those facing eviction orders must have legal
remedies available. Human rights and U.N. monitors and
journalists must not be prevented from monitoring relocations.
In accordance with international human rights standards,
law enforcement officials may only use force during relocations
when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the
performance of their duty. In addition, the government should
implement clear procedures for the resettlement of evictees and
ensure market value compensation for anyone who has a legal
claim to ownership under Cambodia's land law. Relocation sites
should have adequate basic services and allow the possibility for
the relocated persons to earn a living and for children to go to school.
The ongoing forced evictions in Cambodia are in violation of national
and international law, in particular the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
which provides that Cambodia is legally obligated to respect,
protect and fulfill the right to adequate housing.
Other relevant laws and standards include:
* Cambodia's 2001 Land Law prohibits deprivation of ownership
without due process, and grants the right to apply for a land ownership
title to someone who has had uncontested possession of private property
in a nonviolent, continuous, open, obvious and good-faith manner for five years.
* Article 44 of the Cambodian Constitution states that the government
can only deprive someone of property for "public interest" purposes
and requires that the government pay victims fair and just compensation in advance.
* The government's "Strategy of Land Policy Framework" states
that the government should avoid forced evictions if at all possible;
if people are being evicted for public interest purposes,
the government must pursue a policy of compensation and relocation.
* The U.N. Comprehensive Human Rights Guidelines on
Development-Based Displacement urges governments to
conduct social impact assessments and make arrangements for
fair compensation and adequate resettlement conditions in advance of any eviction.
Human Rights Watch noted that the problem is not limited to
Phnom Penh. Publicly known cases of communities facing forced
evictions in the provinces include: Battambang (271 families);
Sihanoukville (271 families); Kandal (200 families);
Kompong Speu (134 families); Koh Kong (128 families);
Kampong Cham (99 families); Siem Reap (56 families);
Kampot (52 families); Kompong Thom (16 families);
and Kompong Chhnang (4 families).
Tonle Bassac Villagers Planning Court Battle
Saturday-Sunday, June 17-18, 2006
By Prak Chan Thul
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Almost 150 families living along the edge of Tonle Bassac's Village 14,
and who say they have legal documents proving they moved onto
the land between 1983 and 1992, have retained lawyers to fight their
possible eviction from the area.
Known as Group 78, and home to 146 families, the residents have retained
lawyers of the Community Legal Education Center and Legal Aid of Cambodia
in their fight to secure land titles they say are being improperly denied to them.
Thousands of families have been evicted from Village 14 over the last two months
and now the municipality has declared the land on which
Group 78 is located public property.
CLEC lawyer Eang Sopheak told reporters that the Phnom Penh Cadastral
Commission recognized the rights of the families to own the land in 1992.
"The villagers even have the documents of the village chief
and commune chief selling the land to them," he said.
"These fulfill the requirements of the 2001 Land Law," he said.
According to the Land Law, anyone able to prove they have lived on
land for more than five years must be issued land titles. Authorities, however,
have refused to give titles to residents of Group 78.
Group 78 villager Say Sophal told reporters that some of the residents' houses
have already been bulldozed and that they have been told by the
municipality they will be moved soon to near where the so-called
Village 14 "renters" were removed to on June 6.
"We are like ants drowning in the water," Say Sophal said.
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said he had no comment on Group 78.
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