VZCZCXRO5398
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHPF #0991/01 3480248
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130248Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0202
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000991 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM CB
SUBJECT: FORCED EVICTION ATTEMPT IN KAMPOT PROVINCE LEADS TO 
INJURIES 
 
This Message is Sensitive but Unclassified. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  On November 17, Kampot provincial forestry 
officials, police officers, and soldiers from the Royal Cambodian 
Armed Forces (RCAF) Brigade 31 (B31) attempted to evict 
approximately 300 families without lawful notice from Anlong Khmeng 
Leng village in Kampot Province. Forestry officials accuse the 
villagers of illegally occupying land in Bokor National Park. 
During the incident, seven villagers sustained injuries, three of 
them serious, and provincial forestry officials burned down the 
villagers' houses.  About 200 families currently remain in the area, 
and the provincial government said that it does not plan to attempt 
another eviction until it has determined which villagers need 
resettlement assistance.  This case highlights a larger set of land 
issues in Cambodia, which Post plans to incorporate in a future 
report.  END SUMMARY. 
 
EVICTION ATTEMPT 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On November 17, Kampot provincial forestry officials, 
police officers, and soldiers from RCAF's B31 attempted to evict 
approximately 300 families from Anlong Khmeng Leng village in Taken 
Commune, Chhuk District, Kampot Province.  [NOTE:  Media and NGO 
reports have called the village "Anlong Krom", but the residents 
refer to the village as "Anlong Khmeng Leng".  END NOTE.]  Forestry 
officials said that the villagers were illegally occupying land 
within the borders of Bokor National Park.  According to the Kampot 
governor's office, the operation included: 
 
 -- One Kampot provincial government official; 
 -- Twelve officials from the Ministry of Environment; 
 -- Nine provincial forestry officers; 
 -- Four provincial police officers; 
 -- Five military police officers; and 
 -- 24 soldiers from Brigade 31. 
 
¶3. (SBU) During the incident, three villagers sustained serious 
injuries.  A soldier reportedly beat one man with a stick and gun 
butt, and the other two victims reported being hit repeatedly on 
their backs and heads.  Human Rights NGOs on the scene reportedly 
attempted to evacuate the injured but alleged that soldiers 
prevented them from leaving until later in the evening.  The NGOs 
later took the injured to a hospital in Kampong Speu, where two 
still remain.  Four additional villagers sustained minor injuries 
and remained on the scene.  The injured villagers include: 
 
 -- Un Chandara, male, 22: Head injuries, bruising; 
 -- Hun Rin, male, 52: Heavy bruising; 
 -- Prak Yong, male, 52: Head injuries, smashed teeth; 
 -- Chheun Chhun, male, 29: Minor injuries; 
 -- Chhim Phean, female, 40: Minor injuries; 
 -- Chhim Thoeun, female, 24: Minor injuries; and 
 -- Prak Thoeun, male, 40: Minor injuries. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The eviction team also burned down the houses in the 
village during the incident.  Brigade 31 Deputy Commander COL Kong 
Lum told Poloff that his unit was just on the scene to provide 
security, and that forestry officials set fire to the houses.  A 
local forestry contact also said that forestry officials were 
responsible for dismantling and burning the houses.  Village 
representatives were not sure which groups had set fire to the 
houses, saying that the eviction forces all wore similar uniforms 
and were difficult to tell apart. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COL Kong Lum openly discussed the incident with Poloff and 
acknowledged the injuries to the villagers.  He said that during the 
eviction the villagers were armed with axes, knives and other 
weapons, and that the villagers were threatening some of the 
soldiers.  He showed photographs of villagers gathered in groups and 
armed with axes, knives and machetes, as well as photos of similarly 
armed villagers surrounding a single soldier standing in one of the 
houses, which he said were taken during the eviction attempt.  He 
produced two machetes and a pellet gun that he said his soldiers 
confiscated from evictees during the incident.  The colonel said 
that his unit eventually backed down during the eviction attempt to 
prevent further escalation of violence.  The villagers, who made no 
mention of being armed, maintain that the soldiers attacked without 
provocation. 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO THE EVICTION 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Anlong Khmeng Leng has grown significantly over the past 
five years according to villagers and local NGOs.  A community 
representative said that about 50 families occupied land in the area 
in the late 1990's, but that the village numbered about 300 families 
at the time of the eviction attempt.  Kampot Governor Khoy Khunhour 
accused "masterminds" of luring settlers to the area with the 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000991  002 OF 002 
 
 
promise of free land that could be occupied and then sold for a 
profit. 
 
¶7. (SBU) A Kampot government official told Poloff that forestry 
officials had informed the villagers on three or four occasions that 
they were illegally occupying state land and would have to leave. 
The villagers reported receiving two verbal eviction warnings from 
the military and maintained that they did not receive a written 
eviction notice at all.  They said that they did not receive notice 
of an eviction date and were taken by surprise when armed forces 
came to remove them on November 17. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Accusations of illegal logging have also contributed to the 
tension in the area.  The forestry office posted signs around the 
area informing villagers that they were within the boundaries of 
Bokor National Forest and could not log trees in the area.  The 
villagers maintain that they had only cleared trees on the land they 
occupied [NOTE: within Bokor National Park boundaries. END NOTE.] 
Poloff observed a truck loaded with timber that villagers said was 
for a wedding ceremony. 
 
CURRENT STATUS 
------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Because the eviction operation ended before it was 
completed, about 200 families remain on the disputed land.  Poloff 
visited the scene and confirmed that most of the houses in the 
village had been burned down, although some villagers had already 
begun rebuilding.  Community representatives told Poloff that 
although there are checkpoints at both ends of the major access road 
to the area, soldiers were allowing villagers to come and go freely. 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Although they have no legal claim to the land under the 
2001 Cambodian Land Law, the villagers maintain that because they 
are poor and without land, the provincial government should grant 
them a social concession to stay in Anlong Khmeng Leng.  Governor 
Khoy Khunhour told Poloff that he is working with local NGOs to 
determine which of the villagers are genuinely landless so that he 
can develop a resettlement plan.  He alleged, however, that over 
half of the Anlong Khmeng Leng villagers are transplants from other 
provinces that already own land elsewhere.  They should look to 
their own governors for assistance, he argued, rather than coming to 
Kampot and demanding land from him. 
 
¶11. (SBU) COL Kong Lum said that his unit is standing down for now 
(except for the road checkpoints), unless he receives further orders 
from his commander, which would presumably follow the governor's 
resettlement plan for the villagers.  He said that he has ordered 
his soldiers to stay away from the Anlong Khmeng Leng, as the 
villagers remain hostile to them when approached.  He also said that 
B31 plans to conduct a review of the incident to identify what 
happened and lessons learned.  DATT plans to follow-up on the review 
with B31's Commander, RADM Sun Saroeun. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) The exact details of the November 17 incident may never be 
completely clear, but the Anlong Khmeng Leng case is indicative of a 
larger set of common land issues in Cambodia.  Post is developing a 
cable to highlight these larger issues surrounding land ownership, 
land policy, and the use of the military (versus relying on the 
police) that complicate this case.  We will also develop a strategy 
for further engagement with the Cambodian government on land issues 
in general. 
 
 
RODLEY