VZCZCXRO4756
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0062/01 0260700
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260700Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0333
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000062 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON KDEM CB
SUBJECT: HIGH-PROFILE PHNOM PENH LAND DISPUTE ENDS IN EVICTION 
 
REFS: A) PHNOM PENH 60, B) 08 PHNOM PENH 1030 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1. (SBU) On January 24, police, municipal authorities, and employees 
of Cambodian construction firm 7NG evicted the remaining residents 
of Dey Krahorm, ending one of the city's most high-profile land 
disputes.  Eighteen residents were reportedly injured, two seriously 
by bulldozers that were clearing houses, and the remainder in 
clashes with police and 7NG employees.  The two seriously injured 
residents are currently hospitalized but are expected to recover in 
the next few days.  7NG trucks transported the approximately 130 
evicted families to the community's designated resettlement site in 
Damnak Trayoeng, about 16 kilometers west of the city. 
 
EARLY MORNING EVICTION 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Community members and NGO representatives reported that 
police began to surround the area at 2 AM.  At 5 AM, employees and 
vehicles of 7NG, the company developing the property, entered the 
area and began to dismantle the remaining houses.  Residents 
reportedly resisted by throwing stones at police officers and 7NG 
employees, and the police fired tear-gas canisters and used 
fire-hoses to disperse the crowd, leading to some of the reported 
injuries.  Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun told Pol 
Assistant that he had instructed the police not to use violence 
during the eviction.  He cited an example where one of the evictees 
allegedly attacked a police officer with an axe but was not arrested 
or harmed.  At 6:30 AM, Poloff visited the neighborhood to observe 
the eviction, although police had blocked main access points to the 
area.  A large, peaceful crowd had gathered just outside of the area 
to observe the incident. 
 
CONFLICTING REPORTS ABOUT COMPENSATION 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The eviction follows three weeks of highly publicized 
negotiations between the Dey Krahorm community and 7NG, with the 
Phnom Penh Municipality acting as a middleman.  7NG issued a final 
offer of $20,000 per family on January 13, which it has now 
rescinded.   Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun told the press on the day 
of the eviction that the evictees can still claim an earlier offer 
of $15,000 per family, or a house in Damnak Trayoeng, but a 
conflicting January 25 news report quoted the Deputy Governor as 
saying that the evictees now only have the option to claim the 
offered house. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Mann Chhoeun told Pol Assistant on January 26 that 
residents could still possibly negotiate with 7NG for a cash 
settlement, but that the housing would likely be their only option 
now.  A representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights (UNOHCR) told Poloff that she had met with the Deputy 
Governor as well and received a similar response.  UNOHCR is now 
working with the residents to compile a list of those who would like 
to receive cash compensation.  Residents will meet with the Deputy 
Governor in the afternoon on January 26. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The majority of the evictees are now in the resettlement 
site at Damnak Trayoeng and are awaiting clarification on their 
compensation options.  Human rights NGOs are criticizing the 
resettlement area as inadequate; the UNOHCR says that the site is 
better than many other resettlement areas.  There are houses for the 
evictees, if they accept them, and 7NG is reportedly installing 
water facilities and building a school.  The biggest challenge for 
those that resettle will be the distance from their jobs and 
schools.  A group of about 20 families is staying in the Phnom Penh 
offices of the human rights NGO Cambodian League for the Promotion 
and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), which is providing legal 
assistance. 
 
¶6. (SBU) 7NG is only offering 91 Dey Krahorm families some form of 
compensation.  However, community representative Chan Vichet told 
Pol Assistant that the government and 7NG are not counting an 
additional 40 families that do not have recognized addresses for 
their residences (Ref B). The municipal government believes that 
some of these residents moved into the area after compensation 
negotiations began, but the lawyer advising the community believes 
the majority of these 40 families have legitimate possession claims. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Human rights groups have condemned the police's actions as 
excessive and criticized the municipal government for conducting the 
eviction without sufficient warning.  However, conducting the 
eviction early in the morning, on a weekend, and without notice may 
have prevented a larger, more violent confrontation in a highly 
populated area.  Dey Krahorm is located in a crowded section of 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000062  002 OF 002 
 
 
Phnom Penh (businesses were open, and two large wedding ceremonies 
were taking place just outside of the eviction area, for example), 
and community representatives had warned since the last eviction 
notice was issued on December 30 that they were prepared to use 
violence to resist eviction attempts. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The NGO community will assert that the resolution of the 
Dey Krahorm dispute is unfair, and the municipality and 7NG will 
tout their generosity towards a community that they maintain did not 
have possession rights to the land (see Ref A).  The Dey Krahorm 
community gambled that it could negotiate for market-value 
compensation for the land they were giving up, and they lost.  Given 
the lack of transparency (on the part of the company, municipality, 
and the community) in the sale of Dey Krahorm, the legitimacy of the 
evictees' possession claims will likely never be established. 
However, the Dey Krahorm eviction now serves as an example to other 
urban communities engaged in land disputes that are making the same 
gamble. 
 
 
RODLEY