VZCZCXRO3703
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0379/01 1600124
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090124Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0800
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PHNOM PENH 000379 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL 
USAID FOR ASIA BUREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM EAGR SENV KDEM CB
SUBJECT: LAND IN CAMBODIA, PART III: EVICTIONS, RESETTLEMENT, LAND 
SCAMS, AND ARRESTS 
 
REF: A) PHNOM PENH 60, B) PHNOM PENH 285, C) PHNOM PENH 62, D) 08 
PHNOM PENH 991 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
THIS IS THE THIRD OF THREE CABLES ON LAND ISSUES IN CAMBODIA.  FOR 
PART I, SEE REF A.  FOR PART II, SEE REF B. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The lax land titling system (Ref A) and the Royal 
Government of Cambodia's (RGC's) push to develop land through 
concessions (Ref B) has led to widespread land disputes and more 
forced evictions.  The issue of forced evictions ranks high on civil 
society, opposition party, and donor lists of human rights 
challenges in Cambodia.  There is no standard operating procedure 
for carrying out an eviction, leading to inconsistency in evictions, 
from varying forms of eviction notices to the use of force.  NGOs 
report that military involvement in land dispute cases at the 
direction of provincial and district governors is common throughout 
the country.  Private companies have also found themselves engaged 
in land disputes and evictions when they receive concessions on 
occupied land. 
 
¶2. (SBU) When communities are resettled, the land they receive is 
often small, lacking infrastructure, or already occupied. 
Frequently these resettled communities lack the documentation to 
show that they legally possess their new plots of land, leaving them 
vulnerable to future evictions.  Illegal land sales by unscrupulous 
individuals and commune officials put communities at further risk of 
eviction.  In some cases, local and provincial government 
authorities attempt to arrest and prosecute community leaders and 
activists engaged in land disputes on charges such as theft or 
willful damage to property. 
 
¶3. (SBU) COMMENT:  Although the legal circumstances surrounding 
individual eviction cases are often complicated and controversial, 
the human rights issues these cases raise are of concern to Post. 
We seek to engage constructively with the RGC over the fundamental 
due process issues behind land disputes, stressing that secure land 
tenure is essential for Cambodia's economic growth and social 
stability.  END COMMENT AND SUMMARY. 
 
EVICTIONS A FOCUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The issue of forced evictions ranks high on civil society, 
donor, and opposition party lists of human rights challenges in 
Cambodia.  Estimates of the scale of the problem vary from source to 
source, but most stakeholders agree that the issue is significant. 
The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights 
(LICADHO) estimates that more than 250,000 people have been affected 
by land grabbing and forced evictions since 2003.  Amnesty 
International (AI) published an oft-quoted report in February 2008, 
which calculated that 150,000 Cambodians are at risk of forced 
eviction, based on surveys conducted with NGOs that work with 
affected or at-risk communities.  An AI report released last month 
stated that 23,000 individuals were forcibly evicted in 2008.  Local 
NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut released a report this year that claimed 
that 120,000 Phnom Penh residents had been displaced since 1990. 
(NOTE:  The LICADHO and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut reports are based on 
estimations factoring the number of households reportedly involved 
in evictions and the average Cambodian family size.  END NOTE.) 
 
UNDEFINED EVICTION PROCESS 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) There is no standard operating procedure for carrying out 
an eviction, according to legal experts at the Community Legal 
Education Center, the East-West Management Institute (EWMI), and 
Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC), who are all supported with USAID 
funding.  Nhean So Munin, a National Land Law Expert working for the 
EU-funded Land Law Awareness Campaign, said that he interpreted the 
2001 Land Law to state that lawful evictions require a judicial 
order.  He noted though that government officials interpret Article 
19 of the land law to say that the government has the authority to 
evict people from state public and state private land without a 
court order.  (NOTE:  Article 19 states that if an occupant does not 
vacate illegally-acquired land within the time limit set by the 
competent authority, the authority will begin proceedings to evict 
the offender from the land.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) When there is a written eviction notice, the source of the 
notice and the reason for eviction can vary.  For example, residents 
of the Tonle Bassac commune in Phnom Penh known as "Group 78" 
reported receiving a series of eviction notices, each for a 
different reason, beginning in June 2006.  Community members said 
that various eviction notices instructed them to vacate the area 
because 1) they were on state public property, 2) they were on state 
private property owned by a private company, and 3) because the 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000379  002 OF 004 
 
 
municipal government planned to "beautify" the city around the land 
they occupied.  Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema issued a sixth 
eviction notice on April 20, which informed residents that they were 
living on state land that had been leased to local developer Suor 
Srun Enterprises, and that residents had 15 days to leave the land. 
The May 5 deadline passed without forced eviction, however. 
 
MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN EVICTIONS 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) units report to the 
national government, but provincial and district governors also have 
the authority to direct military forces to assist in 
security-related operations, similar to National Guard mobilization 
in the U.S.  For example, Kampot Governor Khoy Khunhour explained to 
Poloff that he is the chair of a "Provincial Command Headquarters" 
committee, which receives assistance requests from citizens, the 
private sector, and other government agencies.  He said that both 
RADM Sun Saroeun, commander of RCAF's Brigade 31 and Kampot's Chief 
of Police serve as vice-chairs of the committee.  When the governor 
receives a request that may require police or military support, he 
said he discusses the request with the committee and then decides 
whether or not to direct the military or police to get involved. 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to NGO monitors, the practice of military 
involvement in land dispute cases at the direction of provincial and 
district governors is common.  LICADHO reported that in 2008 there 
were at least 27 cases of military intervention in land disputes in 
the districts it monitors.  The Cambodian Human Rights and 
Development Association (ADHOC) estimated that in 2008 there were 
about 23 cases of military intervention in land disputes.  (NOTE: 
The degree of military involvement in these reports ranges from 
individual military personnel involved in specific personal disputes 
to military unit deployment for forced evictions.  END NOTE.)  Some 
sample reported cases for 2008-2009 include: 
 
-- March 2009:  Siem Reap Governor Sou Phirin 
   instructed a mixed group of police, military 
   police, and soldiers to remove villagers who were 
   harvesting rice from a disputed piece of farmland 
   in Chi Kreng District.  Police shot and injured 
   three villagers during the incident. 
-- December 2008:  ADHOC accused the governor of 
   Ratanakiri Province of dispatching soldiers to 
   guard a rubber plantation at the center of a land 
   dispute with local villagers. 
-- November 2008:  Kampot Governor Khoy Khunhour 
   deployed RCAF Brigade 31 to attempt to evict 
   residents of Anlong Khmeng Leng village in Kampot 
   Province, which led to brawling and civilian 
   injuries (Ref D). 
 
PRIVATE CORPORATION INVOLVEMENT IN EVICTIONS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Private companies have also found themselves engaged in 
land disputes and evictions, as the RGC increases granting of 
economic land concessions (ELCs) and use, development and 
exploitation (UDE) concessions (Ref B).  For example, Cambodian 
construction firm 7NG actively participated in the eviction of Phnom 
Penh's Dey Krahorm community in January 2009 (Ref C), bulldozing 
houses, sometimes with residents still inside, while police played a 
crowd control and removal role.  In another example, NGOs report 
that Cambodian firm Shukaku Inc. has restricted access to the 
communities surrounding Boeung Kak Lake.  The company is temporarily 
flooding the Boeung Kak residents out of their neighborhood as it 
fills the lake with sand (Ref B), even as a dispute over ownership 
of the land surrounding the lake is ongoing. 
 
RESETTLEMENT AND A CYCLE OF EVICTIONS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) In some cases when communities are resettled, the land 
they receive is small, lacking infrastructure, or already occupied. 
For example, in 2006 the Phnom Penh municipal government resettled 
former renters from the Sambok Chap community in an empty field 
about 20 km outside of Phnom Penh with no sanitation facilities or 
other infrastructure.  The new community, called Andong, was moved 
again by authorities later that year when it was discovered that the 
field they occupied belonged to a private owner.  Poloff visited 
Andong in March 2009, which after three years still lacked basic 
services such as a clean water supply, a sewage system, electricity, 
public school access, and health facilities.  NGOs and religious 
groups had helped the community build houses, but the field floods 
during the rainy season, carrying trash and human and animal waste 
around the houses. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In another example, the Phnom Penh Municipal Government 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000379  003 OF 004 
 
 
evicted the Dey Krahorm community in January 2009 and resettled them 
in an area called Damnak Trayoeung, about 15 km west of Phnom Penh 
(Ref C).  Damnak Trayoeung was better equipped to support a 
community, with brick houses and water lines.  However, when the Dey 
Krahorm community arrived, not enough houses were available, and the 
evictees were forced to live on the side of a road under tarps 
provided by human rights NGOs.  Community representatives also told 
Poloff that 7NG officials charged them fees in order to expedite 
their placement in an apartment, and to ensure they received an 
apartment with road access. 
 
¶12. (SBU) In some cases, villagers who receive land in compensation 
for being displaced never receive possession certificates or titles 
to their new property, leaving them vulnerable to another eviction. 
For example, former Boeung Kak community residents who took the 
Phnom Penh municipality's offer of a house on the outskirts of town 
have yet to receive any kind of documentation to prove legal 
possession.  Evictees at another resettlement site showed Poloff 
what they believed to be their legal land titles, which were 
actually papers listing the family's name and land plot number 
issued by a private company rather than the National Cadastral 
Administration (Ref A).  Human rights activists warn that this is a 
common trend in the resettlement villages that circle Phnom Penh. 
As the city grows, and land values on the outskirts of town 
increase, NGOs predict that the resettled communities will again be 
forced to move. 
 
LAND GRABBING, SCAMS, AND ARRESTS 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Provincial government officials and NGOs have reported 
various land scams throughout the country, often involving the sale 
of state land, which can put communities at further risk of 
eviction.  In the November 2008 case of Anlong Khmeng Leng village 
in Kampot Province (Ref D), Governor Khoy Khunhour and COL Kong Lum, 
Deputy Commander of B31, accused "masterminds" of luring villagers 
to the province to settle on state land.  These masterminds then 
allegedly bought the state land from those settlers, and then sold 
the land to a third group of settlers for profit.  When challenged 
by the authorities, these masterminds allegedly incited those who 
had unknowingly illegally purchased the land to protest.  NGOs have 
raised other instances where commune officials have authorized the 
sale of state land for personal profit, setting buyers up for land 
disputes and forced evictions.  Prime Minister Hun Sen acknowledged 
this issue in a speech during the April 9 closing ceremony of a 
conference on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, where he accused 
village and commune officials of certifying illegal sales of state 
land. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Many high-profile land cases involve the arrest or 
threatened arrest of community leaders or activists, typically on 
charges of damage to property or theft.  In a June 2008 eviction 
case in Chey Sena Village, Kampot Province, evictees were resettled 
in a nearby village called Kbal Damrey, which was already occupied. 
When existing Kbal Damrey residents protested the redistribution of 
their land, police arrested four of the protestors on charges of 
willful damage to property and theft.  Governor Khoy Khunhour told 
Poloff that the four arrestees were the masterminds behind a land 
occupation scheme similar to that in Anlong Khmeng Leng.  He said 
that once the four were arrested, the community calmed down. 
COMMENT:  The four detainees included a 53-year-old woman and her 
two teenage sons.  Although similar land scams have been reported in 
other parts of the country, we do not believe that these four 
individuals were the organizers of a larger land grabbing plot.  In 
December 2008, the Kampot provincial court acquitted three of the 
arrestees and sentenced the fourth to time-served and released her. 
END COMMENT. 
 
¶15. (SBU) After the January 24 eviction of the Dey Krahorm 
community, the Phnom Penh municipal government prosecuted three 
community leaders on charges stemming from a December 2007 incident 
in which the developer 7NG entered Dey Krahorm with a bulldozer, 
despite the ongoing land ownership dispute.  Residents reportedly 
began throwing rocks at the 7NG employees and machinery.  A 
high-profile community spokesperson reportedly used a loudspeaker to 
urge the residents to stop using violence, but was later prosecuted 
himself on charges of property damage and physical assault.  Human 
rights NGOs believe the community leader was targeted for 
prosecution for speaking out against 7NG and the municipal 
government.  The community representative is currently free on bail 
and must report to a municipal police station each week. 
 
¶16. (SBU) In another case, police in Siem Reap arrested nine 
villagers from Chi Kraeng commune March 22 on charges of theft, 
during an incident in which the police shot and injured three 
villagers.  The villagers were collecting rice they had planted on a 
disputed piece of farmland, which Siem Reap Governor Sou Phirin had 
ruled belonged to a neighboring commune.  Police charged the 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000379  004 OF 004 
 
 
villagers who protested the governor's ruling with stealing the rice 
they had planted on the disputed land, although the rice had been 
planted before the ownership dispute was resolved.  In another 
example, Sou Phirin publicly threatened to arrest and prosecute 
leaders of a community engaged in a land dispute with a South Korean 
company on charges of kidnapping, when a commune councilor and four 
company employees temporarily went missing.  The governor was forced 
to retract his statements two days later when it was revealed that 
the missing individuals had simply gone home after they'd faced 
community protestors. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) As with the overarching issues that lead to land disputes, 
such as the lax land titling system (Ref A) and the granting of land 
concessions by the government (Ref B), the circumstances surrounding 
individual cases of forced eviction are often complicated and 
controversial.  Some communities legally do not have claims to the 
properties from which they are evicted, while others may have a 
legal claim but are the victims of bad advice from their neighbors, 
the government, or even NGOs.  However, the human rights issues that 
engender and result from these disputes and evictions are clearly a 
concern for Post. 
 
¶18. (SBU) The lack of transparency and clear legal guidance in many 
of these land disputes makes it difficult for Post to intervene or 
advocate in specific cases, nor should we necessarily.  Post's 
primary objective is to facilitate and encourage direct dialogue 
between communities and the RGC, which USAID's democracy and 
governance program supports through organizations that work with 
communities engaged in land disputes.  On the diplomatic front, we 
raise specific issues, such as the use of the military in evictions, 
and look for specific solutions we can potentially support, such as 
a UN-proposed moratorium on evictions until a clear legal framework 
is in place with workable procedures for resettlement and 
compensation.  We seek to engage constructively with the RGC over 
the fundamental issues behind land disputes, stressing that secure 
land tenure is essential for Cambodia's economic growth and social 
stability. 
 
 
RODLEY