Several communities in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, are marking International Human Rights Day by protesting against forced evictions

Last Updated: Monday, 10 December 2007, 07:28 GMT

Cambodia protest over land grabs
By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Phnom Penh


Several communities in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, are marking
International Human Rights Day by protesting against forced
evictions.

Thousands of families have already been moved from slums in the
capital to sites outside the city, and other communities face the same
fate.

The UN Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia, Yash Ghai,
has strongly criticised the evictions.

He says he believes the country's human rights situation is
deteriorating.

'Enormously corrupt'

On the banks of the Bassac River, members of more than a dozen
threatened communities made a show of defiance.

They wore white T-shirts with the slogan "stop evictions" written in
Khmer and English, and a young woman from the community read what they
called the Tonle Bassac Declaration - a plea to have their rights
respected.

The demonstrations coincided with the final day of the visit of the
United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia,
Yash Ghai.


UN envoy Yash Ghai (R) has voiced concern about land rights
violations
It is Yash Ghai's fourth mission to the country, and this time he has
been paying special attention to the issues of land grabs and
evictions.

Mr Ghai says that poor people all over Cambodia are losing their land
to the rich and powerful and that well-connected land-grabbers can
operate with impunity because of the weakness of the judicial system.

He also accuses international donors of failing to use their influence
and says he is concerned the situation will get worse.

"There's an enormous amount of suffering," he said. "People are
extremely anxious and fearful of the police and the courts, who are
very much part of this system for the appropriation of land. So the
whole legal system has become enormously corrupt."

The government has acknowledged there is a problem with land-
grabbing.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has stepped in on several occasions to order
well-connected people to hand back land. He has also promised to sack
any government officials involved.

.

Relevant Pages