Words of life in Cambodia...

INVESTIGATION NEEDED INTO PREAH VIHEAR SHOOTINGS

Media statement, November 16, 2007

(I received this the other day about illegal land grab issues in Cambodia. Canada Licadho is working with Licadho to assist these families. It can be a little heavy but I'm certain that you are not seeing this back home. Cambodia claims to be democratic.)

LICADHO is gravely concerned by the killings of two people during a land eviction in Preah Vihear province and calls for the government to quickly launch a full investigation into the shootings. An initial investigation by LICADHO indicates the excessive use of force by the authorities, and the unlawful participation of soldiers in the eviction. In addition, the eviction violated an agreement signed by local authorities stating that the villagers could remain temporarily on the land until a resolution to the dispute was found.

The shootings occurred on the morning of Thursday, November 15, when more than 150 police, military police, soldiers and Forestry Administration officers violently evicted a group of 317 families who had settled on land in Choam Ksan district of Preah Vihear. According to eyewitnesses interviewed by LICADHO, the authorities made no attempt to warn or negotiate with the people on the day of the eviction.

At least 11 persons, including the two injured who are in police custody, have been arrested. Eight of them were arrested during the eviction and the other three, including a provincial deputy governor, a day earlier. The eviction followed several days of tension between local authorities and the 317 families, who had recently come to the area from other parts of Cambodia in search of land. The families settled on vacant land near Sraham village, Kandout commune, but were told by authorities that they could not stay there. Negotiations were held on November 10, after the families had barricaded roads in the area to protest authorities' threats to arrest one of the representatives of the families.
Without any warning according to witnesses, the authorities moved in to evict the families and began shooting. The eviction was allegedly led by a military commander and most of the forces who participated it in were soldiers, according to witnesses.

LICADHO urges:
An investigation by national authorities into the events before, during and after the eviction. The investigation should focus on: which members of the authorities opened fire and why?; why were soldiers unlawfully deployed in an eviction of civilians, and on whose orders?; why was no attempt made to continue negotiations with the people on the day of the eviction rather than the use of violence to remove them?