Four lake activists arrested as community blocks a main road in Phnom Penh

Monday, November 28, 2011

Date:                                   28 November 2011
Name:                                 Four community activists from Boeng Kak Lake, Phnom Penh:Tep Vanny, Bau Chhorvy, Heng Mom and Kong Chantha
Category of activist:          Community based land activists
Location:    Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Nature of threat:               Judicial intimidation
 
Brief Description:
 Four female community members from Boeng Kak Lake were arrested today after community members, mostly women, attempted to block Preah Monivong Boulevard, a bustling main road located in the heart of Phnom Penh. At least a further five women are rumoured to have been injured during violent exchanges between community members and police. In a sign of the escalating tactics being employed by the lake community members, some of the demonstrators removed clothes in a form of protest which is likely to raise highbrows in a country with conservative views towards exposure of the human body.  At the time of writing, it is understood that the four arrested community members remain in detention although no reports of specific charges have been made.
 According to Cambodian Express News, the demonstration started this morning when a number of lake residents – many of whom are facing eviction as a result of a land conflict with a private company, Shukaku Inc. which is owned by a senator in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party – marched to Phnom Penh Municipality Hall.to submit a letter requesting the formation of a committee by the authorities to mark the boundary of the 12.4 hectare onsite relocation zone announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen in August 2011. While the community members are reported to have carried out the delivery of the petition of the letter to city hall peacefully, authorities arrested two prominent community representatives: Bau Chhorvy and Tep Vanny. More community members are said to have joined the protest upon hearing of the arrests of the two women, gathering to block Preah Monivong Boulevard. Over the course of the protest two more community members – Heng Mom and Kong Chantha – were arrested (please see attached photo of the violent arrest of Heng Mom).
 This latest development at Boeng Kak Lake follows the death last week of another lake resident. On the evening of 22 November Chea Dara, a mother of two young children whose family has reportedly been excluded from the relocation scheme, committed suicide. The land conflict at the lake, one of the most prominent in recent years, has affected or will affectaround about 4,000 families in total. The relocation scheme announced by the Prime Minister in August, it is reported, will only include 750 of those families.
 Please find attached to this HRD alert, two pictures taken by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR).  All of the pictures taken by CCHR of the event can be found at our Facebook page. (CCHR)
For more information, please contact:
 
Virak Ou, President of CCHR, Telephone: +855 12 40 40 51; Email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org or
Sophary Noy, HRD Project Coordinator, Telephone: +855 17 88 33 61; Email: noysophary@cchrcambodia.org
 
For more information regarding the land disputes in Boeng Kak Lake, visit the land violations section at http://www.sithi.org/