នេះគឺជាអ្នកក្លាហានខ្មែរ ! ។
> Message du 27/04/09 13:13 > De : "Sam Rainsy Party of North America" > A : "News" > Copie à : > Objet : The rule of law goes by the board for Cambodia's land sharks > > Crackdown in Siem Reap [-"There is no truth in [state-run] media"] > > Video by Licadho > > Monday, 27 April 2009 > Written by Vincent MacIsaac > Asia Sentinel (Hong Kong) > > The rule of law goes by the board for Cambodia's land sharks > > Victims of police shooting: A legacy of 30 years of CPP rule? > > Video footage of an allegedly unprovoked attack by police on unarmed farmers > in Siem Reap last month has sparked outrage in Cambodia because of what it > showed and because the reaction from the national government sent another > strong signal that state officials and those connected to them can violate > laws with impunity, human rights groups say. > > "Unless action is taken to defuse the tense land situation in the country, > sadly there will likely be more shootings such as occurred in Chi Kreng > [district, Siem Reap]," said Kek Galabru, president of to the Cambodian > League for the Promotion of Human Rights (Licadho). > > "Real action must be taken to address Cambodia's land crisis and to ensure > that authorities do use violence against innocent villagers who are merely > trying hold on their land," she said. > > According to the monitoring department of the Cambodian Human Rights and > Development Association (Adhoc) the number of forced evictions in Cambodia is > rising and land disputes are becoming more violent despite the free fall in > land prices that began in the middle of last year and more frequent and fiery > warnings from Prime Minister Hun Sen that any state officials involved in > illegal land deals, no matter how high their rank, will be severely punished. > > Moreover, the border conflict with Thailand and the subsequent build up of > troops on the Cambodian side has increased land grabbing by the military as > well as illegal logging in protected forests along the border, > environmentalists and human rights investigators warn. > > The Siem Reap farmers are the victims of both land grabbing and > state-sanctioned violence, human rights groups say. At the root of the > incident is a five-year dispute that escalated last December when two > community leaders and one journalist were arrested following a court > complaint from two businessmen who the farmers allege illegally obtained and > then resold titles to 92 hectares of land they had been farming since, in > some cases, 1982. In January farmers surrounded the provincial courthouse for > 17 days to demand the release of the three. > > It escalated further last month when a joint task force of about 100 police > and military personnel opened fire on the farmers. The video of the crackdown > almost never made it out of the rural pagoda where it was first shown, > according to Buddhist monk Sovath Loun, who transmitted it to human rights > groups in Phnom Penh via cell phone. > > Sovath Loun, whose older brother and nephew were shot and wounded during the > March 22 crackdown, said that at one point during his negotiations with > district police over the incident, he was warned that if he didn't turn over > his videos and photographs, the military might storm his pagoda in Chi Kreng > district to seize them. The pagoda is located about 30 kilometers from Angkor > Wat, the country's top tourist destination. > > One video, which the monk obtained from a farmer who hid his video-equipped > cellphone under his hat, suggests that the signal to begin shooting came from > the deputy district police chief, and clearly identifies another officer who > allegedly wounded two farmers after he opened fire with his AK47, according > to the Cambodian League for the Promotion of Human Rights (Licadho). > www.licadho-cambodia.org > > The footage contradicts government claims that the police were acting in self > defense, the league says, and it is calling for the prosecution of those who > shot four farmers as well as the release of nine others subsequently jailed > on charges of assault and attempted theft (of the rice they had planted). > > "This was extremely serious violence against villagers committed by > government armed forces, and it demands a strong response by the government. > The police and other officials who committed this violence must be punished," > Licadho said. > > The province's governor, Mr. Sou Phirin, pledged to personally resolve the > dispute following the protest at the provincial court, but his attempt at > reconciliation aggravated it. He proposed that the businessmen be given the > rice and farmers who had planted it be compensated by being paid for their > seeds, according to the Adhoc report, which also said the governor's attempt > at reconciling the two sides was marred by open hostility towards the farmers > and their lawyer, whom he cursed at during the negotiations. > > Sovath Loun's videos and scores of photographs include the aftermath as well > as extremely graphic footage and photos from the hospital, including close > ups of gaping wounds and doctors trying to treat them, as well as bleeding > farmers beaten unconscious and tied together in rows. His videos and photos > provide an extremely rare and detailed look into what many have been warning > for years is, among other things, a grave threat to stability in Cambodia: > the government's alleged complicity in allowing, and in some cases assisting, > those in positions of power to steal land from the poor. > > The 30-year-old monk first showed the videos to about 20 monks, nuns and > laypersons at Vat Sleng Pagoda a week after the crackdown. The day after the > first of several police officers paid a visit. The low-ranking officer had > been instructed by the district chief of police to find out how many VCDs had > been made and to take them, Sovath Loun said. "I asked the officer, ‘what law > did I break?" > > He broke the silence that ensued by enquiring further, "Do you want to borrow > it or do you want to take it?" > > "If you want to borrow it you can, but if you want to take it you can't," he > continued. If the officer was devout he would be aware it would be a severe > transgression to lie to a monk, while if he was merely superstitious he could > be frightened into believing that a lie to a venerable monk in pagoda might > be an invitation to bad luck for him and his family, he said. > > The officer opted to relay the choice to his superiors. Over the next few > days more officers and district officials visited him at the pagoda and the > hospital where he was tending his brother and nephew. They told him to stop > taking photos, turn over his VCD and sign a letter pledging not to > disseminate the images, Sovath Loun said. He replied by telling them they > could have the VCD if they signed a letter promising to resolve the land > dispute and bring those who shot the farmers to justice. > > During a second visit by police to his pagoda an officer warned him that if > he kept the VCD he might have to deal with the military. Sovath Loun quoted > the officer as saying: "The military might attack the pagoda to seize it." > > On the third visit the monk turned over his VCD, but by this time he had > already distributed about 100 copies throughout surrounding villages and > widely transmitted the video of the crackdown taken by the farmer via his > cell phone. This video ended up at human rights organizations based in Phnom > Penh and on the internet > (http://hub.witness.org/en/upload/shooting-chi-kreng-siem-reap-v2). > > On April 2, Sovath Loun left his pagoda for Phnom Penh. "My heart was too > heavy to remain in Siem Reap. I came here to try to regain my peace of mind," > he explained at Ounalum Pagoda. The pagoda, which was founded in 1443, is the > headquarters of the Cambodian Buddhism and has been experiencing a steady > rebirth following its desecration by the Khmer Rouge. > > Sovath Loun said his attempt to regain his peace of mind at the pagoda became > more difficult after an advisor to the Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia's > Buddhists, a layman and official from the Ministry of Cults and Religion, > arrived at the pagoda on April 10 in a silver Lexus and told him to order the > about 100 farmers from his district who had sought refuge with him to return > to Siem Reap on April 10. > > He described the ultimatum as being inspired by politics rather than the > teachings of Buddha. "The order came from the government," he said. > > During their 30 minute conversation, he tried to explain to the advisor that > his claim that the farmers were "disturbing the pagoda" was illusory. "I kept > telling him that no monks had complained while the farmers stayed at the > pagoda. Instead, we gave them food and blessings. We felt great sorrow for > them." > > The government advisor, whom the monk described as "aggressive", could not be > swayed, and after he drove off in his silver Lexus Sovath Loun had to tell > the panicked farmers to leave the pagoda and return to Siem Reap. By > midafternoon all but four had left. Monks paid for those who could not afford > tickets, he said. > > The four who remain in Phnom Penh, identified by Siem Reap police as leaders > of the group, are in hiding at a "safe house". They fear they will either be > shot or arrested if they return to their villages, one said by telephone. > Police are searching house to house in their villages for them, Chan Soveth, > an investigator with Adhoc said. The disputed farmland is now under guard by > armed police and soldiers, he added. > > "There is no truth in [state-run] media," Sovath Loun said, explaining his > motivation for compiling and disseminating the videos. "Soldiers and police > have guns for protecting people not shooting them," he added before beginning > his evening meditation on April 12. > > Within a week, however, he had also left the pagoda, according to venerable > monk Thaich Chhorn, who kept a written diary of the protests by the Siem Reap > farmers in Phnom Penh . Thaich Chhorn said Sovath Loun, who is also a > painter, left the pagoda to paint murals on the inner walls of another one in > the countryside. > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. 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