A mission to examine political rights in Cambodia has been increasingly overshadowed by the Kingdom’s dire land rights situation, the 2012 report from Cambodia’s UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights, published yesterday, shows.
Cambodia’s rapporteur, Surya Subedi, conducted two fact-finding missions to Cambodia in drafting his 2012 report, and prepared an addendum of findings on the impact of economic land concessions to be published next month.
Cambodia’s rapporteur, Surya Subedi, conducted two fact-finding missions to Cambodia in drafting his 2012 report, and prepared an addendum of findings on the impact of economic land concessions to be published next month.
“The absence, in many instances, of proper consultation and negotiation with the people affected when granting such concessions has been a major concern,” the special rapporteur writes.
The “human cost of such concessions has been high”, he continues, explaining the addendum will provide an analysis and recommendations to “counter the negative impact of those concessions on the lives of Cambodians, especially the rural poor, indigenous peoples and those living on the margins of society”.
Subedi details the plight of two high-profile Phnom Penh evictions, Boeung Kak lake and Borei Keila, opining that “land disputes and forced evictions continue unabated in Cambodia”.
Of Boeung Kak, the Leeds University professor states, “the case is emblematic of the desperation that communities throughout Cambodia feel in resolving their land disputes, and ensuing civil unrest”.
Writing of the Borei Keila eviction, whose evicted residents Subedi visited in May, he describes the communities languishing in “uninhabitable resettlement sites” and “causing further impoverishment and threatening the country’s chances of improving its gross domestic product per capita”.
“Most significantly, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that the events demonstrated an inability on the part of those involved to settle disputes peacefully and a resort to force by authorities and communities alike,” Subedi reports.
“Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that land concessions should be granted and managed within a sound legal and policy framework that includes respect for human rights, especially the rights of indigenous peoples, the rural poor and those living on the margins of society,” Subedi writes.
Subedi said Cambodia has benefited from recommendations to improve human and political rights made by various bilateral and multilateral agencies, but it was “regrettable” that most of the recommendations remain unimplemented.
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