Koh Kong villagers seek US intervention in land dispute
REPRESENTATIVES of 26 families involved in a long-standing land dispute with a Chinese-owned company in Koh Kong province gathered at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh on Thursday to deliver their petition seeking its intervention.
The villagers said they had lost trust in state institutions after fighting in vain for a compromise for nearly 10 years.
A representative, Taing Koy, told The Post that the 26 families had been locked in the dispute over 432ha in Kiri Sakor and Botum Sakor districts with Union Development Group (UDG) since 2010. The dispute broke out after the government granted an economic land concession to the company.
She said t he v illagers had sought inter vention from a l l state institutions at ev
er y level, but to no avail, and had a lso petitioned t he Chinese Embassy, ca lling for t he company to return the land.
“We expect that the superpowers can help urge the [Cambodian] government and China to stop the company violating our rights. We are landowners seeking justice. If there is no justice, we can only keep pushing for a solution,” she said.
US Embassy spokesperson Emily Zeeberg told The Post that the embassy would ask the government to find a compromise.
“We continue to urge the Cambodian government to protect the Cambodian people’s human rights and fundamental freedoms, including t he right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” she said.
However, government spokesman Phay Siphan said no embassy in the Kingdom had jurisdiction over t he case. He stressed t hat only Cambodian judicia l institutions have the power to handle lega l issues in line wit h t he Constitution.
“The US Embassy’s objective seems to be politica lly motivated and aimed at the Chinese Embassy. They [v illagers] should not turn to t he foreigner [US Embassy] and thereby advance its agenda. I encourage them to go to the Cambodian courts that have t he aut horit y to find a solution for t hem,” he said.
Siphan pointed out t hat the case had a lready been sett led by t he Ministr y of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction in collaboration wit h t he European Commission.
Soeng Sen Karuna, t he spokesman for rights group Adhoc, agreed with Siphan that no embassy had jurisdiction over t he issue.
Koh Kong prov incia l ha l l spokesman Sok Sot hy sa id on Monday t hat t he dispute persisted because some v i l lagers demanded excessive compensation. He sa id some of t hem had a lso been incited by outsiders to protest while la nd pr ices were i ncreasing.
He stressed that the dispute had largely been resolved.
The US Embassy’s objective seems to be politically motivated and aimed at the Chinese Embassy
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