Eviction Protesters Block Phnom Penh International Airport

By Aun Pheap, The Cambodia Daily, May 23, 2013

Appeal Hearing Set for Activist Yorm Bppha

By Khy Sovuthy, The Cambodia Daily, May 17, 2013

Phnom Penh, Seoul See Joint Eviction Protests

By Chhorn Chansy, The Cambodia Daily, May. 09 2013

លិខិតចំហពីអតីតសហគមន៍បឹងកក់ផ្ញើជូនធនាគារពិភពលោក

ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា
ជាតិ សាសនា ព្រះមហាក្សត្រ

សូមគោរពចូលមក
លោក Mr Jim Kim ប្រធានគ្រប់គ្រងធនាគារ ពិភពលោក
ប្រចាំប្រទេសកម្ពុជា
ជាទីគោរពដ៏ខ្ពងខ្ពស់

កម្មវត្ថុ៖ សំណើសុំ លោកប្រធានធនាគារពិភពលោកមេត្តាជួយអន្តរាគមន៍ដល់អតីតសហគមន៍បឹងកក់ ដើម្បីស្តារឡើងនូវលក្ខខណ្ឌរស់នៅ និងមុខរបរប្រចាំថ្ងៃ។

លោកប្រធានជាទីគោរព យើងខ្ញុំទាំងអស់គ្នាជាសមាជិកចំនួន ៣៦៤ គ្រួសារនៃអតីតសហគមន៍បឹងកក់។ យើងខ្ញុំទាំអស់គ្នាធ្លាប់រស់នៅជុំវិញតំបន់បឹងកក់ ដែលជាបឹងស្ថិតនៅកណ្តាលទីក្រុងភ្នំពេញ។ កាលពីឆ្នាំ ២០០៧ ដីរបស់ពួកយើងត្រូវបានជួលទៅឱ្យក្រុមហ៊ុន ស៊ូកាគូអ៊ីន ដែលគ្រប់គ្រងដោយ លោក ឡៅ ម៉េងឃីន បច្ចុប្បន្នជាសមាជិកព្រឹទ្ធសភារបស់គណៈបក្សកំពុងកាន់អំណាច។ ពួកយើងទាំងអស់គ្នាបន្តទទួលរងនូវការគំរាមកំហែង និងការបណ្តេញចេញដោយបង្ខំនៅពេលដែលយើងទាំងអស់គ្នាចាប់ ផ្តើមធ្វើការតស៊ូប្រឆាំងនឹងសកម្មភាពរបស់ពួកគេ។ ពួកយើងបានប្រឈមមុខនឹងការគំរាមកំហែង និងការបំភិតបំភ័យអស់រយៈពេលជាច្រើនឆ្នាំ ដូចជាការបូមទឹកបន្លិចផ្ទះរបស់ពួកយើងដោយមានចេតនាធ្វើឱ្យពួកយើងបាត់បង់លំនៅដ្ឋាន។ ជាលទ្ធផលពួកយើងគ្មានជម្រើសអ្វីក្រៅពីព្រមទទួលយកប្រាក់សំណងដ៏តិចតួចគឺចំនួន ៨,៥០០ដុល្លារអាមេរិក ឬក៏ទទួលយកដីមួយឡូត៏នៅតំបន់តាំងលំនៅថ្មីដោយបង្ខំចិត្តហើយបានចាកចេញពីលំនៅដ្ឋានរបស់ពួកយើងអស់រយៈពេលជាច្រើនឆ្នាំមកហើយ។

តាំងពីពេលនោះមក ពួកយើងបានធ្លាក់ខ្លួនក្នុងស្ថានភាពក្រីក្រកាន់តែធ្ងន់ធ្ងរទៅៗ។ ប្រាក់សំណងដ៏តិតតូចដែលពួកយើងមួយចំនួនទទួលបានមិនអាចយកទៅទិញដី និងផ្ទះសមរម្យបាននៅក្នុងរាជធានីភ្នំពេញទេ។ ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋមួយចំនួនបានភៀសខ្លួនទៅរស់តំបន់ដាច់ស្រយាល រីឯខ្លះទៀតបានចាកចេញពីស្រុកកំណើតទៅធ្វើការជាអ្នកស៊ីឈ្នួលនៅប្រទេសជិតខាង។ អ្នកផ្សេងទៀតបានយល់ព្រមទទួលយកសំណងជាផ្ទះមិនសមរម្យនិងគ្មានគុណភាពដែលសង់នៅតំបន់លំនៅថ្មី នៅឯដំណាក់ត្រយឹងដែលស្ថិតនៅចម្ងាយប្រមាណ២៥គ.ម ពីតំបន់បឹងកក់។ ផលលំបាកនៃការបាត់បង់មុខរបរបានធ្វើឱ្យពួកយើងបង្ខំចិត្តរស់នៅព្រាត់ប្រាស់ប្រពន្ធកូន និងសមាជិកគ្រួសារ ហើយកុមារ និង កូនៗរបស់ពួកយើងជាច្រើនត្រូវបានបង្ខំចិត្តបោះបង់ការសិក្សា។ ចំណែកឯគ្រួសារផ្សេងទៀតដែលកំពុងរស់នៅផ្ទះជួល ដែលមិនមានស្តង់ដារជិតទីក្រុងបានចំណាយប្រាក់ចំណូលដែលរកបានដោយលំបាកទៅលើថ្លៃជួលផ្ទះ ដែលមិនមានសុវត្ថិភាពដីធ្លី។ យ៉ាងហោចណាស់ក៏មានគ្រួសារចំនួនពីរ ដែលត្រូវបានគេបោកប្រាស់ឱ្យទៅទិញដីដែលកំពុងប្រឈមនឹងការ បណ្តេញចេញជាលើកទីពីរ។

យើងខ្ញុំជឿជាក់ថា ធនាគារពិភពលោក ពិតជាមានទំនួលខុសត្រូវក្នុងការរកដំណោះស្រាយដល់យើងខ្ញុំទាំងអស់គ្នា។ នៅខែកញ្ញា ឆ្នាំ២០០៩ សហគមន៍បឹងកក់ បានដាក់ពាក្យបណ្តឹងទៅកាន់គណៈកម្មការអធិការកិច្ចរបស់ធនាគាពិភពលោក ដោយបានចោទប្រកាន់ធនាគារពិភពលោកមិនបានគោរពគោលនយោបាយរបស់ខ្លួន ក្នុងការតាមដានគម្រោងគ្រប់គ្រងរដ្ឋបាលដីធ្លី (LMAP) ហើយជាលទ្ធផលធ្វើឱ្យយើងទាំងអស់គ្នា បាននិងកំពុងទទួលរងផលប៉ះពាល់ពីការបណ្តេញចេញដោយបង្ខំ។ គណៈកម្មការអធិការកិច្ចក៏បានយល់ស្របផងដែរ។ បន្ទាប់មក ក្រុមគ្រប់គ្រងគម្រោងដីធ្លីក៏បានប្តេជ្ញាចិត្ត ”ធ្វើការសហការជាមួយរាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល និងដៃគូអភិវឌ្ឍដើម្បីធានាឱ្យបានថាសហ-គមន៍ បឹងកក់ដែលបានដាក់សំណើសុំ នឹងទទួលបានការឧបត្ថម្ភដែលសមស្របទៅនឹងក្របខណ្ឌគោលនយោបាយតាំងទីលំនៅថ្មី”។

យើងខ្ញុំទាំងអស់គ្នា កំពុងរង់ចាំការឧបត្ថម្ភនោះ។ នៅពេលធនាគាពិភពលោកបានផ្អាកការផ្តល់កម្ចីថ្មីៗមកកាន់ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា រដ្ឋាភិបាលបានផ្តល់ដីសម្បទានចំនួន១២.៤៤ហិចតាឱ្យប្រជាពលរដ្ឋបឹងកក់។ នេះជាជំហានដ៏សំខាន់ក្នុងការស្វែងរកដោះស្រាយលើជម្លោះបឹងកក់ ក៏ប៉ុន្តែវាជាដំណោះស្រាយសម្រាប់តែប្រជាពលរដ្ឋបឹងកក់ចំនួន ៦៥០គ្រួសារប៉ុណ្ណោះ គឺស្មើនឹង១៥%នៃចំនួនប្រជាពលរដ្ឋដែលរងផលប៉ះពាល់សរុបចំនួន ៤២០០គ្រួសារ។

យើងខ្ញុំជឿជាក់ថាធនាគារពិភពលោក ពិតមានទំនួលខុសត្រូវក្នុងការរកដំណោះស្រាយជម្លោះដីធ្លីសម្រាប់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋបឹងកក់ ទាំងអ្នកដែលជាអតីត និងកំពុងរស់នៅបឹងកក់បច្ចុប្បន្ន។ នៅពេលដែលពួកយើងបានចាកចេញ យើងខ្ញុំពុំមានជម្រើសណាផ្សេងឡើយ៖ ផ្ទះរបស់ពួកយើងត្រូវបានគេបន្លិចទឹក ហើយពួកយើងត្រូវបានគេគំរាមកំហែងបំភិតបំភ័យជាប្រចាំ។ យើងខ្ញុំពុំបានចាកចេញដោយស្ម័គ្រចិត្តឡើយ។

ថ្មីៗនេះ ធនាគារពិភពលោកបានបង្ហាញពីជំហរ មានបំណងចង់ផ្សារភ្ជាប់ជាមួយនឹងរដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាឡើងវិញ។ ដូច្នេះ យើងខ្ញុំសូមជូនសារទៅធនាគារពិភពលោកដូចតទៅ៖ នឹងគ្មានការផ្សារភ្ជាប់ឡើងវិញទេ ប្រសិនបើគ្មានសំណងសម្រាប់អ្នកបឹងកក់។បញ្ហារបស់ពួកយើង មិនទាន់បានដោះស្រាយចប់សព្វគ្រប់សម្រាប់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋចំនួន៨៥%ដែលបានរងផលប៉ះពាល់ ហើយ”ផែនការដ៏ជាក់លាក់ក្នុងការដោះស្រាយលើផលប៉ះពាល់ដល់សហគមន៍ដែលរងការប៉ះពាល់ និងអ្នកដែលកំពុងប្រឈមនឹងការតាំងទីលំនៅថ្មីដោយមិនស្ម័គ្រចិត្ត”ដូចការទាមទាររបស់ក្រុមអធិការកិច្ចធនាគារពិភពលោកនៅមិនទាន់បានអនុវត្តនៅឡើយ។

សូមលោកប្រធានមេត្តាទទួលនូវការគោរពដ៏ខ្ពង់ខ្ពស់អំពីយើងខ្ញុំ។
រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ថ្ងៃទី………..ខែ…………….ឆ្នាំ២០១៣

ស្នាមមេដៃតំណាងប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ
(អតីតប្រជាពលរដ្ឋបឹងកក់)
ចម្លងជូន៖

- លោក Ulrich Zachau នាយកប្រតិបត្តិការនិងយុទ្ធិសាស្រ្ត ប្រចាំតំបន់អាស៊ីប៉ាស៊ីហ្វិ
- លោកស្រី Annette Dixon នាយកប្រចាំប្រទេសអាស៊ីប៉ាស៊ីហ្វិក
- លោក Alassane Sow នាយកគ្របគ្រងប្រចាំប្រទេសកម្ពុជា 

ប្រវត្តិសហគមន៍បឹងកក់

កាលពីឆ្នាំ២០០៧ សាលារាជធានីភ្នំពេញបានជួលដីរយៈពេល៩៩ឆ្នាំឱ្យទៅ ក្រុមហ៊ុន ស៊ូកាគូអ៊ីន ដែលមានផ្ទៃដីចំនួនចំនួន ១៣៣ហិចតាគ្របដណ្តប់ភូមិប្រជាពលរដ្ឋចំនួន ៩នៅក្នុងតំបន់បឹងកក់។ កិច្ចសន្យាជួលដីបានរំលោភបំពានសិទ្ធិកាន់កាប់ដីធ្លីរបស់ប្រជាជនបឹងកក់ និងគំរាមកំហែងបណ្តេញប្រជាពលរដ្ឋប្រមាណចំនួន ២០,០០០នាក់។ កាលពីខែកញ្ញា ឆ្នាំ២០០៩ តំណាងសហគមន៍បឹងកក់បានដាក់ពាក្យបណ្តឹងទៅកាន់ក្រុមអធិការកិច្ចរបស់ធនាគាពិភពលោក ដោយបានចោទប្រកាន់ធនាគារពិភពលោកមិនបានគោរពគោលនយោបាយរបស់ខ្លួន ក្នុងការតាមដានឱ្យបានគ្រប់គ្រាន់ទៅលើគម្រោងគ្រប់គ្រងរដ្ឋបាលដីធ្លី (LMAP) ។ ទោះបីជាគ្រួសារជាច្រើនមានភស្តុតាងគ្រប់គ្រាន់ដើម្បីទាមទារសិទ្ធិកាន់កាប់ដីធ្លី ប៉ុន្តែអ្នកភូមិបឹងកក់ត្រូវបានកាត់ចេញពីប្រព័ន្ធចុះបញ្ជីដីធ្លីនៅពេលដែលមានការធ្វើការចុះបញ្ជីដីធ្លីនៅតំបន់ជិតខាងក្នុងឆ្នាំ២០០៦។ ក្រោយមកមិនយូរប៉ុន្មាន រដ្ឋាភិបាលក៏បានជួលបឹងកក់ទៅឱ្យក្រុមហ៊ុនស៊ូកាគូអ៊ីន ហើយគ្រួសារដែលកំពុងរស់នៅក្នុងតំបន់នោះ ត្រូវបានគេចាត់ទុកថាជាអ្នកដែលរស់នៅលើដីរដ្ឋខុសច្បាប់ទៅវិញ។ ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋទីនោះទាំងអស់ មិនត្រឹមតែត្រូវបានគេបដិសេធកាន់កាប់ដីធ្លីប៉ុណ្ណោះទេ ពួកគេថែមទាំងត្រូវបានគេបដិសេធមិនបញ្ចូលទៅក្នុងក្របខណ្ឌគោលនយោបាយតាំងទីលំនៅថ្មីថែមទៀតផង ដែលក្របខណ្ឌនេះបានបង្កើតឡើងសម្រាប់ការតាំងលំនៅថ្មី និងការទូទាត់សំណងប្រកបដោយយុត្តិធម៌ ស្របតាមគោលនយោបាយឃ្លាំមើលសុវត្ថិភាពសង្គមរបស់ធនាគារពិភពលោក។

ក្រុមអធិការកិច្ចក៏បានយល់ស្របទៅនឹងពាក្យបណ្តឹងរបស់សគមន៍បឹងកក់ ដែលនៅក្នុងគម្រោងរៀបចំគោលនយោបាយ ឃ្លាំមើលសុវត្ថិភាពរបស់ធនាគារពិភពលោកមិនត្រូវអនុវត្ត ការអនុត្ត និងការឃ្លាំមើលលើគម្រោងគ្រប់គ្រងរដ្ឋបាលដីធ្លីគឺជាចំណែកមួយធ្វើឱ្យមានផលប៉ះពាល់ និងទុក្ខវេទនាដល់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ។ ក្រុមគណៈគ្រប់គ្រងរបស់ធនាគារកន្លងមកក៍ធ្លាប់ប្តេជ្ញាចិត្តក្នុងការរកដំណោះស្រាយសម្រាប់ទុក្ខលំបាកនេះ។ ពោលឱ្យចំគឺ”ធនាគារប្តេជ្ញាចិត្តធ្វើការជាមួយរដ្ឋភិបាលកម្ពុជា និងដៃគូអភិវឌ្ឍន៍នានាដើម្បីធានាថា សហគមន៍ ជាភាគីម្ចាស់បណ្តឹង នឹងត្រូវបានគាំទ្រស្របតាមក្របខណ្ឌគោលនយោបាយតាំងទីលំនៅថ្មី” បន្ថែមពីលើនេះ ក្រុមគណៈគ្រប់គ្រងរបស់ធនាគារក៏បានសន្យា “បន្តធ្វើសកម្មភាពបន្ថែមដើម្បីធានាឱ្យសហគមន៍ទទួលបានប្រយោជន៍ ពីវិធានការនៃការការគាំពារដូចមានចែងក្នុងក្របខណ្ឌគោលនយោបាយតាំងទីលំនៅថ្មី” រួមទាំងជម្រើសផ្សេងទៀត ដូចជាលទ្ធភាពក្នុងការប្រើប្រាស់យន្តការមូលនិធិរបស់ធនា-គារពិភពលោកជាដើម។

ក៏ប៉ុន្តែ រដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាមិនបានបង្ហាញពីឆន្ទៈ ក្នុងការសហការជាមួយនឹងធនាគារពិភពលលោកក្នុងសកម្មភាពផ្តល់សំណងប៉ះពូវទាំងនេះឡើយ។ ដូច្នេះ ក្រុមគណៈគ្រប់គ្រងរបស់ធនាគារពិភពលោកបានប្រាប់ទៅរដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាថា ធនាការនឹងផ្អាករាល់បា្រក់កម្ចីថ្មីៗទាំងអស់ដល់កម្ពុជា ហើយនឹងមិនបន្តការផ្តល់ប្រាក់កម្ចីណាទាំងអស់លុះត្រាណាបញ្ហារបស់អ្នកបឹងកក់ត្រូវបានដោះស្រាយ និងអាចទទួលយកបាន។

Boeung Kak Open Letter to World Bank President Kim

Open letter to World Bank President Jim Kim

May 9, 2013

cc:

Ulrich Zachau, Director of Strategy and Operations in East Asia and Pacific
Annette Dixon, Country Director for Southeast Asia
Alassane Sow,  Country Manager for Cambodia

 

Dear President Kim,

We are 364 families of the Boeung Kak community. We used to live and work around the lake, which is located in central Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 2007, our lands were leased to Shukaku Inc., owned by the ruling party senator Lao Meng Khim. We were subsequently threatened with forced eviction, and when we resisted, we faced several years of threats and intimidation, as well as intentional flooding of our homes, making them uninhabitable. As a result, we had no option but to accept the compensation offered – either US$8,500 or a plot at a relocation site – and leave our homes of many years.

Since then, we have become impoverished. The monetary compensation some of us accepted was inadequate for rebuilding our lives in Phnom Penh. Some families consequently migrated to the countryside, while some migrated abroad. Others took the compensation of garage-like housing in Damnak Troyung relocation site, some 25km from Boeung Kak; the consequent loss of employment has forced us to live apart from our families and loved ones, and many of our children have been forced to drop out of school. Further others rent sub-standard housing closer to the city, spending hard-earned money on rent with little security of tenure. At least two families were swindled into buying plots of land from which they are now facing eviction.

We believe the World Bank has a responsibility to address our situation. In our 2009 complaint to the Bank’s Inspection Panel for the Bank’s role in the Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP) in Cambodia, we maintained that the Bank had breached its operational policies by failing to adequately supervise the Project, as a result of which we faced forced eviction. The Inspection Panel found in favour of our claim, and Bank Management subsequently committed to “[w]orking with the Government and Development Partners towards ensuring that the communities who filed the Request will be supported in a way consistent with the Resettlement Policy Framework.”

We are still waiting for that support. When the World Bank froze all new lending to Cambodia after the Cambodian Government refused to cooperate to improve our situation, the Government responded by awarding 12.44ha of land to the people of Boeung Kak. This was an important step towards resolving the Boeung Kak dispute, but it was solution for only those 650 or so households remaining in the area – that’s only 15% of the 4,200 families affected.

We believe the World Bank has a responsibility towards all of Boeung Kak’s residents, both current and former. At the time we left the area we had no other choice: our houses were covered in water and we were regularly harassed and intimidated. We did not leave voluntarily.

The World Bank has recently indicated that it intends to re-engage in Cambodia. Our message to the Bank is this: no re-engagement without remedial action. The situation has not been resolved for 85% of the affected people and the “concrete actions to redress harm to communities that were evicted and the ones that face involuntary resettlement”, as demanded by the Inspection Panel, remain untaken.

Yours Sincerely,

Representatives of the former residents of Boeung Kak lake

Background

In February 2007, the Municipality of Phnom Penh granted a 99-year lease to the private developer Shukaku Inc. over a 133-hectare property covering the nine villages in the Boeung Kak area and the lake. The lease agreement usurped the land rights of Boeung Kak residents and threatened its estimated 20,000 residents with forced eviction. In September 2009, community representatives submitted a complaint to the World Bank Inspection Panel, alleging that the World Bank breached its operational policies by failing to adequately supervise the Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP). Despite many households having strong evidence to prove their legal rights to the land, Boeung Kak residents were excluded from the titling system when land registration was carried out in their neighborhood in 2006. Shortly thereafter, the Cambodian Government granted the Boeung Kak lease to Shukaku, and the 4000 families residing in the area were suddenly classified as illegal squatters on State-owned land. In addition to being unfairly denied title en masse, residents were also denied the protection of the LMAP Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF), which established a fair process for resettlement and compensation of people found to be residing on State land, in accordance with World Bank social safeguards.

The Inspection Panel found in favor of the Boeung Kak community’s claim that non-compliance with Bank safeguard policies in the design, implementation and supervision of LMAP contributed to the harms that they had suffered. Accordingly, Bank Management made a number of commitments to attempt to address harms suffered. Specifically, it committed to “[w]orking with the Government and Development Partners towards ensuring that the communities who filed the Request will be supported in a way consistent with the Resettlement Policy Framework.” Further, Management pledged to “continue to pursue actions so that people can benefit from a set of protection measures in line with what they would have received under the RPF,” including the possibility of using alternative World Bank funding mechanisms.

The Cambodian government, however, showed no willingness to cooperate with the Bank on these remedial actions. In turn, Bank Management informed the Government that it would freeze all new lending to Cambodia and would not resume lending until there was a satisfactory resolution of the Boeung Kak case.

Phnom Penh Governor to Re-Examine Land Disputes

RFA, May. 08 2013

Boeung Kak and Borei Keila activists holding posters of Yorm Bopha demonstrate outside the South Korean Embassy in Phnom Penh, May 8, 2013.

The newly appointed governor of Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh has vowed to re-examine two bitter land disputes that rocked the city under his predecessor’s term after meeting activists involved in the cases, his spokesman said Wednesday.

But Governor Pa Socheatvong, who took office on Monday, will not intervene on behalf of a jailed campaigner, Yorm Bopha, who had vigorously championed the evictees’ right to housing.

Pa Socheatvong will review the cases of residents locked in disputes in the Boeung Kak Lake and Borei Keila area by next week, spokesman Long Dyman said.

“He will begin the work of leading the city for a week first and then he will examine the villagers’ documents,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service.

The new governor met on Tuesday with representatives from the two communities, who said he promised them a swift solution to the disputes, the local newspaper The Phnom Penh Post reported.

The meeting marked a departure from the policies of his predecessor Kep Chuketma, who refused to meet in recent years with the activists, who have staged countless demonstrations in the city on behalf of residents evicted to make way for luxury developments.

Long Dyman said Pa Socheatvong will not be intervening in the case of Yorm Bopha, a leading Boeung Kak activist who was jailed last year in a case critics have said was “manufactured” to target her for speaking out.

Her case is beyond the governor’s authority and only the courts can decide what happens to her, he said.

Yorm Bopha, 29, who has been held since early September, was convicted by the Phnom Penh municipal court in December for committing “intentional violence” in connection with the beating of a suspected thief, and in March the Supreme Court rejected her bail plea.

She has been named an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience and local rights groups have said her case smacks of political interference and should be thrown out.

Stepped up protests

Borei Keila and Boeung Kak activists have stepped up their protests in recent weeks, calling for Yorm Bopha’s release and demanding the city issue land titles for 64 Boeung Kak families excluded from a resettlement deal.

On Wednesday the activists staged a demonstration in front of the South Korean embassy and presented petitions to embassy officials, who did not give any assurance that they will raise the issue with the Cambodian government.

Boeng Kak community representative Tep Vanny said the residents have turned to ask foreign embassies for support because they are disappointed with the government and Prime Minister Hun Sen for delaying an resolution to the disputes.

“South Korea is a democratic country, so we think they have a duty to intervene our case,” she told RFA.

 

From prison, an accidental activist

By Shane Worrell and Khouth Sophak Chakrya, Phnom Penh Post, 08 May 2013

Boeung Kak activist Song Srey Leap takes part in a protest in Phnom Penh last month. Srey Leap says she had not been motivated to take part in demonstrations until after she was arrested last year. Photograph: Shane Worrell/Phnom Penh Post

When Boeung Kak lake protesters converged on the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to demand justice for imprisoned activist Yorm Bopha last month, an increasingly familiar face was at the front.

After her fellow activists chanted, released birds from a cage and then dispersed, Song Srey Leap, 27, remained at the court’s entrance.

Crying, she continued screaming for justice as police – who likely recognised the face before them – watched her every move.

A year ago, Srey Leap wasn’t an activist. Her community was in the grip of an enduring land dispute and her mother was a regular protester, but Srey Leap was only a silent observer.

“I would only sometimes attend protests, on the weekend, when I wasn’t working,” she said yesterday. “But I never spoke with police. I was only ever watching.”

Almost a year ago, things changed. Srey Leap was arrested with 12 other women as she observed another protest, she said.

The group, soon known as the “Boeung Kak 13”, was sentenced – in a three-hour trial – to two-and-a-half years in Prey Sar prison.

“Some women came back to our village and said officials were receiving orders on walkie-talkies to begin arresting women,” Srey Leap said of the events leading to her arrest. “I heard this and went to the [nearby protest] to warn people to come back.”

Soon after, Srey Leap was detained on the sand dunes of Boeung Kak as she headed home with Phan Chhunreth, who was also arrested and imprisoned.

Although released on appeal 34 days later, the women’s convictions – for encroaching on private property and disputing authority – remained.

“I felt very angry with authorities,” said Srey Leap, who is the youngest of the 13. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I tried to explain this to police when I was arrested, but they didn’t listen.

“During our three-hour trial, I was questioned for two minutes. It ended with the court clerk saying police wouldn’t have arrested me if I’d done nothing wrong.”

The treatment of the women and two others detained at their trial and sent to Prey Sar was widely condemned last year. Critics accused the government of trying to silence protesters.

If that was its aim, Srey Leap’s arrest had the opposite effect – in prison, her silence gave way to forthright dissent.

“I’d never been to a prison before. I felt like my life was ruined,” she said. “I was surrounded by people who had done things like stolen a bag – and they were serving three to five years. Yet we know of corrupt officials who have been convicted of crimes and are still free.

“When we were in prison, I thought, ‘If I can get out, I will make a plan to find our community a resolution.’”

Since her release, Srey Leap has been at most Boeung Kak protests, often at the forefront. Her mother, Ieng Bunnary, has protested less and focused more on providing for the family, leaving her daughter to become an almost full-time activist.

The 27-year-old acts as a communications officer for the Boeung Kak community, and when she’s not protesting, she’s often devising better ways to protest.

“I’m not protesting because I’m angry with the authorities. I feel angry, sure, but I don’t want revenge. I want a solution for the people.

“And it’s not just about Boeung Kak for me now – we need the courts to stop corruption and stop the powerful controlling them. They need to follow the rule of law and give everyone justice – even the poor.”

The likely attempt to stifle the Boeung Kak activists appeared to have backfired, said Sia Phearum, secretariat director of rights group Housing Rights Task Force.

“I think the authorities gave experience to them,” he said. “After they went to prison, they saw more injustice around them.

“We have found them doing more after prison. Srey Leap especially has become more active. She doesn’t want to sleep – she has found the issues around her serious.”

Boeng Kak Protesters Demand Activist’s Release

By  Chhorn Chansy, The Cambodia Daily, May. 07 2013

Eviction Victims Meet Phnom Penh Gorvernor

By  Kaing Menghun, The Cambodia Daily, May. 07 2013

 

Former Boeng Kak Residents Offer Solution, Shift Strategy

By Denise Hruby and Kuch Naren, The Cambodia Daily, May. 4-5  2013