Courts Declare Dey Krahorm Leaders Guilty
On February 16th, prosecutors from the company “7NG” charged three leaders of the recently evicted Dey Krahorm community with damaging 7NG property. Lawyers from 7NG never showed, but the hearing continued with a stand-in for the company. By the end of the trial, the judge declared the defendants guilty of “assault” and “destruction of property.” He gave them each a suspended jail sentence of over a year and a fine of three-hundred US dollars. Another lawsuit, this time against Vichet, another Dey Krahorm representative, began the day after these hearings ended.
“It was the best they could have hoped for, but it wasn’t justice,” said Mrs. J of a social justice organization, mirroring the thoughts and words of other justice workers.
Due to the fact many Dey Krahorm people physically resisted the January evictions by erecting barricades, holding hands, and even throwing rocks, the courts ruled the defendants guilty. Some argue that 7NG should face these charges, rather than the Dey Krahorm people who “only tried to protect their property.”
Justice workers from around the world have called the lawsuits by 7NG “intimidation.” These workers also point out these suits occurred while the Dey Krahorm people withstood company offers of “compensation,” and the accused all hold positions of leadership among the Dey Krahorm.
Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun of Cambodia declared the community members “greedy” in refusing to accept the company’s early offers of money or “apartments” for their land. After the evictions, the company cancelled the money offers and changed the criteria for getting an apartment. Analyses show the offers of money fell far below the market-rate value of the land.
Although Cambodian land laws say that a person owns land if they live on it for five or more years, a small group of representatives essentially gave away a 3.6 hectare piece of land to a company called “7NG” without consulting the hundreds of families living on the land. Despite the fact that the majority of the hundreds of families in the community had lived on the land for over five years, 7NG still claims rights to the property. Since 2005 the families have faced violence and other acts of intimidation from the company as they stood their ground. Over the years, some families merely gave in and left.
Early on January 24th police forcefully evicted the last remaining 152 families from the Dey Krahorm—“Red Soil” in English—community.
“I was inside the site by four o’clock in the morning,” said Naly Pilorge, director of the human rights organization LICADHO. She went on to tell how the police blockaded the roads in and out of the community. “About six o’clock, many police, mostly military police, moved towards Dey Krahorm”
Volunteers for social justice organizations filmed as police officers fired tear-gas, fire extinguishers, and water canons into the groups of resisting people. Bulldozers flattened houses sometimes even before the people could remove their personal belongings.
“Some people were not even able to gather clothing,” Pilorge stated.
Many Dey Krahorm people fought back, attempting to resist the forced eviction. This led to the lawsuit from 7NG, mainly accusing the community leaders of harming company property.
Since the eviction, the company has removed the families to a site outside the city. Legal analyses on the situation by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions stated, “Housing conditions at the resettlement site Damnak Tayoung are woefully inadequate including insufficient access to water and sanitation.”
Now far from their jobs and their children’s schools, the people of Dey Krahorm have accepted the company’s offer of apartments for lack of any other choice. Some had to pay three-hundred US dollars to get their “compensation.” 7NG did not offer homes to all of the families.
7NG has said that the Dey Krahorm land, property valued at over 44 million US dollars, will undergo development for the betterment of Cambodian society. Planning has begun for housing, offices, and a shopping center. Since the community qualified as a slum with most houses built out of tin, wood, and plastic tarps, many Cambodians in the government say that the Dey Krahorm presence marred the riverfront property. Representatives from 7NG remain silent with regard to the accusations leveled against the company from justice workers and even others in the Cambodian government.
Four days after the eviction, the Cambodia Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights came out with an official statement, calling the eviction “a setback for the rule of the law.”
Bibliography
Briefing Paper: The Eviction of Dey Krahorm." 29/01/2009
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Legal Analysis of the Forced Eviction of Dey Krahorm Community."
Jack, Susan. Personal interview. 01/03/2009.
Pilorge, Naly. "Dey Krahorm." International Christian Assembly. World Vision Building, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 01/03/2009.
United Nations Office of the High Commisssioner, "The Eviction of Dey Krahorm Residents: A Setback for the Rule of the Law."
On February 16th, prosecutors from the company “7NG” charged three leaders of the recently evicted Dey Krahorm community with damaging 7NG property. Lawyers from 7NG never showed, but the hearing continued with a stand-in for the company. By the end of the trial, the judge declared the defendants guilty of “assault” and “destruction of property.” He gave them each a suspended jail sentence of over a year and a fine of three-hundred US dollars. Another lawsuit, this time against Vichet, another Dey Krahorm representative, began the day after these hearings ended.
“It was the best they could have hoped for, but it wasn’t justice,” said Mrs. J of a social justice organization, mirroring the thoughts and words of other justice workers.
Due to the fact many Dey Krahorm people physically resisted the January evictions by erecting barricades, holding hands, and even throwing rocks, the courts ruled the defendants guilty. Some argue that 7NG should face these charges, rather than the Dey Krahorm people who “only tried to protect their property.”
Justice workers from around the world have called the lawsuits by 7NG “intimidation.” These workers also point out these suits occurred while the Dey Krahorm people withstood company offers of “compensation,” and the accused all hold positions of leadership among the Dey Krahorm.
Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun of Cambodia declared the community members “greedy” in refusing to accept the company’s early offers of money or “apartments” for their land. After the evictions, the company cancelled the money offers and changed the criteria for getting an apartment. Analyses show the offers of money fell far below the market-rate value of the land.
Although Cambodian land laws say that a person owns land if they live on it for five or more years, a small group of representatives essentially gave away a 3.6 hectare piece of land to a company called “7NG” without consulting the hundreds of families living on the land. Despite the fact that the majority of the hundreds of families in the community had lived on the land for over five years, 7NG still claims rights to the property. Since 2005 the families have faced violence and other acts of intimidation from the company as they stood their ground. Over the years, some families merely gave in and left.
Early on January 24th police forcefully evicted the last remaining 152 families from the Dey Krahorm—“Red Soil” in English—community.
“I was inside the site by four o’clock in the morning,” said Naly Pilorge, director of the human rights organization LICADHO. She went on to tell how the police blockaded the roads in and out of the community. “About six o’clock, many police, mostly military police, moved towards Dey Krahorm”
Volunteers for social justice organizations filmed as police officers fired tear-gas, fire extinguishers, and water canons into the groups of resisting people. Bulldozers flattened houses sometimes even before the people could remove their personal belongings.
“Some people were not even able to gather clothing,” Pilorge stated.
Many Dey Krahorm people fought back, attempting to resist the forced eviction. This led to the lawsuit from 7NG, mainly accusing the community leaders of harming company property.
Since the eviction, the company has removed the families to a site outside the city. Legal analyses on the situation by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions stated, “Housing conditions at the resettlement site Damnak Tayoung are woefully inadequate including insufficient access to water and sanitation.”
Now far from their jobs and their children’s schools, the people of Dey Krahorm have accepted the company’s offer of apartments for lack of any other choice. Some had to pay three-hundred US dollars to get their “compensation.” 7NG did not offer homes to all of the families.
7NG has said that the Dey Krahorm land, property valued at over 44 million US dollars, will undergo development for the betterment of Cambodian society. Planning has begun for housing, offices, and a shopping center. Since the community qualified as a slum with most houses built out of tin, wood, and plastic tarps, many Cambodians in the government say that the Dey Krahorm presence marred the riverfront property. Representatives from 7NG remain silent with regard to the accusations leveled against the company from justice workers and even others in the Cambodian government.
Four days after the eviction, the Cambodia Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights came out with an official statement, calling the eviction “a setback for the rule of the law.”
Bibliography
Briefing Paper: The Eviction of Dey Krahorm." 29/01/2009
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Legal Analysis of the Forced Eviction of Dey Krahorm Community."
Jack, Susan. Personal interview. 01/03/2009.
Pilorge, Naly. "Dey Krahorm." International Christian Assembly. World Vision Building, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 01/03/2009.
United Nations Office of the High Commisssioner, "The Eviction of Dey Krahorm Residents: A Setback for the Rule of the Law."
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