Cambodia: Human Rights Activists (Part 3)

Cambodia: Human Rights Activists (Part 3) -- Mr. You Tho

"I was born with the attitude and the will to help other people," You Tho explains in an interview with LICADHO.23 "I do not know why I was born with this character. It is simply the way I am."

(An excerpt from Attacks & threats against human rights defenders in Cambodia 2008-2009)

You Tho is a local commune council member in the Thpong district of Kampong Speu. First elected over nine years ago by 11 villages, You Tho shouldered the responsibility for guiding his constituency through what are challenging and turbulent times.

The land owned by his community is currently threatened by the powerful businessman and CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat. Through his company the senator hopes to appropriate the land belonging to the 11 villages in Amleang commune in order to expand his sugarcane plantation. He benefited from a government economic land concession in order to develop his project.

The Land Struggle

The struggle began in 2007 when the villagers were first told about the planned land concession and demonstrated in protest. The company kept quiet for a while. Then, in 2008 the company returned with a new plan, dubbed "tiger skin development." The company explained that it would expand the plantation while leaving enough free land for the villagers to farm. It also promised to leave a swathe of 1,500 meters of land beside the road exclusively for the villagers, who had little choice but to acquiesce. Later, the roadside land was reduced to 1,000 meters. Then 500 meters. Then 200 meters.

"Now, the company simply wants all of the villagers to leave the land, because they say that as long as we stay, there will be tensions," You Tho says. "They complain that our cows eat the sugarcane. If they had their way, there would be no more land for the people."

In January 2010, tractors from Ly Yong Phat's company began ploughing the villagers' remaining land. They arrived without the consent or knowledge of the community. When the villagers protested, they were referred to the local authorities. But the local authorities did nothing.

In early February, while You Tho was away from the villages for a meeting, some villagers became angry and began to throw earth and sticks at the tractors. You Tho is unequivocal in his belief in non-violence and advocacy as methods of conflict resolution.

"I do not tolerate violence," he says. "So I always advise people not to succumb to violence in order to resolve problems."

No tractors sustained any damage, and no one was hurt. Yet the company brought a complaint in court against five commune chiefs including You Tho. They were accused of incitement, even though none of them was present during the events. On February 14, they went to the Kampong Speu trial court accompanied by over 400 villagers who wished to show their support. The judge warned them to cease their advocacy on behalf of the villagers. He threatened that next time they were brought to court they would be jailed.

After the hearing the public prosecutor told them Senator Ly Yong Phat was too powerful to resist, because "half of the country owes him favors".

The tractors did not stop. The villagers grew weary of protesting. In March an official from the Ministry of Interior came to meet with them. She had an offer from the company. It would buy all cultivated land for $200 per hectare, and the rest for $100 per hectare. Those who refused the offer, she said, would receive "the air". Nothing.

On the 17 March 2010, more than 30 soldiers from RCAF's 313 battalion were deployed on the concession area. The battalion is one of the military units officially sponsored by Senator Ly Yong Phat in a newly-created patronage system whereby private companies can sponsor specific military units.

On the day of the deployment, You Tho was sick. The villagers met without him to discuss a course of action. Tempers were running high because the compensation offered was so low. On March 18, about 500 villagers held a protest to prevent the tractors from continuing their work, but failed. Some villagers then marched to two makeshift shelters erected by the company on their land and set them on fire.

"I was surprised and saddened by the fire," says You Tho, "but there was nothing I could do. On March 24, the court summoned me and three other leaders, accusing us of inciting the villagers to burn down the property."

The Arrest and Repercussions

You Tho left his village very early on the morning of the hearing in the company of another accused leader, Khem Vuthy. Later a large crowd of supporters followed with the other two community leaders.

"I did not want the villagers to become violent if they saw me get arrested by the court," You Tho explains. "The judge sent us to jail, and then the court closed and ran away before our supporters arrived."

You Tho holds a very low opinion of the manner in which the court handled his case. "The way the courts treated the accusations against me was very unjust," he says. "I think that the court is controlled by those with power and money. I told them that I was not there when the buildings were burned because I was sick. I had many witnesses to prove this. But they refused to listen, and they arrested me."

The villagers refused to give up on their community leaders. They remained outside the courtroom to protest. Military police beat some of them with electric batons. At night when the villagers tried to sleep on the sidewalk, the military police cleared them out so they could not rest. They had no food and no money, so other villagers brought food from the countryside on tractors. But the military police stopped them, and poured the rice on the ground. The military police are paid by Senator Ly Yong Phat, in a similar -- albeit less official -- manner than RCAF Batallion 313.

The authorities refused to speak with the villagers. So on 26 March 2010, more than 600 villagers gathered on National Road 4, blocking it for almost two hours demanding the release of You Tho and Khem Vuthy. This is the main highway from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. The blockage led to heavy traffic congestion and prompted the deputy provincial governor, court officials and the provincial police commissioner to finally talk with villagers. After lengthy negotiations the villagers agreed to move and discuss the matter at the provincial court.

On 29 March 2010, You Tho and Khem Vuthy were released on bail and placed under surveillance. Charges against them were finally dropped in July 2010. Senator Ly Yong Phat himself delivered the court papers officially dropping the charges to You Tho, so as to attempt to secure his support for the forced eviction.

Leadership

Despite the imprisonment, and the offers from the senator and other officials, You Tho remains determined to lead his community and defend their interests throughout the land struggle.

"I am poor and I was born in poverty just like many Cambodians," You Tho says. "I have heard many people say: 'Do not make friends with the poor and uneducated.' This is not the way I think, however. If we only made friends with the rich, what would happen to all the Cambodians who are poor? This is why I decided to remain with the poor. It is very difficult to be poor and uneducated, and yet I will not abandon them. There are already so few people who will really help the poor in Cambodia."

You Tho is eloquent in describing his relationship with the community, which is built on years of struggling through numerous challenges and dangers.

"My will and endurance spring from my belief in the strength of my community," he explains. "We grow stronger and stronger as the years go by. This strength encourages and sustains me. I know that if something happens to me, the people will fight for me."

The strong trust between You Tho and the village communities predates his involvement as commune chief. During the Vietnamese occupation in the 1980s, You Tho was elected village chief. His policies incurred the wrath of the local Vietnamese brigade, who came to his village in order to execute him. At once he was surrounded by over 60 villagers, who kept the soldiers at bay and saved his life. Around this time, he was also kidnapped by a group of Khmer Rouge guerrillas. Villagers followed the guerrillas into the bush, and managed to retake him from the kidnappers.

"This is exceptional, as no villagers dared to stand up to the Khmer Rouge at that time," You Tho says. "Those who were kidnapped were almost always killed."

"I cannot step down from my leadership role now," You Tho concludes simply. "The people trust me and rely on me too much for me to leave."

Hope for the Future

You Tho places much hope in the growing strength of his community in order to remain strong in the land struggle.

"The more problems we face, the greater the adversity we endure, the stronger we become in our knowledge, our organization and our solidarity," You Tho says.

Recently the number of community members in his network has increased significantly, with more and more villages joining the struggle against land-grabbing.

You Tho’s strength, and that of his community, is constantly tested by the company as well as the police and military. The villagers have dealt with police violence during demonstrations, and a number have been injured. Although they have not threatened him directly, police told villagers on numerous occasions that You Tho would be sent back to prison. They also follow him and monitor his activities. On one occasion, he observed police outside his home during a meeting. He invited them in, telling them they could report if he said anything wrong. The police declined to enter.

"I have no fear of being arrested," You Tho says. "The police are trying to weaken us by intimidation. I know that if I fear them, then I cannot be a leader. So I do not listen to the threats."

You Tho remains above all a realist, conscious of the challenges and limits to community protests and what they can achieve.

"I have hope for the future," he says, "but there are different kinds of hope. We cannot hope to keep all of our land. Yet if we do not protest, then we will lose all of our land. Keeping 50 percent of what is ours is better than nothing. We do desire to retain all of our land against the company’s wishes, but this is hopeless in the current circumstances."

You Tho knows that his community cannot reclaim all of the land appropriated by Ly Yong Phat's company without government support. Unfortunately the only assistance that they have received so far is from their community network and NGOs.

"Our community is like an orphan," he says. "We are abandoned and left to fend for ourselves."

"I do think that the people are strong," he continues. "But if we have no support from the government, then our enemies will never stop trying to take our land. This is a very political issue. In our case, the company uses the name of the Prime Minister to protect themselves. They say the Prime Minister gave the land to them, and therefore they are allowed to take it. So the government does not support the people. The sad truth is that without government support we will not succeed. By ourselves we may achieve small victories. Nonetheless our enemies are relentless and we can never stop them entirely."

"I would very much like to see a change in government," he says. "But I do not know if that is likely to happen."
(Excerpt from the General Assembly of the Human Rights Council Fifteenth Session)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia -- Surya P. Subedi

A. Housing. and land-related rights

31. The issues associated with land rights disputes and evictions continue to dominate the headlines in the media in Cambodia today. The manner in which land is managed and used by the Government for various purposes continues to be a major problem. Land- grabbing by people in positions of power seems to be a common occurrence. gconomic land concessions leased to companies and other land transactions have severe consequences for the rural and urban poor as well as for indigenous people.2 In 2009 alone at least 26 evictions displaced approximately 27,000 people in Cambodia. The 2001 Land Law does provide a legal framework to deal with issues of land ownership, but there have been problems in implementing this law properly. It is against this background that Resolution 12/25 of the Human Rights Council urged the Government to enhance its efforts to resolve equitably and expeditiously land ownership issues in a fair and open manner, in accordance with the 2001 Land L aw, by strengthening the implementation of the law through the development of national guidelines to clari1 relevant procedures. The new Law on Expropriation enacted in February 2010 and the Government Circular issued in December 2009 are positive developments in this direction. The Law on Expropriation provides some good protection for property owners. The Ministry of Land Management made the process of adopting the Circular participatory, allowing civil society organizations and development partners to make their input.
32. The Special Rapporteur was pleased with the proposal made by the President of the Human Rights Committee of Cambodia during their meeting in June 2010 to constitute an ad hoc, informal group to look at outstanding land disputes with a view to screening them and proposing recommendations for resolving them in a legal and fair manner. This group would comprise a representative from his office, a representative of the Office in Cambodia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR-Cambodia) and several representatives from civil society organizations working on land issues. Given the inability of existing institutional bodies to resolve some of these disputes, and the lack of redress for individuals, the Special Rapporteur welcomed the proposal as constructive, provided that this new informal mechanism did not replace or undermine existing mechanisms such as Cadastral Commissions, the Courts, or the National Authority for Land Dispute Resolutio n. The Special Rapporteur encourages cooperative discussions among stakeholders about the possible role that such a mechanism could play in contributing to the resolution of difficult land disputes or eviction cases. The objective should be a transparent cooperative dialogue between the Government, OHCHR-Cambodia and civil society (including voices from communities) to make this a worthwhile exercise. The Special Rapporteur hopes that such a working group can be established in the near future.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

ENDS

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