FEAR FOR VIOLENCE AND HARRASSMENT AGAINST ACTIVISTS OPPOSING ECONOMIC LAND CONCESSIONS IN SREY CHA COMMUNE, SNOUL DISTRICT, KRATIE PROVINCE, CAMBODIA The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), on the basis of reliable information received, expresses its concern at the situation faced by 270 families in Srey Cha Commune, Snoul District, Kratie Province, Cambodia. Many of these families have already lost and other are at risk of losing their ancestral lands owing to Government’s land concessions for economic exploitation. OMCT is further concerned that violence and intimidation will be inflicted on those communities activists that, in the attempt to defending their economic, social and cultural rights, protest against concessions of their lands. Following Economic Land Concessions (ELC) issued by the Royal Government of Cambodia in favour of private companies for exploitation for a rubber plantation, approximately 270 families in four villages have already been forcibly evicted from some of their lands or are at risk of eviction. According to the information received - in issuing the ELC - the Royal Government of Cambodia failed to respect national and international obligations, in particular in respect to eviction policy and the rights of indigenous peoples. Local communities were not previously consulted nor were they duly informed. To oppose the procedure in which land concessions were issued, the affected communities organised a peaceful protest. This protest turned out to be the ground for criminal charges against three local activists, who are now living in fear of being arbitrarily arrested. Source: http://escr.omct.org/action-files/cambodia/2010/02/d6103/ (February 2010)

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