The Boeung Kak 13

AMID cheers and the odd tear, a band of 13 women—a dowdy lot of impoverished middle-aged mothers, homemakers, and a grandmother—were set free by a Cambodian appeals court on June 27th. The court’s decision was welcomed by human-rights groups as well as by local land-rights activists, who believe the national government has taken advantage of these women as part of a programme of evicting the poor to make way for lucrative commercial developments.

The youngest of the gang of 13 is 25 years old and the eldest is 72. They were among 4,000 families evicted from their homes around Boeung Kak lake, a natural waterway and a parcel of prime real estate near the centre of Phnom Penh. The surrounding land was then cleared and the lake filled to make way for an up-market housing project.

The development is supposed to be built by an extremely discreet firm called Shukaku Inc, which is owned by Lao Meng Khin, a senator for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), and a Chinese group, Erdos Hongjun Investment Corporation.

Some families received a paltry mix of cash and land to move while others received nothing. The women kept on protesting at the site, even after they were evicted. Eventually they were arrested and on May 24th, after a three-hour hearing, they were convicted of occupying the land in question illegally. Each was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail.

Their arrest had been condemned swiftly by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. They too are concerned about the prevalence of land-grabbing, which is made all the uglier by allegations of corruption and the deadly use of force. According to a local human-rights group called Licadho, foreign interests—owning mines, plantations, real-estate development firms and the like—now control more than 22% of Cambodia’s total surface area. 

But then at a crucial juncture the “Boueng Kak 13”, as they had become known, started to win the sympathy of ordinary Cambodians and the support of America’s secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.

Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, has responded to the growing agitation over land rights with a freeze on further land concessions and a promise to resolve the rest of the country’s outstanding cases of land-grabbing. This pledge did not, however, lead to any cessation in the granting of vast tracts of land to commercial interests.

Hun Sen took to lashing out at media accounts which reported that he had gone back on his earlier promises. He argued that the contracts on thousands of hectares of state forests and other protected areas that have been granted in recent weeks had been approved already—before the freeze was announced.

Tight security was visible around the courthouse where the Boeung Kak 13’s appeal came down. It seemed emblematic of Hun Sen’s distaste for being challenged on this issue. A large stretch of the capital went into lockdown in the hours before the verdict was announced. The fear had been that protests mounted by supporters of the jailed women might interrupt a state visit being paid by Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito.

About six city blocks along Sothearos boulevard and Sisowath quay, stretching past the royal palace and the courts, were closed to traffic. About 200 protesters were kept a full kilometre from the court, along the banks of the Tonle Sap. There they were confronted by 300 riot police, military police and soldiers.

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported around town but inside the cramped courthouse the mood was optimistic nonetheless. International and local pressure had raised expectations that the Boeung Kak 13 would be set free.

The hopefulness was partly due to Cambodia’s growing international stature. Phnom Penh occupies the current chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and will shortly play host to a summit of foreign ministers, which Mrs Clinton is expected to attend. Anything less than the release of the imprisoned women would’ve been an international embarrassment for the government.

The presiding judge, Seng Sivutha, did not disappoint. He noted noting that the women, who appeared before him in their prison blue, had children to look after and that moreover they had little knowledge of the law. He reduced their prison terms to exactly one month and three days—exactly the time served—and so they were freed. Their conviction, however, stays on the books.

Khek Chan Raksmey, a villager from Boeung Kak, was overwhelmed by the rare sense of victory. “Long live, we won now. The court has released our people.”

 Source: economist

(Picture credit: AFP)