Cambodian Center for Human Rigths
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release – Phnom Penh, 6 April 2010
Concerns over Confiscation of H.E. Son Chhay’s Land
For immediate release – Phnom Penh, 6 April 2010
Concerns over Confiscation of H.E. Son Chhay’s Land
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) condemns the expropriation of land belonging to Sam Rainsy Party (“SRP”) parliamentarian H.E. Son Chhay. The expropriation by the Apsara Authority of the three hectare parcel of land in Siem Reap, close to the Kyungyu tourist, site is of dubious legality and amounts to an act of intimidation of the opposition parliamentarian.
The CCHR is concerned by the legality of the expropriation for two reasons. Firstly, the use of the land by the Sokimex Group for a hotel development serves no clear public interest as required by Article 5 of the Land Law and Articles 2 and 4 of the Expropriation Law. In defence of the confiscation, Bun Narith, the general director of the Apsara Authority, is quoted in the Phnom Penh Post on 29 March 2010 to the effect that the land in question is state land that “is not bought or sold”. According to the same article however, the Apsara Authority has announced that it will confiscate and sell the land to the Sokimex Group. Secondly, the nominal compensation being provided to Son Chhay for his land of US$0.50 per square meter is not “fair or just” and has not been paid in advance as Article 5 of the Land Law and Articles 2 and 4 of the Expropriation Law require. This compensation falls dramatically short of the Apsara Authority’s own valuation of the land, which H.E. Son Chhay says will be sold to the Sokimex Group for US$80 per square meter.
Another disturbing feature of the land expropriation is the implicit intimidation of a SRP member through the courts of Cambodia. This is the latest in the series of incidents in which members of the SRP have been the victims of a judicial system subordinated to the Royal Government of Cambodia.
For more information please contact:
Ou Virak, President, CCHR
Tel: +855 12 40 40 51
Email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org
The CCHR is concerned by the legality of the expropriation for two reasons. Firstly, the use of the land by the Sokimex Group for a hotel development serves no clear public interest as required by Article 5 of the Land Law and Articles 2 and 4 of the Expropriation Law. In defence of the confiscation, Bun Narith, the general director of the Apsara Authority, is quoted in the Phnom Penh Post on 29 March 2010 to the effect that the land in question is state land that “is not bought or sold”. According to the same article however, the Apsara Authority has announced that it will confiscate and sell the land to the Sokimex Group. Secondly, the nominal compensation being provided to Son Chhay for his land of US$0.50 per square meter is not “fair or just” and has not been paid in advance as Article 5 of the Land Law and Articles 2 and 4 of the Expropriation Law require. This compensation falls dramatically short of the Apsara Authority’s own valuation of the land, which H.E. Son Chhay says will be sold to the Sokimex Group for US$80 per square meter.
Another disturbing feature of the land expropriation is the implicit intimidation of a SRP member through the courts of Cambodia. This is the latest in the series of incidents in which members of the SRP have been the victims of a judicial system subordinated to the Royal Government of Cambodia.
For more information please contact:
Ou Virak, President, CCHR
Tel: +855 12 40 40 51
Email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org
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