Photo by: Heng Chivoan
People protest against land concessions that the government has granted in Prey Lang forest during a rally yesterday in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. More than 100 protesters were detained and questioned by police for passing out leaflets after the demonstration. The villagers had dressed up as a symbolic gesture to show the importance of Prey Lang.
Photo by: Heng Chivoan
The venerable Luon Sovath blesses villagers during a protest against land concessions in Prey Lang forest yesterday morning in Phnom Penh.
Friday, 19 August 2011
May Titthara
Phnom Penh Post
More than 100 villagers from four provinces were detained and questioned by Phnom Penh officials yesterday morning after they tried to distribute flyers urging the government to protect Prey Lang forest.
Some protestors say they were threatened with arrest and accused of degrading the city’s environment during their bid to preserve the largest lowland forest in Southeast Asia.
The nearly 3,600 -square-kilometre area spreads across six districts in four provinces: Kampong Thom, Kratie, Preah Vihear and Stung Treng.
Communities living around it, primarily Kuy indigenous people, say it is sacred and have warned that it is under threat from illegal logging and economic land concessions.
At 7:00am yesterday, 120 or so villagers had gathered at Preah Ong shrine opposite the Royal Palace for what the Cambodia Centre for Human Rights had said in a press release the night before would be a “Long Prayer for Prey Lang”.
After about an hour of prayer, the protestors – many of whom donned hats made of leaves in imitation of the threatened civilization in the blockbuster film Avatar – broke into groups of 10 and travelled to 10 intersections in the city to hand out the flyers.
At some intersections, commune police prevented them from handing out a single one and more than 100 were detained, according to a joint statement from three rights groups: CCHR, Licadho, and Community Legal Education Centre. The three groups said they “condemn [the] mass detention of peaceful activists in Phnom Penh, in which police detained … villagers for distributing flyers”.
Detained villager Young Chin, 26, from Kampong Thom province, said police at Chaktomuk commune office accused those detained of “not asking permission from City Hall and damaging the city’s environment.”
He and the others detained at that office were told to sign forms saying they would not protest again and were also warned that if they did they would be arrested, he said.
Venerable Loun Savath, a monk who frequently blesses communities involved in land disputes and accompanies them on peaceful protests, said that police had accused him and the villagers of polluting the city by creating rubbish.
While rights group claimed “police said the demonstrators were stopped because they had not given notice to the authorities prior to the distribution [of flyers], and that the distribution could ‘disrupt social order’.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth insisted that no municipal officers had detained villagers for handing out leaflets.
Municipal police had been sent to provide security for the group prayer in opposite the palace, he said, adding that it was commune-level officers who detained the villagers.
Tonle Bassac commune chief Khat Narith said that he was just following orders from the district governor who had told him to question the villagers. Chamkarmon district police chief Ouch Sokhon said he did not order his officers to do anything and referred questions to district governor Lo Yuy who could not be reached for comment. All the protestors were released yesterday.
People protest against land concessions that the government has granted in Prey Lang forest during a rally yesterday in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. More than 100 protesters were detained and questioned by police for passing out leaflets after the demonstration. The villagers had dressed up as a symbolic gesture to show the importance of Prey Lang.
Photo by: Heng Chivoan
The venerable Luon Sovath blesses villagers during a protest against land concessions in Prey Lang forest yesterday morning in Phnom Penh.
Friday, 19 August 2011
May Titthara
Phnom Penh Post
More than 100 villagers from four provinces were detained and questioned by Phnom Penh officials yesterday morning after they tried to distribute flyers urging the government to protect Prey Lang forest.
Some protestors say they were threatened with arrest and accused of degrading the city’s environment during their bid to preserve the largest lowland forest in Southeast Asia.
The nearly 3,600 -square-kilometre area spreads across six districts in four provinces: Kampong Thom, Kratie, Preah Vihear and Stung Treng.
Communities living around it, primarily Kuy indigenous people, say it is sacred and have warned that it is under threat from illegal logging and economic land concessions.
At 7:00am yesterday, 120 or so villagers had gathered at Preah Ong shrine opposite the Royal Palace for what the Cambodia Centre for Human Rights had said in a press release the night before would be a “Long Prayer for Prey Lang”.
After about an hour of prayer, the protestors – many of whom donned hats made of leaves in imitation of the threatened civilization in the blockbuster film Avatar – broke into groups of 10 and travelled to 10 intersections in the city to hand out the flyers.
At some intersections, commune police prevented them from handing out a single one and more than 100 were detained, according to a joint statement from three rights groups: CCHR, Licadho, and Community Legal Education Centre. The three groups said they “condemn [the] mass detention of peaceful activists in Phnom Penh, in which police detained … villagers for distributing flyers”.
Detained villager Young Chin, 26, from Kampong Thom province, said police at Chaktomuk commune office accused those detained of “not asking permission from City Hall and damaging the city’s environment.”
He and the others detained at that office were told to sign forms saying they would not protest again and were also warned that if they did they would be arrested, he said.
Venerable Loun Savath, a monk who frequently blesses communities involved in land disputes and accompanies them on peaceful protests, said that police had accused him and the villagers of polluting the city by creating rubbish.
While rights group claimed “police said the demonstrators were stopped because they had not given notice to the authorities prior to the distribution [of flyers], and that the distribution could ‘disrupt social order’.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth insisted that no municipal officers had detained villagers for handing out leaflets.
Municipal police had been sent to provide security for the group prayer in opposite the palace, he said, adding that it was commune-level officers who detained the villagers.
Tonle Bassac commune chief Khat Narith said that he was just following orders from the district governor who had told him to question the villagers. Chamkarmon district police chief Ouch Sokhon said he did not order his officers to do anything and referred questions to district governor Lo Yuy who could not be reached for comment. All the protestors were released yesterday.
4 comments:
this is great idea to do rally on environmental issues. good job!
The importance of Prey Lang forest cannot be overemphasized!
Economic development without good vision and restraint will eventually lead to a serious ecological and environmental disaster of great proportion.
The government of PM Hun Sen should pull back and rethink its development strategy and should never touch this forest at all.
Money from this development will be spent in no time and the legacy of deforestation will undoubtedly remain with Cambodia for centuries to come.
Do the right thing by listening to the people who understand the benefits of the forest much more than the government's advisors who have gone to school but can't apply the knowledge learned.
Anet Khmer
Where is His Majesty, the King?
He should come out to converse with the protesters.
His Majesty has done a lot for the government by continuing to remain quiet on all issues so far.
He can now ask for one favor from the government by siding with the protesters and requests that Prey Lang forest not be touched or disturbed through developmental land concessions.
Help the government make the right decision, Your Majesty then your kingdom and reign shall prosper.
Anet Khmer
This is the biggest in southeast Asia. Imagine the long term of tourists of domestic and foriegners come to visit. It the yellow stone in USA, it's the great barrel reef of australi, it's the safari of Africa and so on- is now the prey Lang of srok Khmer!!! It will be stupid to ruin this beneficial forest that located inside srok Khmer that we don't have to deal with the neighbors borders.!!!! Any educated Khmer can see this!!!! Only the idiots and greedy and the short minded Khmers are blind to see this!!!! If we want to develop- just built more high rises condos in the main cities. This way, not just easy for people to get to work but also save more land we can go to enjoy after a stressful days. To me, forests are more important then that rubber trees that only beneficial to company that put fences around... I can go on forever about our good forests........
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