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Wednesday 14 December 2011

CCHR Media Comment: CCHR condemns alleged acts of violence used against women in attempted eviction

CCHR Media CommentPhnom Penh, 14 December 2011

CCHR condemns alleged acts of violence used against women in attempted eviction

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) condemns the alleged beating of three women attempting to prevent the razing of their land in an ongoing land dispute in Oddar Meanchey’s Anglong Veng district. It was reported in today’s Phnom Penh Post (“Attempted eviction results in alleged beating of 3 women”) that on Friday 9 December twelve environmental officers working for the Koulen Prumptep wildlife sanctuary and eight soldiers arrived at the village with the intent of burning down homes, which they claimed lay on national park land. It is alleged that the group tried to arrest the men of the village but when they could not they beat the women using guns. It is further alleged that they took off the women’s sarongs and filmed them with a video camera. Thy Hor, three months pregnant, and two other women were allegedly beaten unconscious during the altercation and are currently being treated at the provincial hospital for their injuries. Sadly, it was reported that Thy Hor suffered a miscarriage following the beating.

Responding to the reported violence against the women, CCHR Program Director Chak Sopheap, commented:

“This latest report of violence represents a gender based form of violence that cannot be tolerated. In the backdrop of the brutal April 2011 police crackdown on Boeung Kak lake protestors demonstrating outside the Phnom Penh Municipality office that saw an elderly women beaten by the police and a pregnant women in her twenties suffer a miscarriage due to beatings taken to her stomach, the latest report of violence shows a worrying failure on the part of authorities to respect and protect women’s rights and guarantee their safety. With women increasingly taking a more proactive role in the front line of defending their homes from protracted land conflicts and threats of eviction, authorities must ensure that their rights to physical and mental integrity are respected. More needs to be done to protect all people who stand up for human rights including these extraordinary grandmothers, mothers, wives, daughters, sisters who are brave enough to stand up and peacefully defend their rights. CCHR calls for a full and frank investigation by the authorities into the actions of company and the soldier and that those responsible are brought to justice. ”

For more information, please contact CCHR Program Director Chak Sopheap via telephone at +855 (0) 11 94 32 13 or e-mail at chaksopheap@cchrcambodia.org.

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