Phnom Penh, 16 February 2012 ― The trial of three community representatives opened on 15 February 2012 at Preah Vihear Provincial Court: Mrs. Sath Savouan (44), Mr. Kim Sophal (44) and Mr. Srei Sophan (74) were charged of forgery, incitement and disinformation. A complaint was lodged against them at the instigation of Pen Lim, a high-ranking military official embroiled in a land dispute in Kantout commune, Choam Ksann district, Preah Vihear province. ADHOC provided a lawyer to provide legal advice and to defend the three accused who would otherwise not have been able to afford legal representation. The trial, background and details of which are described below, will continue with a hearing on the 1 March.
On 16 June 2008, a 556-hectare social land concession was granted to the Drugs and Aids Research and Prevention Organization, headed by Pen Lim, officially with a view to providing medical services and land to the population. However, the organization never cooperated with the local authorities. Instead, in complete violation of the law, it sold plots to 1,219 people while providing land to local officials free of charge. Furthermore, the organization used henchmen to intimidate people and establish control over the area. Cases of physical assault, rape and torture have been reported.
On 25 July 2008, with the assistance of ADHOC, a group of 57 families who were previously living in the area complained of land grabbing to the Provincial Governor, the District Chief and the Commune Chief. The families had been displaced by the land concession.
On 26 January 2010, another group of 319 people filed a complaint against Pen Lim. They asked the local authorities to take action against his organization, stop allowing it to rule over them, and register them so they can organize ceremonies, look for work, and vote. Indeed, they were required to ask the organization’s authorization for all of these acts and were denied registration in the Preah Vihear province. In sum, they asked the authorities to carry out their duties and prevent a private organization from ruling over them.
Following these developments, Pen Lim organized a meeting in his organization’s premises. There, he threatened the villagers, forcing them to declare they had been abused by community representatives and the latter had used their fingerprints in a forged document―the complaint against him. Forty-eight villagers were eventually forced to file a complaint with the court against Sath Savouan, Kim Sophal and Srei Sophan. The latter were arrested and sent to Preah Vihear prison for pre-trial detention. A picture of them being handcuffed was posted in the premises of the Drugs and Aids Research and Prevention Organization in order to scare other villagers.
ADHOC’s lawyer, acting on behalf of the detainees, sent a letter of intervention to the General Prosecutor in Phnom Penh, asking for their release on bail. The motion was granted by the Appeal Court, and they were released on 13 October 2010. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision in December 2011.
The trial, however, has begun. ADHOC is concerned Sath Savouan, Kim Sophal and Srei Sophan may be punished for their non-criminal activities in favor of affected villagers. Instead of investigating allegations of crimes committed by the rich and powerful, Cambodian authorities continue to place undue restrictions on the activities of human rights defenders through the expansive use of criminal charges, notably disinformation, incitement and defamation. Moreover, in this case, ADHOC is concerned about the use of the old, UNTAC Criminal Code, which contains harsher penalties for forgery offenses than the New Penal Code, entered into force in 2010. This would be in violation of international human rights instruments to which Cambodia is party.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Ny Chakrya, Head of Monitoring Section at ADHOC: 011 274 959
Mr. Chan Soveth, Deputy Head of Monitoring Section: 016 937 591
Mr. Nicolas Agostini, Technical Assistant: 078 405 024
