The case relates on the arrest of 32 people in a land dispute with the Intervention Brigade No. 2 soldier, protecting the National Park of Kulen Mountain. The land dispute between 96 families and Intervention Brigade No.2 Soldiers in Tapen village, Tbaeng commune, Bantey Srey district in Siem Reap province has broken out since 2002. The people have been using the 150 hectares of the disputed land since 1998 and their lives have been depending on the rice and crops. In 2002, the Cambodian Government announced that they would seize the land in this area for nursery trees, which caused a land dispute to happen. However, in 2008, the government issued a letter to acknowledge that the 150 hectares of land belong to the 96 families who are the victims of this land dispute. According to the documents, the villagers received the letter No. 079/ 03 in May 2005, which was on the establishment of the committee to research the disputed land directly. On 18 May, 2006, Mr. Ty Sokun, the director of Forestry Administration, Mr. Vanna Sophana, the institution of Forestry in Tonle Sap, Mr. Sou Phirin, governor of Siem Reap province, and Mr. Ouk Vong, governor of Bantey Srey district went to meet the people and announced that they will give the land to the people who are involved in this land dispute. This is the evidence that the 250 hectares of this disputed land are the people’s land lawfully. However, the provincial authority has not taken the action clearly to give the land to the villagers. This is why the villagers could not wait anymore and on the day of 3rd May, 2010, hundreds of the villagers gathered together to cut down five Eucalyptus trees in order to cultivate the rice field before the rainy season starts. If we follow the principle of the law, even though the land has not being measured yet, the people have the rights to manage the land and gather their crops.
Having seen that the people cut down Eucalyptus trees on 3rd May 2010, Mr. Nuon Theara, who is the deputy director of provincial Forestry Administration in charge of the north area of Tonle Sap and is the representative of Mr. Vann Sophana, the director of the Forest Administration, accused those villagers of illegal logging in national forests and filed the complaint to 1st instance provincial court in Siem Reap. Then, the court sent villagers the summons and lodged a complaint against them according to the complaint by Mr. Nuon Theara. According to the summons issued on 3rd May, 2010, under the order and the presence of Mr. Ty Soventhal who is a prosecutor at Siem Reap 1st instance provincial court, intervention brigade No.2 soldiers, Military Police, and Police arrested 32 villagers and detained provincial military police station. On 4th May, 2010, 1st instance provincial court issued the arrest warrants for 14 people to order the temporally detention and sent them to prison directly.
On 3rd May, 2010, ADHOC went to investigate this case of 32 villagers’ arrests and negotiated with provincial authorities to release the villagers. On 4th May, 2010, ADHOC sent our lawyer to the 14 victims and on 6th May, 2010, the court decided to release on bail all of them with the intervention of Provincial governor H.E. Sou Phirin.
