Report: Workshop
On promoting land rights and law enforcement in Cambodia
The workshop on the Land Rights and Law Enforcement of Cambodia organized by the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) was held on November 14th, 2013 in Kratie province.
The 5 panels of the workshop consisted of 1. Mr.Horn Siyem: the provincial Governor Deputy of Kratie, 2. Mr.Thun Saray: President of ADHOC, 3. Mr.Ket Socheat: Judge of Kratie provincial court 4. Mr. Hok Phalla: lawyer of ADHOC, 5. Mr. Kao Malen: Cheif of provincial cadastral office, and 6. Mr. Nob Chanthy: President of the provincial environment department. Along with the Panels, the provincial authorities, 72 community representatives and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) officials participated in the workshop.
The forum began with the welcoming remarks from Mrs. Thim Narin, the coordinator of ADHOC provincial office to the all participants and the opening remarks from Mr. Thun Saray.
Mr. Thun Saray gave the brief introduction of the main goals and the agenda of the day. During his speech, he emphasized that the purpose of the workshop was 1. to provide the open floor forum to all parties including the affected Kratie communities members, the local authorities, law enforcement officials and the civil society to discuss about the disputed land issues and to be informed about its up-to-date situation, 2. to give the opportunities to the communities to voice their concerns and opinions directly to the local related authorities, and 3. to brainstorm the possible solutions and recommendations that can be agreed by all parties in order to resolve the conflict. He closed his remarks by encouraging the victim community to not to hesitate in expressing their opinions and concerns through this workshop
A second time keynote speaker Mr.Horn Siyem, the provincial Governor Deputy of Kratie, noted that in order to overcome the obstacles in resolving the land and natural resources management issues, all parties must face the challenges in protecting the state land from the illegal land grabbing with the national law. He encouraged everyone to have open minded, cooperation, understanding with an optimistic attitude in approaching the new solution.
Following keynote speakers: Mr.Ket Socheat, Mr. Kao Malen, Mr. Hok Phalla and Mr. Nob Chanthy spoke on the various topics such as how to improve the legislative procedures of the law in case of the land dispute/resolution, the implementation of the Directive 001 and its challenges, the current status of the charges and arrest related to land disputes and the current problems of the environmental issues.
Soon after the various presentations, active interaction with the community members was conducted during the Q& A session. The session successfully ended at 11:45a.m. with the closing remark from the President of ADHOC, Mr. Thun Saray.
For more information, please contact:
Mr.Latt Ky, Head of Section: 012 828 411 (Khmer, English)
Mr. Pen Bonnar, Pro Officerr: 012 964 056: hembonnar@gmail.com (Khmer)
