The community of Borei Keila which was violently evicted in January 2012 (see HERE) during a lingering land issue, and has been kept in limbo for the last two years regarding their relocation. Being fed up having to live in particularly unhealthy conditions near a building they at one point were promised an appartment in, they went ahead, tore down the fence surrounding the empty building and occupied the vacant rooms.
How long they will be allowed to stay there is now the question…
The 21 workers, activists and union leaders who were arrested on January 2nd and 3rd during a violent crackdown (see HERE) by the army on a workers’ strike which also resulted in at least 4 being killed by bullets and numerous wounded, were being tried at the Appeals Court for a bail request. Only the lawyers were allowed in the courtroom, the 21 having been kept in their cells at the Kompong Chham prison.
The bail was refused.
The 21 will remain in jail…
UPDATED at 14:54 with additional photographs about the stand-off between riot police and protesters, disappointed by the verdict, who gathered at Preah Ang Dong riverside pagoda before attempting to march to the Royal Palace where they were dispersed by important forces of riot police…
Both at several locations in Cambodia and in front of cambodian embassies abroad, a series of events were organised simultaneously to request the release of 21 workers (2 others were granted bail a few days before), activists and union leaders who were arrested during the early January crackdown by the army which resulted in the killing of at least 5 people.
In Phnom Penh alone, students in front of the university released balloons carrying the request to free the 23 people, workers did the same at Veng Sreng road near where the workers were killed, The Boeung Kak lake and the Borei Keila community did their thing in front of the Ministry of Justice and the Appeals Court. And union leaders convened at the Imperial Hotel to agree on a petition requesting the release of all 23 prisoners, a discussion on a basic wage of $US160/ month, a charge against those who used violence at Yakjing factory and on Veng Sreng road, a cancellation of the ban of public gatherings, a cancellation of the complaints filed by the companies against union workers, the reinstallment of all those workers who were fired and the payment of their salaries.
After the meeting a group of about 300 union leaders, workers and activists, led by monks from the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice (IMNSJ), marched to the Preah Ang Dong riverfront pagoda to pray and release birds and balloons.
About 50 members of the Civil Society Organisation, joined by 23 monks from the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice (IMNSJ), monitored by nearly as much press and human rights observers, defied the demonstration ban in Phnom Penh by praying at the Preah Ang Dongker pagoda on the riverside to ask for the release of 23 workers, activists and union leaders who were arrested during the violent crackdown of striking workers by the army on January 2nd and 3rd which saw 5 workers killed by bullets and numerous wounded.
According to the Cambodia Daily, and in a revealing attitude about the authorities’ position regarding the responsibility of the deaths, Brigadier General Keng Tito, the military police spokesperson, simply dismisses a request for assistance by Richard Rogers, a lawyer appointed by the opposition CNRP to investigate the possibility to file a complaint at the ICC in The Hague, by saying: ‘We will not cooperate with a foreigner’…
On the 3rd day of the strike by CINTRI workers about their $US75 wage, and while the rubbish is piling up on the streets of Phnom Penh, an agreement was found and the trucks to collect the garbage are rolling to town again. The heavy presence of both riot police and municipal guards certainly seemed to have been an argument convincing enough to close the deal.
Garbage is piling up in the streets of Phnom Penh. Truck drivers and garbage collectors from CINTRI, in charge of collecting all the smelly stuff we don’t want to keep at home, are asking for better wages. Just like the garment factory workers they want to double their salary: from $US75 to $US150. The difference with the garment factory workers is that the heaps of garbage directly affect the city dwellers.
The community of the Boeung Kak Lake held a press conference this morning.
The Boeung Kak Lake land issue is ongoing since 2007 (see HERE and HERE).
It has radically transformed the lives of many inhabitants of the community. The 3000 families who were evicted by a development company from the shores of what once was a lake had the toughest time of course. But among those who are still living there and who are still fighting the authorities for a reasonable solution, some have evolved into full-time human rights activists, sparing no energy, time or health to make their voice heard. If one has to find a positive aspect in the Boeung Kak Lake eviction saga, with its accumulation of cronyism, crass mismanagement, outright violence and disregard of simple human values by the authorities, it is the formidable empowerment and awakening to human rights issues by simple citizens.
If you want to know more about this and other land issues in Cambodia you can download ‘Quest for Land’ on your iPad at the iTunes store HERE. It contains over 700 photographs about various land issues since 2000 and an in-depth text by Robert Carmichael.
About 20 monks from the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice (IMNSJ) and a few activists organised a short-noticed ceremony yesterday evening in a side street of Veng Sreng street in the industrial area of Phnom Penh, to the memory of those workers who were killed by army bullets during the January 3rd crackdown (see HERE) and to request the release of 23 people, both activists, union leaders and workers, arrested and jailed on the 2nd and the 3d. Bystanders and sympathisers lit joss sticks and prayed…
