Opposition mounts to Cambodian land law

By Tim Johnston in Bangkok
January 5 2010
Source: www.ft.com

Cambodian lawyers, human rights activists and opposition politicians are warning that a new law will weaken safeguards against expropriation of land in a country where routine evictions are already stoking widespread discontent.

The law, passed last week, allows the government to seize land for developments that are in the public interest. The government said the law will allow them to fast-track infrastructure and other projects vital to the country’s interest.

But its opponents say the definition of the public interest is too vague and puts too much power into the hands of the government.

“This is a huge step backwards,” said Mu Sochua, a prominent member of the opposition Sam Rainsy party, who failed to stop the passage of the bill through a house where the party of Hun Sen, the prime minister, controls 90 of the 123 seats.

The law takes force against a backdrop of longstanding accusations that powerful members of the government and security forces have exploited the chaotic state of Cambodia’s land title system.

“Our experience is that when the government has a project they always undervalue the land, and those who do not have full title are particularly vulnerable,” says Khoun Son Muchhim, a lawyer who has acted on behalf of clients who believe they have been shortchanged in land deals with the government.

The attempt by the Khmer Rouge regime to create an agrarian utopia in the 1970s involved not just abolishing land title but destroying all records of past land titles. Mrs Mu Sochua says that less than 30 per cent of people have enforceable land deeds.

Under a Cambodian law passed after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, people who have lived on the same piece of land for five years should qualify for title, but petitioners are frequently moved off their land by well-connected developers, particularly in areas around Phnom Penh where land values have shot up as the economy has gathered strength.

“If land is expropriated, this law is not going to protect those without full title, they will not be able to get compensation,” she said.

“This is not just a matter of the poor being affected – although they will inevitably be victims – but it also means that a business opened by a foreign company can be subject to expropriation,” she said.

Cambodia’s opposition parties scent political opportunity in the widespread discontent over land issues. A court recently issued a summons against Sam Rainsy, the opposition leader, who is accused of damaging property and inciting racial hatred for pulling up markers set out by a border commission to demarcate the boundary between Cambodia and Vietnam.

Mr Sam Rainsy, who had his parliamentary immunity revoked for the second time in 2009 so he could stand trial, is currently in Europe. Mrs Mu Sochua said he would only return when two villagers who are being held in prison for similar offences are released.