Military personnel protecting the land given to a ruling party senator by the government

Many of the 250 families of Chi Kha Leu commue, Sre Ambel district in Koh Kong province have been living on their land since 1979 however their quiet existence on the land came to an abrupt end in May 2006. Since then the villagers have been fighting an uphill battle to save their land. They have petitioned the local authorities, faced bulldozers, excavators and armed military police, have been shot at and they even tried to petition the National Assembly. This week the villagers took their case to the courts.

Trouble began in the commune on 22 May 2006 when demolition workers with bulldozers and excavators, accompanied by armed police including military police, moved into three villages in the commune (Chhouk, Trapaing Kandorl and Chi Kor). The demolition workers cleared and flattened villagers' land, destroying rice fields and fruit plantations. The demolition was commissioned by the Agriculture Duty Free Shop Development Company (later known as the Sugar Industry Company Ltd) and the Koh Kong Plantation Company, which were readying the land for commercial sugar cane production. Both companies are owned by Mr Ly Yong Phat, a wealthy businessman and a Cambodian's People Party (CPP) member in the Senate.

During the following months the villagers made numerous protests and complaints to local authorities to challenge the companies' right to their land, but got no response and no resolution. On 31 July 2006 about 160 villagers made the 280km long journey to Phnom Penh, to petition the National Assembly to intervene in their case. The Koh Kong provincial governor addressed the villagers and asked them to return home, giving assurances that the dispute would be resolved. To this day the villagers have been given no resolution.

Confrontation with the military police
On 19 September 2006, the dispute came to a bloody climax when Ly Yong Phat's companies attempted to forcibly evict the villagers from the land. Military police and national police officers armed with rifles accompanied a demolition crew to clear the land. As the villagers tried to resist the eviction, the police fired their guns into the ground and assaulted the villagers. One woman was shot in the foot and another man in the arm. Five other villagers were reportedly injured during the incident.

The raid occurred without a court eviction order and despite the fact that the villagers have legitimate claims to ownership of their land under the Land Law. Furthermore, the involvement in the eviction of military police