The Nonviolent Story

Jesus and Nonviolent Conflict. What can the church do?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Baker Evens Photography) — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:21:00 +0000

This week, friend and colleague Heap called and invited me to give a sermon at his church on Sunday, the Philadelphia Cambodian Evangelical Church. I thought I'd post it...

Good morning, my name is Chris, and my family Samantha, Patrick and Isaac and I lived and worked in Cambodia for 7 years with Heap and Jennifer as part of InnerChange. As an Australian I experienced what it is like to be a foreigner – someone who looks different to most other people – very white and very tall, who doesn't speak the language on the street and who never seems to understand what is really going on around me. As a foreigner I felt less in control of my life. I had to rely on others to tell me how to do very small things, like where the market is and how to bargain when I get there, where the post office is, how to ride a moto dope without falling off, and how to speak a new language.

While this experience was difficult at times, it really was a wonderful blessing. It gave me insight into the concerns that Jesus had for the people around him, living under a military occupation, and in a time when there were huge differences between the rich and poor, those who own land and those who work the land, and those who were considered worthy worshipers of God and those who were considered as unimportant.

So I want to speak humbly this morning. This is a topic that I'm very passionate about. And perhaps we can consider this the beginning of a conversation. I don't know where this conversation will lead, but I offer this to your community for prayer and consideration.

1. Understanding Power

I train people in nonviolent action. I help them to see the world through the eyes of nonviolence.

The basic idea of nonviolence is that there is a special kind of power that resides within people that can stand up to guns, police, tanks and dictators simply because all these things require people for their power to be effective.

When people give their consent, and accept the legitimacy of a person, or a company or government, then that person, company or government has power over them. But if they don't, then they have no power.

Now, power can be used for good things. To provide education, hospitals, roads, transportation, access to food and drink, electricity, for communities to work together and support one another.

Power can also be used for oppression, injustice and discrimination.

We've all experienced the good use of power and the oppressive use of power. In fact, each one of us uses power every day. Sometimes for good purposes. Sometimes in ways that don't take into account that our actions will hurt others.

2. Three Forms of Nonviolent Power

There are three basic ways in which we can use nonviolent power. That is, power that doesn't use violence.

These ways are: protest and persuasion, noncooperation and intervention. Imagine this child again - maybe your child, maybe a child you know. You've asked the child to clean up their toys. You think it's a reasonable demand, but the child is not impressed. You are stopping the fun time. The child says, "No," and you say, "yes, you will!" And so begins the battle.

Now, you're bigger and older than the child. You can raise your voice, you can stand over the child. When I was a child and I did something my parents didn't like, they might even hit me with a wooden spoon!

The child can't hit back very hard, but has other "weapons" that he or she can use.

First, the child might protest, "I don't want to clean up, I'm having too much fun!" Then she might try to use persuasion, "Just give me five more minutes - I promise I'll clean up then."

If that doesn't work the child might resort to noncooperation, and simply not do what you ask. No matter how angry you get. she just sits there with her arms crossed and an angry look on his face. If the child uses this tactic there really is nothing we can do to make the child to do what we want.

Even if we try to make the child afraid of us, noncooperation is a very powerful tool of nonviolent action. And I know from experience, as a parent, that I end up feeling so sad that I've wanted my own child to be afraid of me.

Finally, if a child still can't get what she wants she might stand between you and the toys, preventing you from starting to clean up. This is nonviolent intervention.

Nonviolent action can be a very powerful force. And it is used everyday, in our homes, our schools, our workplaces and our governments.

3. Jesus and Nonviolent Power

So why am I talking to you about power and nonviolence today? What does nonviolence have to do with church, or being a Christian?

Well, from my point of view, a Christian is someone who attempts to imitate the life of Jesus in their own life – as best they can. And Jesus often demonstrated how power works by using nonviolent actions.

Earlier we read the story of Jesus going to the Temple in Jerusalem. Do you remember what happened? Let's re-read that story again.

"Then they (he and his disciples and a large crowd 10:46) came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers."

And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

First of all, Jesus tells us it's a protest by turning over the tables. He was clearly upset and trying to say something! He was protesting the use of the temple as a market place.

He recited scripture saying the sellers had turned the temple into a den of robbers. In the language of nonviolence we call this a teach-in. Jesus also refused to allow anyone to carry anything through the temple, which is called nonviolent obstruction.

In fact, this whole episode could come under the name of “nonviolent raid”.

The story gets even more interesting when we're told that the chief priests and the scribes were afraid of him. Why were they afraid of him?

Nonviolence helps us understand that authorities only have power if people willingly follow their commands and instructions. At that moment, the people around Jesus were no longer willing to give their obedience to the priests and scribes. They had lost their power, and this is why they were afraid.

So why was the temple such a big problem for Jesus? Why was selling animals in the Temple worth his time, energy and anger?

The temple was to be a place of prayer, and in Isaiah, the prophet tells us that God desires all people, not just people of Israel, to pray there (Isaiah 56:6-8).

The place where animals were sold was in the area which foreigners and other unclean people could pray. Just as animal sacrifices had to be pure, so people had to be “clean” to enter the temple. If this area was already full up with animals for sale, how could foreigners, the poor and unclean people pray?

In short, it was a way to exclude undesirable people from entering the holy place of the Temple. Not only was Jesus getting into a conflict about discrimination, he was educating his disciples, and now us, that conflict can happen without violence.

4. Cambodia and Nonviolent Action

As I mentioned at the beginning, I worked with Cambodian activists. People who defend their families, homes, fishing areas, forests, rivers, trees – all the things which gave them life. Business people knew they had the Government and the courts on their side and they could take homes, destroy forests, fill in the coast line and pollute rivers without giving any thought to how their actions effected the villagers.

The villagers were easy targets because they were poor and had few connections with the authorities.

Right now in Cambodia people are using nonviolence to change this. Here's a few examples of the ways people are using nonviolence in Cambodia right now ...

villagers in Lahoc Commune petitioned local authorities to secure land titles
900 Workers at the Wingshing Garment factory went on strike for 10 days demanding better pay
Villagers from all over Prey Long go around their forests looking for illegal logging, and when they find it they block the road and burn the cut timber
villagers petitioned for fair compensation from the Sopheak Nika rubber company
500 villagers in Memot blocked National Road 76
Boeung kak villagers ejected police and security guards from their press conference because they refuse to protect the villagers
In the past two years villagers in Om Laing protested 96 times against the Ly Yong Phat sugar company.

5. Nonviolence as the Work of Christian Faith

[[I began working in Cambodia with a small Christian organization training pastors to build new skills for spreading the good news of Jesus. Instead of only reading the Bible to their neighbours they fixed roads after the heavy rains. They helped widows to repair their homes or harvest their crops. They picked up rubbish to make the village look beautiful. They offered homework clubs for students and taught skills like fish farming, and composting to increase profits.

As churches began making a real difference to the life of the village people began to see them very differently. The churches were seen as practicing the words they preached.

Village chiefs came out to say how they give thanks to God because of this new work the church was doing. Here was good news happening in front of people's eyes!

In short, when Christians stop speaking about the Bible or Heaven, and start practicing what the Bible teaches, and loves people in practical ways then Christians are seen as bringing light to places that can feel very dark.]]

If nonviolence is one way to imitate Jesus, what might it look like for us? Where would we begin?

Nonviolence takes training. So I'd recommend that. But you are probably already aware of what Jesus might be concerned about.

Just last month the Phatthana Seafood factory in Thailand was reported to be exploiting Cambodian and Burmese workers. The seafood is then sold in Walmart stores in the United States.

You don't have to go to Walmart and turn over all the aisles of food. As a start you can go to the manager and tell her or him that you are aware and concerned about this situation.

You can ask the manager, “what are you doing to support the rights of Cambodian workers in factories around the world?”

It's really amazing what can happen when consumers start to use their buying power. Companies like Nike, Gap and Apple have all had to change the way they do business because their customers demand change. Car manufacturers now make electric and hybrid cars because of what customers have demanded.

Here in the United States there are threats that need to be addressed.

While the US spends half of all tax dollars on military spending public schools will close in Philadelphia. Millions of people are without health insurance. Young black and immigrant men are much higher risk of being imprisoned – just because of the colour of their skin. And I'm aware that many Cambodians have been deported to Cambodia, even though they've never lived there before.

And there is the threat to our planet through global warming, which effects every single human being on the planet.

Nonviolence is a way to support positive change in this world, no longer feeling overwhelmed and thinking “there is nothing I can do.”

There are very practical ways of following Jesus using nonviolence: protest and persuasion, noncooperation and intervention. You have the power, just as Jesus demonstrated for us, to say, “I do not consent!”

And when enough people say this together, you will find yourself able to change the world, just as Jesus did.

Evictions and Nonviolent Resistance

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Baker Evens Photography) — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:07:00 +0000

Dara is a 16 year-old young man. His family are members of InnerChange and serve on the Cambodia team in Kampot city. Our families were team together for 7 years.

Dara contacted me on Facebook a week or so ago saying that their English class is reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and it's theme of structural injustice was related to my work with Cambodian activists. Would I come and speak to his class about my work?

I decided that I wanted to make use of my emerging pedagogy of experiental training.

The Mattress Game

My main concern was that I didn't know the participants at all and what their familiarity with nonviolence might be. I guessed that being young they would be more likely to be drawn to exciting political events and have some knowledge of the recent and ongoing Arab Spring, but I didn't want to risk relying on that assumption.

After connecting my laptop to the large screen TV and a short introduction by Dara, I mentioned my work with Cambodian activists who were trying to resist injustice and oppression and that, just as in the Grapes of Wrath, knowing where to identify the source of injustice can be quite difficult.

I briefly introduced the 3 main forms of nonviolent action: protest and persuasion, noncooperation and nonviolent intervention, giving several examples of each. I then asked the group, 14 students, to number off (remember, if you want 6 groups have them count off to 6) and arrange themselves in their groups. I handed out the descriptions of sources of power from The Mattress Game and went through each one. Then asked them to watch the following video on Cambodia 101 East Cambodia Land Grab part 1 with their particular pillar in mind.

At this point I was feeling nervous. I felt I'd given a whole lot of information and wasn't sure if they were with me or not. I started the documentary and sat down to watch it. I watched the students throughout the video and as far as I could see they were engaged.

Afterwards I asked each group to report back what they observed from each pillar perspective (Authority, Human Resources, Skills and Knowledge, Material Resources, Intagible Factors and Sanctions). Each group shared what they saw and demonstrated a good grasp on the various pillars. Few! I hadn't raced beyond their capacity, and infact, they were proving to be insightful young teenagers.

I invited everyone into the large space where the mattress was waiting for us. I asked each group to think for a moment, if you were to counter your source of power with a nonviolent action what kinds of actions can you think of? We spent a moment then I asked if anyone was having trouble. One group put up their hands and we brainstormed possible actions for this. I think I ended up suggesting one. I think next time I could open this up to the whole group for suggestions. I wasn't sure how this part would go, either, and is why I did the opening introduction to the 3 forms of nonviolence and give everyone a chance to think about different actions they'd come across.

One person from each group lifted up the mattress above their heads. And one-by-one each group announced the action they would use to counter their source of power and removed the pillar. “A prayer vigil”, “sitting in front of a bulldozer”, “blocking a road” … . As each pillar was removed the pillars left had to move around as the balance shifted. Finally, the last pillar was left balancing the mattress (a stiff spring mattress) on top of her head. As she left, the mattress fell to the floor.

We stood in a semi-circle around the fallen mattress and began debriefing the exercise. I asked people what they noticed about the excerice? “Small actions add up to a big effect” was one reply, “power really does rest on people's consent to an authority,” was another. What did people holding the mattress notice? “As pillars were removed we had to shift around a lot to keep the balance.” As the reflection came I spent time affirming them and at times expanding on them, giving some examples of how I saw that in Cambodia or a reference to The Grapes of Wrath. What did you feel in the exercise? One tall youth said, “I felt like a traitor! But when the mattress fell I felt so happy.” Wow. What an incredible insight into the psychology of unjust power.

At that point time was up. I thanked everyone for their participation and they thanked me with a surprising (and pleasing!) amount of applause.

Why I Joined the Green Walk for Jobs and Justice

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Baker Evens Photography) — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:20:00 +0000

The Raven on Rashard Mendenhall's Controversial Tweets About Bin Laden

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Baker Evens Photography) — Mon, 23 May 2011 03:23:00 +0000

Paving the Way for a People's Democracy

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 10:26:00 +0000

The current Egyption revolution adds to the ever-growing list of countries that successfully apply strategic nonviolent action to regimes that prefer violence and repression over peaceful civil democratic methods. Yet many will remain unconvinced that nonviolence is an alternative to violence in most "normal" situations. Soon Egypt will become one more aberration that cannot be applied to the "general" situation. This is a dynamic that must be resisted. By the Egyptian people and by all who envisage a world where peace reigns and violence is the forgotten realm of a less enlightened period of human history.

For the Egyptian people The Nonviolent Story celebrates February 11th as the day Mubarak resigned as president and relinquished the power of his dictatorship to the military. We stand with you as you continue to struggle for real democracy.

One recent article by John Horgan in Scientific American argues that the Nile Revolution lends support to Gene Sharp's theories on nonviolent change. Imagine the carnage that could have ensued had the Egyptian people tried to oust Mubarak with violence. Instead only (and tragically) a few people have lost their lives working to oust the regime.

Now that this has finally happened the country begins the long road to democracy. Ousting the dictator successfully resisted the evil, now it is time to work with and for the good.

One key element in this journey will be reconciliation. In particular, accounting for the actions of the secret police, dissapearances, deaths, torture, compliance with foreign governments, and usage of the massive military aid budget from the US.

Walter Wink writes in Healing a Nation's Wound of the many successful, not-so-successful and failed attempts at national reconciliation including Namibia, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa. He particularly cautions of the many ways in which reconciliation processes can be railroaded by remaining elements of past regimes that hold onto power and refuse to admit to the death and destruction under their watch.

A vital process for the healing of surviving family members of those "disappeared" is for the truth to come out. This is no pie-in-the-sky truth but a concrete truth. Names, places, dates, reasons and methods relating to the victims' disappearance and death. Once people have the full information there is an opportunity to move forward. Even in the grisly truth of death by torture, family members can finally know what happened to their loved ones. This gives people the power to offer forgiveness to the perpetrators, where possible. And forgiveness, it seems, is only partially for the benefit of the perpetrator. Mostly forgiveness is to allow the survivors to let go of the pain, hatred, anger and grief that has remained welled up inside. It is a releasing of emotional poison.

So let us hope, pray and work in solidarity with Egypt and the many other countries freeing themselves from years of captivity to work for truth and reconciliation in Egypt. This means setting up mechanisms and procedures to deal with 60 years of dictatorial rulerships.

Why is this so important? Nonviolent strategic change is a relatively recent "science". The practice has been around for millennia but rarely well understood. Only in the last century or so has there been devoted efforts to understand why nonviolence is so effective at producing change. Since the beginning of the last century dozens of countries have experienced nonviolent regime change and Walter Wink in Jesus and Nonviolence estimates that a significant proportion of the human race of the 20th Century participated in those events.

But as with all change processes, the immediate change, say from a dictator to a democratically elected government, is the "easy" part (or perhaps the speedier part). While civil society has been battling Mubarak for 30 years it took just 18 days to topple his regime in direct popular resistance. No armed movement could have hoped to achieve a victory like that. Maoists in Nepal tried for 30 years to overtake the royalist government, failed and successfully killed and displaced tens of thousands of victims. The legacy of their failed movement lasts today and will do for generations to come.

The Orange Revolution was hailed as a great success, which it was, but quickly succumbed to real politic and the Ukraine is perhaps back to where it started. Not because nonviolent change didn't work, but because it wasn't converted into sustainable change of the political structures. It's not that big of a surprise. There are significant incentives for governments to betray the people they were elected to serve.

My hope is that the Egyptian activists and civil society have not simply ousted (yet another) US-backed dictator, but that they will create a new Egypt controlled by the will of the Egyptian people, no longer compliant to regional or global politics and economic "realities". The Egyptian people have proven, once more, that nonviolence is a reality with the power to challenge deeply ingrained repressive governments. It's now up to them to prove that nonviolence can also be the guiding light for the day-to-day of life, whether it be in politics, economics, education, families, small businesses, child rearing, Christian-Muslim relations, you name it. And I think they have what it takes because right from the beginning of the resistance campaign activists and everyday Egyptians made their resolve to see this through visible to the world.

A Recent Conversation on Egypt and Nonviolent Protest

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 03:04:00 +0000

Friend 1: "It's amazing that it's possible to bring down a government simply by amassing large numbers of people (peacefully). Thoughts on why demonstrations and protests are so much less efficacious in America?"

Friend 2: "I feel like it's because in general we are more content with our lives and the government. Although it does seem like when I read the news, people seem less and less satisfied with the government but honestly, I think most people realize how good they have it there (in the US)."

Me: "Great blog to check out on this very issue is www.wagingnonviolence.org. They go into why nonviolence is/isn't effective in specific situations. My guess on the US is that many protests are purely symbolic, no one is really putting their lives/careers on the line for the cause. Whereas in Egypt the simple act of a public gathering is a seditious act and not just symbolic. It shows the strength of people's commitment to change. Of course, if this drags on, their tactics will need to evolve. There may be other issues to, like perhaps the US is better able to co-opt the message of any protesting group. There is a veneer of respectability in the US that is harder to penetrate, whereas someone who is openly a dictator is a much easier target. If one hundred thousand US citizens engaged in obvious public nonviolent civil disobedience, eg over immigration reform or to close Guantanamo, daily for ten days you will probably see more effectiveness."

Friend 3: "I agree. There are protests and protests. Symbolic protests are just so. Real protests in countries where the very right of protesting is almost nonexistent can be quite effective. But look what happens in Egypt. Almost two weeks of protests and the dictator won't budge..."

Friend 4: "let's not kid ourselves: the protests we are seeing in the middle east are not entirely peaceful. the implicit threat that the large groups of people become more unhappy and less peaceful if their demands are not met is part of the reason behind their effectiveness."

Me to Friend 3: "It may look like the dictator isn't budging, but he's making all the classic moves of a dictator in his last throws of power."

Me to Friend 4: "The protesters are not less peaceful because their demands are not being met, rather because of provocation by hired thugs. It's a strategy used by incumbent regimes of all kinds to turn public sentiment away from the core concerns. The protesters need to gain better discipline. As far as I know, there have been no threats made otherwise. The large group can be seen as a a potentially violent threat. It can also be seen as a statement saying, "do what you like, you are no longer relevant and we will choose how to live from now on.""

ANV in Cambodia

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 07:21:00 +0000

Cambodia is a beautiful country filled with natural resources and amazing people. But many communities are under attack for their land, fisheries, forests and other natural resources. Cambodian communities are learning to make use of active nonviolent resistance and this video shows a small part of their journey.

Intimidation and Legal Threats Against Union Workers and Leaders Must Cease

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:47:00 +0000

American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM), Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF) and Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)

Joint Media Statement

Intimidation and Legal Threats Against Union Workers and Leaders Must Cease

We, the undersigned organizations, are deeply disappointed with the government’s actions to intimidate and threaten workers and union members who have joined the four-day-garment strike from September 13-16, 2010.

The government’s response to this entirely legal – and long-declared – strike has included attacks on protesters, legal threats against organizers, and the court-sponsored retaliation against union members. This must stop immediately if the two sides are to reach an agreement during upcoming talks on September 27.

Thousands of workers from the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Unions (C-CAWDU), the National Independent Federation of Textile Unions of Cambodia (NIFTUC) and 13 other unions took part in a peaceful strike to demand an increase in the current wage to meet minimum living standards.

We deplore the violent incidents which took place during the days-long strike, including:

§ The beating of a 28-year-old woman, who was seriously injured during a crackdown by a mixed group of armed military and civilian police at the Top World Factory and Kbal Koh Garment Factory in Kandal’s Kien Svay district;

§ The physical assault, arrest and detention of Sok Sophea, a 29-year-old male worker and union secretary at the Kbal Koh Factory by Kien Svay district police.

On the fourth day, September 16, the Minister of Social Affairs, Veteran & Youth Rehabilitation, Ith Sam Heng, proposed a meeting between the government and union representatives to be held on September 27. Union leaders accepted this proposal and promptly called for workers to suspend the strike and go back to work.

Although the strike has been suspended, intimidation and threats from the government have not.

While the Minister Ith Sam Heng called for a dialogue, he and Minister of Labour & Vocational Training, Vong Sauth also urged leaders of the strike to be investigated and for authorities to crackdown on the ongoing strike. Starting September 15, the Phnom Penh court, Kandal court and Kampong Speu court started ordering for workers to get back to work within 24 hours.

Furthermore, we obtained copies of some of the court documents calling for workers who led the strike to be suspended from their work pending an investigation:

§ Judge Kloth Pich ordered 22 union workers to be suspended from their work at the Sieng Woo factory in Kampong Speu province;

§ Court President Judge In Van Vibol ordered 16 union workers to be suspended from their work at the Meng Tong Garment Factory Ltd. and Meng Yang Garment Factory & Vet Processing Ltd in Kandal province;

§ Court President Judge In Van Vibol ordered 10 union workers to be suspended from their work at the Winner Knitting Factory in Kandal province

§ Judge Sin Virak ordered 24 union workers to be suspended from their work at the River Rich Textile Ltd. Factory in Kandal province;

§ Judge Sin Virak ordered 20 union workers to be suspended from their work at the Goldfame Enterprise (Intl) Nitters Limited Factory in Kandal province

The participating unions have also reported work suspension of their active members in at least 15 factories.

These actions are undisguised retributions, and are in violation of Article 12 of the Cambodian Labour Law, which prohibits discrimination against union members.

“The right to organize, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike are guaranteed by Cambodia’s Constitution, the Labor Law, and ILO Conventions 87 and 98”, says CLEC Executive Director Yeng Virak. “The government must allow workers and unions to freely exercise these rights.”

“This misuse of the court to punish union activism is a blatant violation of the Labour Law”, says LICADHO Director Naly Pilorge. “Discriminatory suspension against union members must cease immediately.”

“The government seems to be engaging in scare tactics to increase their bargaining power on September 27”, says ACILS Country Director David Welsh “Fear seems to be their primary negotiating tactic. But threatening unions will do nothing to resolve the underlying issues. The workers’ demand for higher wages is about meeting minimum living standards. They’re not demanding Lexuses and luxury villas.”

We therefore call for:

§ The courts to respect the rights of workers to exercise union activities, to not unjustly bring charges against union members who took part in and/or organized the legal strike, and to cease groundless investigations on strikes;

§ The authorities from all levels to immediately cease interfering with union activities, including strikes;

§ The government to prepare the ground for an honest and transparent dialogue with union representatives on September 27. If the government fails cease threatening and arresting union leaders, then the September 27 talks will essentially be rigged. Leaders will be unable to fulfill their duties out of fear of being arrested.

For more information, please contact:

ACILS Country Director, David Welsh, 077 222 020

CCHR Executive Director Ou Virak, 012 404 051

CCIM Director, Pa Nguon Teang, 012 598 066

CHRAC Chief of Secretariat, Suon Sareth, 092 344 357

CLEC Executive Director Yeng Virak, 012 801 235

LICADHO Director Naly Pilorge, 012 803 650

Mass Worker Strikes Demand Wage Rise in Cambodia

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:12:00 +0000

CAMBODIA. Tonight unions and human rights organisations estimate 159,850 garment factory workers struck all around the country today as daily numbers of striking workers increase since Monday. The first day of industrial action saw 53 factories striking totaling 120,000 workers. Fifty-eight thousand workers were prevented from entering the city to join their fellow workers in meetings around the capital of Phnom Penh.

September 11 – A Time to Mourn and Celebrate

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:44:00 +0000

Once again we approach a momentous date. A time to remember when the world changed.

A Time for Mourning

On first glance we are reminded of a date nine years ago focused on the centers of economic and military might of the United States of America.
   We are called to mourn the loss of lives, both those in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; and also the soldiers who have died, and continue to die, in the course of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
   We are called to mourn the loss of Iraqi and Afghani men, women and children who have perished in almost countless numbers.
   We mourn the loss of civil freedoms as a result of many countries passing terrible laws allowing for torture and unending imprisonment of suspects and alleged enemy combatants, as well as racial profiling, phone-tapping and the new military mantra of pre-emptive strike.
   We mourn the ongoing financial burden these wars place on the citizens of the United States, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fear-mongering required to perpetuate a desire for security in the guise of technology and weaponry; hatred and exclusion.

A Time for Celebration

   Giving the date another look we will find something quite different; a call to hope, bravery and a vision of the immense power of people resisting evil in all it's forms. On September 11, 1906, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a young lawyer, gave a speech that changed history. It was his inauguration speech for satyagraha at the Empire Theatre in South Africa. At that time, South Africa was a colonial outpost of the British Empire. Given the racist and unjust treatment of Indians Gandhi took it upon himself to lead nonviolent action to overturn laws that were unfair, unjust, and dehumanizing. This speech is dramatized in the film "Gandhi" and you can watch the satyagraha speech here.

   In 1906 Gandhi was a little-known failed lawyer on the margins of the world's biggest Empire. But he came to realise that there was power in Truth which he named satyagraha (truth force). The tactics he used were not passive, as many think of nonviolence. He intentionally went out of his way, asking others to do likewise, to push the issues of injustice to the forefront of public life. By refusing to carry identification papers he forced the police and government to respond - often through beatings and imprisonment. By marching thousands of out-of-work miners across state borders he forced the government to respond. With prisons full and Indians unwilling to cooperate with the government there was little choice but to accede to his demands.

   His creative use of persuasion, noncooperation and nonviolent intervention, in South Africa and India, included economic boycotts on British-made cloth and direct challenges to monopoly laws forbidding Indians to make salt in their own country, blazing the way for today's nonviolent activists.

   While we rightly mourn with those who have lost so much since September 11, 2001 we remember with hope that there is a better way to solve our conflicts and achieve justice and freedom. We can still fight, but our weapons are not made from metal and explosives, but from the strategic and collective use of nonviolent tactics as well as our undying search for Truth.
   Finally, we would do to remember that behind (and in front of) Gandhi were hundreds of thousands of people willing to suffer hardship for a better world where all have their basic needs met, and are respected as equal partners of humanity.

Awareness and Training Enhance Choice for Nonviolent Action

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:47:00 +0000

My assumption and heart-felt belief is that most people in most situations would prefer to choose nonviolence over violence to resolve conflict - regardless of faith, race, or socio-economic status. The limiting factor is awareness of the range of nonviolent tactics available for engaging conflict in many situations, including some of the most violent situations humanity has known, and the way in which these tactics create dynamics that successfully lead to greater peace, justice and freedom.

While many philosophical, ideological and theological arguments rage over why war or violence may well be justified, what is often missing is a clear understanding of the range of nonviolent options at our disposal, and hence, the opportunity to continually pursue nonviolent means. There are many studies on the application of what is sometimes referred to as "pragmatic" nonviolence because of it's attention to the application of tactics and strategies, rather than focusing on changing people's motivation for action. Personally, while I am motivated by an inner desire and spiritual journey to engage conflict nonviolently, I am convinced that it is possible to persuade others of the effectiveness of nonviolence by increasing awareness and building skills in nonviolent conflict as a starting point, rather than from complex, though meaningful, arguments of the rightness of nonviolence.

Gandhi is probably the most well-known name connected to nonviolence, but very little is known about him beyond that. Following him we might be able to list off a small number of other names such as Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and perhaps a few others. Again we probably know little beyond their names and that they were good people or championed justice. We probably don't have an understanding of the specifics of their contexts, why they chose nonviolent action, and the specific tactics they used and the reasons for choosing those tactics over others. Nonviolence becomes quickly boiled down to "being nice to everyone" and "turning the other cheek" as we remember that many of these names ended up being reviled, beaten or assassinated at some point. Obviously they refused to fight back, we assume (wrongly).

There is a growing body of knowledge in the area of nonviolence. At it's most basic, nonviolent civilian resistance understands that: “when the people deprive the oppressor of their consent it reduces his/her legitimacy; when enough people refuse to cooperate, they increase the cost of holding control; [and] when the system's legitimacy drops and its costs rise, its enforcers doubt its endurance.” [1]

Nonviolence scholar Gene Sharp arranged nonviolent tactics into three broad categories: protest and persuasion, non-cooperation and nonviolent interventions. These include such tactics as:

(persuasion) speeches, petitions, mock awards, use of symbols like flags and ribbons, humour, satire, and music; (non-cooperation) boycotts, strikes, suspension of various normal activities like sports, stay-at-home, slow-downs, withholding rent, and providing sanctuary to political fugitives; (nonviolent intervention) fasting, sit-ins, nonviolent raids, nonviolent land-seizure, provoking imprisonment and harsh or violent treatment, and parallel institutions. For a more exhaustive treatment see http://www.aeinstitute.org.

Other scholars are helping us understand the dynamics of nonviolent conflict, that is, why nonviolence is effective against violence at all. It is counter-intuitive that someone armed with a commitment to simply not use violence, no matter what, could defeat someone armed with a gun - yet they repeatedly do. One such dynamic is called "backfire", or "the paradox of repression". This dynamic refers to the seemingly innate desire of humans to resist control, repression and violence. As violent regimes (of all persuasions) increase their usage of violent domination the populous reaches a tipping point of pent-up frustration and temporarily repress their very real fears of imprisonment, torture or death to take to the streets and engage in civil disobedience and other, often spontaneous, nonviolent tactics. The more training they have in nonviolent resistance the more persistent and likely to succeed they will be. It is the ultimate irony. Regimes using violent and domineering tactics hasten their demise. Knowing this, nonviolent civil resisters can make effective use of this dynamic.

New research helps us understand not only the tactics and dynamics, but also the "hard facts" about the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance. Until recently nonviolence was studied exclusively through case-study analysis, which has wrought important information. Empirical research is now backing up what was being assumed: that nonviolent conflict is more efficient and effective than violent conflict [2]. In another study on the manner in which insurrections end researchers found that it was not through effective military operations, but through careful diplomatic efforts to include the aggrieved parties in political processes and addressing their core complaints [3]. Yet another study gives four significant findings about nonviolent civilian resistance:

“First, “people power” movements matter, because nonviolent civic forces are a major source of pressure for decisive change in most transitions. ... Second, there is comparatively little positive effect for freedom in “top-down” transitions that were launched and led by elites. ... Third, the presence of strong and cohesive nonviolent civic coalitions is the most important of the factors examined in contributing to freedom. … Fourth, the data suggests that the prospects for freedom are significantly enhanced when the opposition does not itself use violence.” [4].

These findings point to several benefits of nonviolent conflict, or civilian resistance as it is also referred to, that it promotes and requires broad-based, bottom-up, civilian input leading towards more just and democratic decision-making processes and greater freedom for societies, and that nonviolence is a major force for change towards freedom. This is a clear demonstration of the dynamic of "means and ends equivalency". That is, in nonviolence the path one chooses is just as important as the end goal in mind.

There are many obstacles to nonviolent civilian resistance. The first is lack of awareness and understanding of the tactics, strategies, dynamics and research. Secondly, many conflict situations actively work against the promotion of nonviolent resistance. Thirdly, people are not clean slates and have prior experiences that can predispose them to choose violence such as deep-seated hatred of their opponents, a sense of futility, and sense of great urgency requiring immediate and decisive action, or worse, inaction. Fourthly, most aid and development agencies have little understanding of nonviolent resistance themselves and often promote strategies that undermine this approach, or are afraid of the repercussions to funding or government approval if they promote civilian resistance. These are significant, but not insurmountable, problems.

Once populations are exposed to the practical applications of nonviolence there is an opening for deepening their understanding of why what just happened worked so well. In many cases months and years of deep violence has ended in a few days of open nonviolent action. Gandhi believed deeply that if just one person, completely devoted to nonviolent action, held out success was assured. This may seem hard to believe, but the evidence clearly shows that nonviolence is a force more powerful than we often assume.

Notes

[1] Jack DuVall (2010) The Dynamics of Civil Resistance, recorded presentation. http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/

[2] Maria J. Stephan and Erica Chenoweth (2008). Why Civil Resistance Works. The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict

[3] Seth G. Jones and Martin C. Libicki (2008). How Terrorist Groups End. Lessons for Countering al Qa'ida.

[4] Freedom House (2005). How Freedom is Won. From Civic Resistance to Durable Democracy.

Key Sources:

The Albert Einstein Institute. http://aeinstitute.org

The International Center for Nonviolent Conflict. http://nonviolent-conflict.org

Michael Nagler's UC Berkley courses on Introduction to Nonviolence and Nonviolence for Today available on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4F8kJchX4I.

A Force More Powerful. A four-part documentary series on nonviolent resistance movements in the twentieth century. www.aforcemorepowerful.org.

Cambodia and the Way of Nonviolence

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:38:00 +0000

by Chris Baker Evens
April, 2010

In Cambodia rampant economic development is fuelling discontent and creating social, economic and cultural upheaval through forced evictions, loss of natural resources and an inaccessible legal system. Cambodians are fighting back using active nonviolence.

The reality of conflict (1) and violence (2) in Cambodia, especially over land and natural resources, but also within communities and families, is a daily reality for hundreds of thousands of Cambodians. Communities are frustrated with the lack of responsiveness by local, provincial and national authorities to listen and act on their concerns, resulting in a number of communities resorting to threats and violence. The subtext is, "we know we are going to lose, but we're not going down without a fight!"

In addition, there are a range of country characteristics (3) for Cambodia suggesting that a time of national choice will come, when the frustrations over structural violence will boil over the cultural values of maintaining relational harmony and respect for authority. The country is held together by a strongly centralised and authoritarian political structure that is more oligarchy than democracy. A recent report (Roads to Development, Meas Nee and Wayne McCallum, 2009) suggests that Cambodian authorities have been able to subsume the language of democracy and development into existing structures of corruption gaining international recognition as a successful post-conflict democracy and access to ongoing financial aid.

Cambodia exists within a global context of violence and counter violence where there are few vibrant and lasting examples, on a national or political scale, to suggest that nonviolent alternatives to state-sanctioned violence are being seriously considered at the political level. This fits well within Cambodia's own particular mythology of violence and domination. The well-known "judge rabbit" stories are full of a wily character who gleefully kills others in the pursuit of "justice". It's arguable that the stories and acts of death are metaphors themselves, but the themes that arise out of these stories include subterfuge, lying, craftiness and trickery, which don't belong in the nonviolent "arsenal".

On the streets things are different. Patience with autocratic, militarised, abusive and violent governments is growing thin. More and more people, from every continent on Earth, are willing to take to the streets and demand a more peaceful and more just response to their daily problems. And rather than using violence they are discovering an ages-old form of waging conflict.

Choosing How to Respond to Violence

There are several choices for responding to injustice, violence and conflict. Some choices rest on an underlying belief that violence, aggression and competition is normal and should be used to maintain peace and order in our communities, nations, regions and the world as a whole. When faced with evil, we are told, it is moral and necessary to use equal or greater force to rid ourselves of that evil, so that society can continue to exist. With this premise in mind we end up with two ways in which violence is enabled.

Passivity is the most common response to violence. At times we simply ignore violence. We think that as long as our life is ok and our goals for education, wealth and health are not disturbed the world is as it should be. There is no need to seek change. We may well be ignorant of the issues, and even unwilling to educate ourselves of the realities of violence and the potential for seeking change. At other times we accommodate violence when we see it occuring but refuse to act for change because we fear to rock the boat and our position within it. We fear that if we make noise about violence we will become the target of the violence ourselves.

The second most prevalent form of responding to violence is to use retaliatory violence - we follow the old saying, "If you can't beat them, join them". When violence is all around it seems that the best way to survive is to use violence to secure our needs. We may either join in with the original perpetrators and enjoy their protection, or oppose the perpetrators in the hope that we can defeat them.

None of these options address the reasons that violence and oppression begin. By ignoring, accommodating or retaliating we either repress the violence or make it worse. The violence is still there making life difficult for all.

Cambodian Examples of Enabling Violence

Many communities in Cambodia willingly give over land and natural resources to authorities and business people because they think they are the only ones facing an unjust situation and don't want to be the only ones making a fuss. Or they think, "they are our leaders, they know what is best for the whole country". This is largely fueled by the denial of access to open media and news sources with almost all newspapers and the majority of radio stations owned by pro-government sources. A colleague who runs a youth program teaching about urban planning tells me that without exception these youth are completely unaware of the presence of relocation sites around Phnom Penh filled with previously evicted communities.

Communities in the west of Kampot province have been threatened with reprisals if they speak out about a major port project, risking the loss of jobs in a local garment factory if they do. By not speaking out and seeking change the violence is accommodated and continues unabated.

Communities threatened with the loss of land, resources and livelihoods seek official support and generally receive silence, at best a general statement of support and promise to solve their problem. Nothing changes, however. Eventually frustration boils over into acts of vandalism such as burning property - buildings and machinery - of the perpetrator.

It's worth saying that each culture has it's own ways of ignoring, accommodating and acting out violence. We cannot ignore our own complicity with violence by saying, "well, at least we're not like them!", and we certainly can't say that one culture is worse than another. By entering into the blame game we may quickly find ourselves perpetrating violence on others.

The Nonviolent Alternative

The "third way" of engaging conflict is active nonviolence. I say "active" nonviolence because nonviolence is often perceived as passive and inactive. It couldn't be any further from the truth! Nonviolence is a highly active and engaging form of responding to violence and conflict. It benefits from skill, discipline and courage, but is also available to anyone to use, including the young and old, men and women, students and professionals, the general public, civil servants and even the armed services. Most importantly nonviolence seeks change in the factors perpetuating violence and works against the enabling behaviours of violence: passivity and retaliation.

How Active Nonviolence Works

While nonviolence is assumed to be the option of the weak and those who just want to love everyone, nonviolent action generally begins from a place of deep frustration and anger. At first nonviolence is used becuase tactically there is no way for the aggreived group to use force and win. While this is a valid motivation for nonviolence it does not tap deeply into the vast power resources of active nonviolence. By working at building compassion for our opponents we begin to see that the violent action does not simply hurt us, but our opponent, too. Therefore we seek means and methods that allow the perpetrator of violence to seek change, too. This may take longer than we'd like, but it is more likely to ensure a stable peace than a temporary truce.

To paraphase nonviolence scholar Michael Nagler, nonviolence is inserting positive energy into a negative situation and seeking a positive outcome. It is true that many nonviolent tactics are obstructive, such as blocking roads or making life or work difficult for our opponents, but the purpose behind these actions is to highlight acts of violence that are often hidden from view and thus the normal responses of ignorance and accommodation are facilitated. Nonviolent action seeks ways and means that highlight the often hidden conflicts around us, and has been termed "conflict escalation" by at least one nonviolent activist.

Take earthquakes, for example. Scientists know that the earth is made up of many different techtonic plates which the continents ride on. Some of these plates rub up against each other, but for the most part we don't see this happening until there is a huge scraping together in an earthquake. There is conflict going on between the two plates. One going one way, the other going a different way. Eventually the tension builds up and is released in a violent moment. Active nonviolence seeks to highlight the underlying conflict before it builds up to a dangerous level and deadly physical violence erupts. Once the conflict is visible we have a chance to deal with it, and make changes in the way we relate to one another more compassionately and creatively.

To give a local example, a company is awarded an economic land concession on or next to land used and owned by a community. The company decides to encroach on the community land and the land owners get upset, angry and feel like fighting back. The general public, however, have no idea this conflict is going on. The community then cut a tree down and block a major road causing traffic chaos. People take notice. They cannot go about their daily lives as normal and start to ask why. This is a risky tactic because people unaffected by the company may simply be annoyed at not being able to use the road. But if the community can clearly explain their grievance then public opinion can be built to support their desire for justice, compensation and the return of their land. The authorities are more likely to seek a resolution so that public opinion does not get out of hand.

This is a simplistic example but helps to show how nonviolent "conflict escalation" works to address underlying conflicts that could easily erupt into physical violence. Conflict is not seen as the enemy, rather violence and injustice.

Writer and nonviolence scholar Gene Sharp has identified three categories of nonviolent action that can work in escalating conflict in order to transform violent systems into more peaceful systems: protest and pursuasion; noncooperation; and intervention. The last two being most effective. In Cambodia, we are seeing many spontaneous community-led nonviolent actions fitting into these three categories.

Legitimacy and Obedience

Asymmetric power in Cambodia takes the form of economic injustice, judicial corruption, lack of transparent government and business practices, economic and land concessions, bribery throughout the school system at all levels, domestic violence, military crackdowns, the list goes on.

The first real task of responding to asymmetric power in Cambodia is to realise that it's not really asymmetric. The idea of asymmetry is that one side is larger than the other - it's not balanced. So the Cambodian population believe, and are led to believe, that certain people hold more power than others. Adults hold more power than children, men hold more power than women, Khmer hold more power than indigenous communities, Buddhists hold more power than Mulslims or Christians, authorities hold more power than "normal people".

The nonviolent actor understands that power resides in legitimacy and obedience. When a particular person or structure is seen as holding legitimate authority, say the police, then people will obey their instructions. But what if that authority is not acting in the best interests of all concerned, should that authority still be obeyed? For the most of us we are taught to say, "yes" from the moment we came out of the womb. And this is how most violence is accommodated and perpetuated.

When individuals and groups of people decide to stop obeying authorities that work against their best interests the issue of power suddenly changes. A crucial source of power that the authority relies on - obedience - has suddenly been taken away and channeled somewhere else. At this point nonviolent change is possible. If the authority wants it's source of power back it has to respond, either using force or by acceding to the demand of change. Suddenly, what looked like an enormous uphill battle can seem like an even match. This has been called 'people power' (4).

Examples of Active Nonviolence in Cambodia

This kind of active nonviolence is being used regularly across Cambodia. It shows that in general public policies support big business and communities are forced to seek alternative processes to bring about change. Not every community is strong enough to resist the urge to violence, and not every community is positioned to successfully carry out a nonviolent intervention without negative consequences. Many communities using nonviolence are faced with heavily armed police and military. People have been shot, wounded and killed. Homes have been burned down. Community leaders imprisoned. Nonviolence is not for the weak-hearted and their is every likelihood of a violent backlash. But that should not diminsh our hopes in active nonviolence.

Protest and Persuasion

In Kampot province 2008, fishing villagers were ordered to hand over their mangrove forest and fishing grounds to a small handfull of businesspeople. This would be the end of their livelihood. However, they refused the legitimacy of the order, which came from the highest authority in the land. The affected villages marched in the streets of Kampot and the governor refused to give the mangrove forests to the business people and returned the right of use back to the local community.

Nonviolent Intervention

More recently, a community in Kampong Speu province engaged in nonviolent intervention by cutting down a tree and blocking National Road Four which connects the major port of Sihanoukeville, and the capital city, Phnom Penh. This intervention came in response to the arrest and detention of two community leaders after the community had razed the property of a sugar company they claim was encroaching on their community's land. Having received no effective response from the local authorities the community took matters in their own hands and burnt down the buildings. Police later showed up and arrested the two they thought responsible. The villagers proceeded to cut down trees blocking the road and demand a meeting with the Provincial Governor and the release of their leaders. At the same time, other community members camped out infront of the local courthouse where the two were being held. Others camped out in their fields to prevent the excavators from destroying more of their land. And people from other communities traveled to the remote area to add numbers to the actions and provide moral and material support. By the end of the day both demands were granted and the two were released about a week later. The issue of the land encroachment has still not been settled and many villagers continue to simultaneously protest the company, the Kompong Speu Sugar Company, owned by the powerful Cambodian People's Party senator Ly Yong Phat, and nonviolently protect their land. Others, however, have sought compensation in the form of relocation to another area.

This last case is interesting in it's use of violence and nonviolence. The obvious frustration felt by the community built up to an explosive action of burning down the company's buildings. This could have easily undone the community. Violent reprisals in the form of police or military action could have eventuated but they did not. The community regrouped and found nonviolent means to gain leverage in the situation. Causing a major traffic disruption quickly got the attention of the local authorities. But it is clear that the company is unwilling to budge. The release of their leaders does not ensure the return of their land. A long-term nonviolent struggle may be needed.

Cambodia, ranked as 111th in the recent 2010 Global Peace Index, obviously has a long way to go to address core issues of violence and injustice. Nonviolence is clearly linked to increased stability and peace. The pursuit of nonviolent change is most likely to benefit all stakeholders and is, by nature, an inclusive strategy. There is plenty of work to do by local activists and those who support them such as building up strategic and analytical skills. Yet, that Cambodians so quickly default to active nonviolence is greatly encouraging - Maha Ghosananda began the nonviolent dhammayietras while the Khmer Rouge still controlled large areas of Cambodia and many are following in his footsteps. We can expect to see more advanced practice of active nonviolence in the future.

Notes:
(1) Conflict. It is important to know that conflict and violence are very different. Conflict is a normal and inevitable part of life. We go about our lives, choose goals and find that we have to work with people who have different goals to us. We choose how to navigate this difference of goals. Violence, on the other hand, is a way of addressing conflict, as is nonviolence.

(2) Violence. I use the word "violence" in it's broadest form possible, which included acts of physical, structural and cultural violence. While we equate 'violence' mostly with physical acts such as hitting, shooting, fighting there are other non-physical forms of violence that do as much, or more damage.

(3) Country Characteristics. These include: natural resources, and primary commodities (Paul Collier, 1999); practice of speculation (Levy & Scott-Clark, 2008); high risk of civil unrest (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2009) and the Global Peace Index (2010) which rates Cambodia at 111th out of 148 countries and assesses for a large range of factors that increase the likelihood of violence and instability.
Collier, P. (1999). Doing Well Out of War. The World Bank. Paper prepared for Conference on Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, London April 26-27, 1999.

Economist Intelligence Unit (2009). Manning the Barricades. Http://Www.EIU.com. Retrieved 26 March.
Levy, A & Scott-Clark, C. (2008) Country for Sale. The Guardian. [accessed March 10, 2009].

(4) People Power. People Power directly refers to the nonviolent overthrow of Philippine dictator Ferdinande Marcos. The process by which People Power succeeded has been ustilised in many other countries. The list of nonviolent revolutions grows yearly, with approximately 3.4 billion people involved and counting. The list of countries include:
The Philippines, Haiti, Panama, Colombia, Chile, India, Guatemala, Poland, South Africa, Czechoslovakia, Thailand, Serbia and many more.
If you take into account nonviolent action that has sought systemic change, but not necessarily regime change, then the list gets even longer and the range of actions even larger.

Other Sources:
Gene Sharp (2005). Waging Nonviolent Struggle. 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential.
Walter Wink (2003). Jesus and Nonviolence. A Third Way.

Image Sources:

Techtonic Plates Collide
http://schools.bcsd.k12.ca.us/fremont/Graphics/Science/Earth%20Changes/wsci_03_img0412.jpg

See Saw
http://www.tuanvietnam.net/Library/Images/53/2008/07/04_seesaw-01.jpg

See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb133/projectf22/monks-1.jpg

Philippines Nuns
http://professionalheckler.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/edsa1.jpg

Community Petition Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:58:00 +0000

This morning at 6:30am 200 community "activists" prepared to walk the short distance from Wat Botum to the Prime Minister's offices in the center of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dozens of riot police were dispatched to prevent the action, designed to highlight the plight of Cambodia's many tens of thousands of people affected by unrestrained economic interests. Around the country economic and land concessions are awarded to national and international companies to "develop" Cambodia. In turn over one hundred thousand people are at risk of forced evictions, environmental degradation, loss of livelihood and cultural continuity.

While riot police attempted to intimidate the peaceful group, individuals, notably older women approached the heavily armed police and tried a sly nonviolent tactic called "rehumanisation". One woman implored a security officer to call her "mother-in-law" to show that they were both from the same Cambodian "family". In response his face turned bright red with embarrassment. The absurdity of the heavily armed response to a peaceful group armed only with a petition of 60,000 signatures obviously dawned on him.

In terms of "effectiveness" this action has several points worth reflecting. Any action that provokes a response has some intrinsic effectiveness as it is obviously pushing a button that the powers-that-be do not like to be pushed. If this issue or group of people were talking about a "politically safe" issue there would not have been the police response. On the other hand, Cambodia has tightly controlled protest regulations. While public protests are not technically illegal, municipal authorities demand groups arrange "permission" ahead of time. A public gathering, then, can simply be a statement of resistance to such a practice, not necessarily the issue being raised.

I am aware that officials from the Prime Minister's Office did in fact arrive to collect the petition (instead of allowing the group to march the less than one kilometer from the pagoda to their offices). This marks an important action-moment for the group. On the one hand officialdom has publicly acknowledged their grievance, on the other hand they have potentially removed the source of tension, depending on the group's demands and goals. Were they simply after the successful handing over of a petition? In which case they are successful but real change is unlikely. Or are they demanding real resolution to the raised issues that, unless acted on, will be followed up by further nonviolent actions until a full, transparent and acceptable response by the government has been made? In which case it's too early to say if there has been success. The history of nonviolent action in Cambodia so far is mixed. At the local level there have been some impressive successes. On the national level very few. However, this continues to provide an opportunity for Cambodian peoples of all ethnicities, religions and language groups to express their ongoing desire for protection of the land, natural resources and human, cultural and economic rights.

Photo by Moses Ngeth

50 Villagers Protest Activist Detention

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:24:00 +0000

CAMBODIA. 14 land activists detained on Monday in Siem Reap province were released on bail today after more than 50 villagers camped in front of the provincial court house.

According to human rights groups Siem Reap province has the highest number of jailed land activists in the country.

Evictees living in squalor again

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:47:00 +0000

Thursday, 29 April 2010 15:03 MAY TITTHARA AND WILL BAXTER

Photo by: Will Baxter

Borei Keila resident Prak Sophea, 49, sits in a wall-less, ground-floor dwelling where she has lived since being evicted from an apartment. She is waiting to be assigned a home by the government.

SUN-BAKED rubbish and raw sewage amalgamate in the lane that runs past Prak Sophea’s wall-less dwelling, threatening to spill into the space she has been forced to occupy with another family since being evicted on Sunday from temporary housing in Prampi Makara district.

“I cannot bear the bad sanitation, especially when it is raining,” she said. She explained that poor drainage results in flooding that sends sewage into her new home.

The 49-year-old widow, who learned in 1998 that she was HIV-positive, had been occupying a ground-floor room in a dilapidated building in the district’s Borei Keila community since June 2009, waiting for City Hall and a private development company to give her permanent housing. The company, Phanimex, has been tasked with providing on-site relocation units for 11 HIV-affected families, including Prak Sophea’s, who were evicted from prime real estate in front of the Ministry of Tourism building last year to make way for a public garden.

Unlike the 41 families who were trucked out to Tuol Sambo village in Dangkor district in June and July 2009, these 11 families were allowed to stay in Borei Keila because they produced documents proving they had been renting their homes since 2000 or before.

On Sunday, however, Prak Sophea was informed by her landlord that she would need to vacate the premises because Som Sovann, the governor of Prampi Makara district, had issued an order declaring that all property-owners had to personally occupy their homes rather than rent them out in order to be eligible to receive apartments in one of the new Phanimex-built condominiums, she said.

As Prak Sophea waited to be assigned permanent housing, the Ministry of Tourism gave her US$30 per month to cover rent for three months, after which district officials stepped in with a $20-per-month stipend that she received until last December. Though no financial assistance has been forthcoming since then, she had been able to make enough money selling snacks outside a local school to afford the ground-floor unit.

Five of the 11 families who were evicted last summer have already received permanent housing. The other six, however, have been left in limbo as they wait to be assigned rooms.

Prak Sophea, whose husband died of AIDS in 2000, is squatting in the shell of a gutted apartment, where she lives without running water, electricity or a toilet. Leaking drains and human waste drip down from the apartments above, splashing off a small lean-to she has set up to deflect
runoff.

She said that since being kicked out of her temporary housing, she has been constantly worried for her safety, health and well-being.

“I cannot go to do my business because I am afraid someone will steal my property while I am away, and I am worried about my health because of the lack of sanitation,” she said. She added that she had also found it difficult to sleep.

“The authorities always tell us to ‘please wait’, but they change their mind all the time ... before, they promised to give us apartments on the fourth floor, then the fifth floor and then the sixth floor,” she said, referring to the block of buildings constructed by Phanimex. “We don’t know which promise is real or how long we will have to wait.”

Som Sovann said this week that five of the 11 families had received permanent housing because they had presented “complete” documents, unlike Prak Sophea and the others.

“The other six families did not receive an apartment because they have a complicated problem and do not have enough documents yet.... When they have enough documents we will give an apartment to them,” he said. He declined to specify which documents the six families lack.

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun said he would continue to help the remaining families and ensure that they receive apartments, though he added that they would need to wait.

“We will not abandon them, we have sent a request to [Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema] already ... but we need time,” he added.

Phanimex officials could not be reached for comment this week.

Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for the rights group Licadho, said City Hall’s response to the problem had been insufficient, and urged officials to place any families who can prove they are eligible for housing in the community on a fast-track list for new apartments.

“The authorities should be giving first priority to these villagers ... because their houses have already been torn down and they do not have the money to rent a room any longer,” he said.

Manfred Hornung, a legal adviser for Licadho, said the families had been promised permanent housing by September 2009, and called on officials to give them a written notice specifying the apartments to which they would be assigned.

“The major problem for the families is they have received contradicting information from the authorities since last June,” he said, and warned that any further delay could “deteriorate their condition”.

Licadho consultant Mathieu Pellerin also said the process of finding housing for the families should be expedited.

“It is long overdue that the municipality do the right thing with these families who have been promised new apartments for months now,” he said.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042938297/National-news/evictees-living-in-squalor-again.html

Officials chart disputed land in Omlaing

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:35:00 +0000

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:02 May Titthara

OFFICIALS in Kampong Speu province’s Omlaing commune on Tuesday began measuring plots of land owned by families embroiled in a land dispute with the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, though some residents refused to allow the measurements, which they said would not include sections of land already cleared by the company.

Provincial authorities as well as TV commentator Soy Sopheap met on April 20 with about 500 villagers to decide on a procedure for recording measurements of the villagers’ farmland, which is located near a 9,000-hectare land concession awarded to the sugar company, owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Ly Yong Phat. Residents of Omlaing commune, located in Thpong district, have expressed concern that the concession overlaps with their farmland.

When last week’s meeting concluded, officials promised to return the following day to begin taking measurements, but then failed to return until yesterday.

San Tho, a resident who says he stands to be affected by the concession, said some residents of the commune had prevented the measurements from going forward out of fear that they would lose some of their land.

“Some villagers did not allow the provincial committee to measure their land because the authorities would not measure land which the company cleared already,” he said.

In some cases, he added, families were worried they would lose up to 30 metres of farmland.

Chhean Kimsuon, a representative of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, on Tuesday decried attempts to block the measurement work.

“Some of the villagers are tricky. They set up a fence on the forest land that the company had cleared and said it belonged to them,” he said.

Hab Dam, the chief of Omlaing commune, said the measurement work would take about one month, and that that the villagers who agreed to participate on Tuesday had been given land titles, though this was denied by one village representative.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042838269/National-news/officials-chart-disputed-land-in-omlaing.html

Boeung Kak protesters seek Chea Sim’s help

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:33:00 +0000

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:02 Khouth Sophakchakrya

VILLAGERS who fear they will lose their homes to a controversial development project at Boeung Kak lake say they are holding out hope that officials will intervene and award them titles to their disputed land.

Thirty villagers from the Boeung Kak lake area protested in front of the Senate on Tuesday, a day after being denied a meeting with senior officials at Phnom Penh’s City Hall. The protesters said they hoped Senate President Chea Sim would step in to resolve the dispute, which housing rights advocates believe could see roughly 4,000 families evicted to make way for a development.

“Having little hope is better than being hopeless,” said Ing Navy, a representative of the villagers. “We can’t keep quiet until they come to pull down our houses.”

The protesters were not permitted to see Chea Sim on Tuesday, but instead handed a petition marked with 500 thumbprints to an officer of the Senate’s Commission on Human Rights, Reception of Complaints and Investigation.

In 2007, authorities signed a 99-year leasehold for the 133-hectare lake area with Shukaku, a developer headed by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin. This week, city officials said they had approved development plans for the project, which have so far not been publicly released.

Villagers say they have rights to the land, which authorities say is owned by the state. The city has offered families US$8,500 each in compensation.

[note: $8,500 is not sufficient to buy another property in Phnom Penh]

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042838265/National-news/boeung-kak-protesters-seek-chea-sims-help.html

Village land negotiator slain

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:30:00 +0000

Villagers say slaying tied to land disputes

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:01 May Titthara

A 60-YEAR-OLD man in Battambang province was shot and killed on Monday night by four unknown assailants in an attack that villagers linked to land disputes that stretch back to 2007.

Pich Sophon, a representative of families living in Chamlan Romeang Lea village in Battambang’s Samlot district, had been instrumental in advocating on behalf of 141 families involved in three land disputes – two with military officials in Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Region 5 and another with an unidentified Korean company, villagers and a rights worker said.

Sin Mey, who has served as a representative of the village, said Pich Sophon was killed while returning home after they had worked to collect thumbprints for a complaint to be filed against RCAF Region 5 and the Korean company.

“They shot him because they want to threaten the villagers so we will stop demanding to keep our land,” said Sin Mey, who said he too had been shot by unknown gunmen during an attack on April 4.

THEY SHOT HIM BECAUSE THEY WANT TO THREATEN THE VILLAGERS."

He added that Pich Sophon had been hit by bullets from an AK-47 three times in the chest and once in the hand.

[note: a very common weapon used by the police and military in Cambodia]

Khat Sokhom, another resident of Chamlan Romeang Lea village, said she and the other families had been living in the village since 2005, when local officials offered them 5 hectares of farmland each along with 30-by-70-metre plots in exchange for US$93.

Villagers said the military and the Korean company had been trying to evict them from their land since 2007.

Hen Sophan, the governor of Samlot district, said Tuesday that he had been informed of the shooting, but denied that the villagers had made the payments of $93.

“The villagers who live in those villages do not have a land dispute,” he added. “They live on their land, and nobody took over their land.”

However, Chan Soveth, a senior investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said the disputes had been ongoing since 2007.

He expressed concern that the recent shootings had been intended to discourage villagers from staging protests.

Preah Sihanouk farmers plan protest

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:27:00 +0000

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:01 May Titthara

Photo by: Heng Chivon

Hour Chrib, 35, looks out over disputed farmland in Kampong Speu province on Monday.

FARMERS in Preah Sihanouk province said Tuesday that they are preparing to file a complaint with Kampong Seila district Governor Kheng Teng over a land dispute involving an NGO that provides assistance to the disabled.

On Monday, the farmers squared off on two separate occasions with workers from the Kampong Speu-based Cambodia Disabled Survivors’ Association, though officials intervened both times to prevent violence.

The NGO says it has been awarded land in Kampong Speu, Kampot and Preah Sihanouk provinces that is also claimed by the farmers, who were preparing to plant rice on Monday.

Mou Savoeung, a representative of the farmers, said they plan to stage a protest at the district governor’s home if they are denied access to the land.

“We want to get the results from him, and we need to start planting rice,” she said.

Kheng Teng said that he had received a report on the dispute and planned to respond to it on Thursday.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042838261/National-news/preah-sihanouk-farmers-plan-protest.html

Lake plan prompts protest

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:02 Khouth Sophakchakrya

Photo by: Pha Lina

Boeung Kak lake residents protest in front of City Hall on Monday.

ROUGHLY 50 protesters who say they face eviction due to development work at Boeung Kak lake gathered in front of City Hall on Monday after learning that authorities had approved plans for the controversial project behind closed doors.

The protesters decried the fact that city officials have approved development plans before many of the roughly 4,000 families that stand to be affected have finalised compensation arrangements.

“We need land titles for our homes, and we want the development to be fair and transparent,” said protester Lim Samnang.

He added that the demonstrators became particularly alarmed after hearing that the development plans, which have never been publicly released, could be closer to completion. Officials told the Post on Sunday that the plans were approved during a private meeting last Thursday.

On Monday, villagers held posters with images of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Bun Rany and others, as well as signs declaring that they did not support plans for the site.

A handful of residents were allowed to enter City Hall. But they said they were only allowed to visit one official, who refused to give his name. They said he offered no satisfactory answers.

“Tomorrow, we will come to protest in front of City Hall again,” said Sam Vanna.

Tensions have simmered since 2007, when authorities awarded a 133-hectare swathe around Boeung Kak lake to Shukaku Inc, a group headed by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin. Housing rights advocates say the villagers have a right to claim ownership of the land, on which many have lived for years. But authorities, who have offered families US$8,500 in compensation, say the land belongs to the state.

Residents also say they have been left in the dark about their futures, with authorities rarely releasing any public details of the planned development.

Phnom Peny Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun said he was too busy to comment on Monday.

But one city official, who asked not to be named because he was not permitted to speak to the media, said the recently approved development plan would impact all residents currently living in the Boeung Kak lake area.

He said the plan calls for the construction of 12 roads linking the area to already existing routes surrounding the development.

City officials have also been given a limit on how much money they can offer in compensation, he said.

“How much money to pay in compensation to the residents is based on a government decision to limit the price,” he said.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042738162/National-news/lake-plan-prompts-protest.html

NGO, farmers at an impasse

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:21:00 +0000

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:02 May Titthara

ROUGHLY 100 farmers from Kampong Speu, Preah Sihanouk and Kampot provinces squared off yesterday on two separate occasions with an NGO that claims to own land they have cultivated in previous years, though officials intervened and prevented the altercation from spilling over into violence, witnesses said.

Mou Savoeung, a representative of the farmers, said they arrived at a section of the disputed land in Preah Sihanouk’s Kampong Seila district with three tractors early on Monday intending to prepare rice fields for planting. She said workers from the NGO, the Kampong Speu-based Cambodia Disabled Survivors’ Association, had been at the site and tried to obstruct their access to it, which led to the standoff.

“We were facing off with the members of the association because they did not allow us to plant on our rice field,” she said. “We nearly used violence, but our commune officers came one time to tell us to avoid violence and find a peaceful way.”

Tim Hong, the chief of O’Anlong village in Kampong Seila district, said he and district police had intervened to prevent violence, and that negotiations would be held today to resolve the dispute.

“We saw villagers and association staffers carrying knives and axes in hand, so we were afraid that violence would happen, and we asked the villagers to stop farming to avoid violence,” he said.

[note: knives and axes are common tools for farmers to be carrying around. Although the farmers suggested they would resort to violence if they could not use the land, it is unclear here if that was their intent. Clearly they were persuaded to not use violence. By whom is a disputed point.]

Nuon Pich, another farmer, said he believed that the NGO was refusing to allow them to plant this year because the land had been sold to a Korean company, but Touch Seouly, director of the Cambodia Disabled Survivors’ Association, denied this, saying the rice grown on the farmland would be given to the disabled.

Touch Seouly said officials in each province had in 2006 granted him more than 1,500 hectares of land, most of which is in Kampong Speu. The disputed site in Preah Sihanouk, he said, is 270 hectares.

He said Monday afternoon that he had no intention of letting the farmers cultivate the land.

“If it is their land, they can do it, but it is our land,” he said.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042738177/National-news/ngo-farmers-at-an-impasse.html

Military Base: Protest over land dispute called off

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:16:00 +0000

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:02 Thet Sambath

Military Base
Villagers in Banteay Meanchey province’s Thma Puok district called off a protest scheduled for Monday, after the district governor promised to meet with them to resolve the issue, a representative said. The villagers had planned to express anger at the construction of a military base on disputed land. “We decided not to have our demonstration after the district governor asked us not to do it, and promised us that he would help us reach a compromise and inform us about it on Tuesday,” said Long Than, who added that he and eight others met with district officials on Saturday. The district governor, Prek Vary, could not be reached Monday. Long Than said the proposed base could displace about 100 families who have lived there since 1993.

[note: in terms of nonviolent resistance this is a very risky move by the villagers. They have removed the incentive for change. It takes a lot of guts for a community to protest in Cambodia, and it takes a lot of time and frustration to get there. By calling off the demonstration without any concrete evidence of getting a "compromise" they've clearly reneged control of the conflict to the district governor for the moment. This is a very common result. With little or no training in NVR and next to no free press, the community is very much on it's own.]

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042738151/National-news/military-base-protest-over-land-dispute-called-off.html

Residents of Borei Keila refuse to occupy new relocation housing

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:58:00 +0000

Thursday, 08 April 2010 15:04 Chhay Channyda

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Long Sem, 49, sits in his home in Borei Keila on Wednesday. More than 120 families in the community have refused to accept housing that was inaugurated by Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chukteman.

PHNOM Penh Governor Kep Chuktema on Wednesday presided over a ceremony marking the opening of onsite relocation housing in Prampi Makara district’s Borei Keila community, but more than 120 families slated to move in say rooms in the building are too small and have refused to register for them.

The new building, designed to house 174 families, is part of a redevelopment project funded by the private developer Phanimex.

City Hall has promised free housing to families that are being relocated to the building in exchange for the valuable inner-city land they currently occupy. Phanimex has been promised a portion of that land in exchange for constructing the relocation housing.

Nuth Sokly, a representative of the 124 families who have declined to relocate, said they were upset that the new housing was significantly smaller than their current homes, and claimed it lacked electricity and water.
“Our request is that the houses are 4 metres by 12 metres, not 3.8 metres by 9 metres,” he said. He said that authorities had asked each family to provide photos by Monday in order to register for relocation housing, but that they had refused to do so.

“District officials informed us to give them photos by April 5 so that we can receive homes, or they will not be responsible for any damage caused to our home” as a result of further development,” he said. “It means they’ve threatened to evict us and move us to our new homes without proper compensation.”

He said families have been living in their current homes in Borei Keila since 1979, meaning they legally qualify for ownership rights. He demanded that officials pay US$20,000 to each family.

[note: Cambodian land law states that anyone living on land for more than 5 years, uncontested and nonviolently have the same rights as a purchaser of property. The law acknowledges the difficulty in providing sufficient documentation of land ownership since the Khmer Rouge regime destroyed all records of private ownership between 1975 and 1979. Even without official land title documents, other documentation can be sufficient and legally as binding as a title document. In practice this is rarely honored. A World Bank sponsored land title initiative recently fell through when the World Bank spoke out at the unfair way in which the titles were being issued, particularly, ignoring poor areas and land under contestation - places where titles are most sorely needed.]

Am Sam Ath, monitoring supervisor for the rights group Licadho, said that many evictions have been made “without adequate compensation and have not been resolved in a peaceful way”, referring in particular to the January 2009 demolition of the Dey Krahorm community.

“In some areas, people have lived more than 20 years, and the government should give sufficient compensation to people where there is development on state land,” he said.

However, Kep Chuktema said that City Hall had been proactive in initiating discussions with people facing relocation, adding that the offer of new homes right before Khmer New Year was a stroke of “good luck”.

“I have never evicted people without compensation before,” he said. “If there is no choice, you have to relocate to new places because you have lived on state land or private land.”

[note: while this may be true (or not), has the compensation been anywhere near the level of loss incurred by the evicted communities?]

Suy Sophan, the director of Phanimex, said at Wednesday’s ceremony that residents should react positively to the relocation plan, which he said would facilitate the beautification of the city.

“You used to live in a slum area, but now you will move to great new apartments,” he said.

[note: development of inner-city Phnom Penh is a very difficult issue. There is obvious need for development of infrastructure and housing options (beautification is less of a priority). Obviously the RGC has limited funds and private investment can bring in needed money. The only way an investor will invest if their is profit gain for the investor and that means an onsite relocation plan, which is quite favourable to off-site relocation, may include smaller lots and people not getting all that they'd hoped for. Companies will still make large profits off the deals and should be prepared to pass on part of the profits to the residents. An upfront deal, and perhaps a regular cut of profits in the form of discounted utilities or cash each month, for example.]

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010040837121/National-news/residents-of-borei-keila-refuse-to-occupy-new-relocation-housing.html

Borei Keila families petition Hun Sen for better housing

noreply@blogger.com (Peace and Justice: Cambodia) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:44:00 +0000

Monday, 26 April 2010 15:01 May Titthara

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Sin Sambath, 51, moves into his new home on the first floor of a building offering on-site relocation housing in the central Phnom Penh community of Borei Keila on Sunday.

MORE than 120 families facing eviction from their homes in Phnom Penh’s central Borei Keila community sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday requesting either US$40,000 in compensation or $20,000 and ground-floor apartments measuring 4 metres by 12 metres, representatives said Sunday.

The families have so far refused to register for on-site relocation housing offered by City Hall, saying the units in the building – which was opened on April 7 – are too small, and that those who do not receive ground-floor apartments will be unable to support themselves by running businesses out of their homes.

[note: refusing to participate in the ballot is an all-or-nothing gamble for these families. The City has a history of waiting out the resisters until there are so few left nonviolent resistance can easily be ignored or swept aside. This community is showing courage. Do they have the strategy to go beyond this?]

“They promised to provide us with 4-metre-by-12-metre [homes] with electricity and water supplied, but now they want to provide us with only 3.8-metre-by-9-metre [homes] without electricity or water,” said representative Nuth Sokly. “How can we accept it?”

The new building, designed to house 174 families, is part of a project funded by the private company Phanimex, which has been promised a portion of the families’ valuable Borei Keila land in exchange for relocation housing. Another section of the families’ land will go to the Ministry of Tourism.

Seng Vutha, another representative, said many of the families had been living in their Borei Keila homes for nearly 30 years, and did not want to subject themselves to a lottery that could result in their moving to inferior units.

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun said the families had no choice but to participate in the lottery, and that their demands for ground-floor housing were unrealistic.

[note: read "unrealistic" as, "if you take all the ground-floor housing we won't be able to make quite as much profit as we'd like".]

“For the ground floor and the first floor, we have given priority to the elderly and disabled people,” he said.

[note: One has reason to be skeptical of such a high-sounding promise. Are they really given to the elderly and disabled, or to well-connected family and friends of the developers.]

“For the other people, it is not important to be on the ground floor or the sixth floor.”

[note: from who's perspective?]

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010042638057/National-news/borei-keila-families-petition-hun-sen-for-better-housing.html

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Village land negotiator slain

Villagers say slaying tied to land disputes

Preah Sihanouk farmers plan protest

Lake plan prompts protest

NGO, farmers at an impasse

Military Base: Protest over land dispute called off

Residents of Borei Keila refuse to occupy new relocation housing

Borei Keila families petition Hun Sen for better housing