Cambodians mark International Human Rights Day by protesting forced evictions

Many in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, are protesting against forced evictions, which have already resulted in the displacement of thousands of urban families, BBC News reported today.

The protests occurred on the final day of a visit by Yash Ghai, the United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia,. He said that poor people are losing land to the elite throughout Cambodia, and that a weak judicial system allows land-grabbers to act with impunity.

“There’s an enormous amount of suffering,” Ghai said. “People are extremely anxious and fearful of the police and the courts, who are very much part of this system for the appropriation of land. So the whole legal system has become enormously corrupt.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen has stepped in on several occasions to order well-connected people to hand back land. He has also promised to sack any government officials involved.

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