18 June 2007
Phnom Penh and Surrounding Countryside
Sangkat Toule Bassak
_____
On Monday 18 June 2007 I had an opportunity to attend a rally that raised concerns about development and land conflict in Phnom Penh.
The community hearing was fairly powerful. About 200 people attended the hearing, including community representatives from Group 78 in the Sangkat Toule Basak, Khan Chamcar Mon in Phnom Penh. The Group 78 community is being forced out of their homes to pave the way for development. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (my internship site) and other closely aligned NGO’s such as LICADHO (http://www.licadho.org/) were also in attendance with representatives from the national assembly that represent the Sam Ramsey Party (SRP) and FUNCIPEC Party.
100 affected community members – as well as delegations from 9 provinces were also able to attend and speak at the hearing. Their enthusiasm was a credible demonstration that the issue of land conflict is quite widespread. Mind you, i don't understand Khmer more than the pleasantries. I had quite a time listening to empassioned testimony that I couldn't understand a lick of. Thankfully, a few Cambodian observers I know were able to translate snippets - otherwise I would have been completely in the dark.
After the hearing, I was invited to travel about 20 km out of Phnom Penh to visit the relocation settlements populated by families that had been forcibly relocated in the past. Last year at around this time, a settlement of 1000+ people were forcibly and violently removed from their settlement, transported, and dumped there. When members of the Sambok Cham community got forcibly removed last year on June 6, 2006 they got relocated to three sites.
None of the relocation sites had anything substantial for the displaced people…
- no houses
- no sanitation
- no clean water
- no schools
- no access to employment or a market to sell goods
- nothing
At this moment, most of the houses are rickety structures, built from scavenged materials - stuff you can grab from local trees, scavenge from a dump or rescue from scraps. There are some positive signs of progress, but a year on?
From this visit, I’ve gained a sense of the human rights dimension at stake here - big time.
I’m in Cambodia.
Friday, June 22, 2007
The Funniest Thing...
21 June 2007
Phnom Penh
Sisowath Quay / FCC
______
An interesting thing happened yesterday which underscored the lack of rule of law... . Kind of funny, kind of not...
Background: One of the places where regular Khmer and non-Khmer folk mingle is the Riverfront or Sisowath Quay. A diverse array of restaurants line the busy street - Khmer food, Italian food, Thai food, western steak houses, Chinese, et cetera are all available on the Riverfront. One of the most famous places, and certainly popular with Westerners, is a place called the FCC (http://www.fcccambodia.com/).
As you may recall, I’m an intern as a participant in the One World Foundation’s Young Leaders delegation. My internship is with the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. My boss Virak is a good guy to just sit and listen to, and Vidal and I were invited to the FCC after work for cocktails and conversation. He requested that we go to network with two NGO workers he has been friendly with in the past few weeks.
Soon after we arrived, Lazar and Raj joined us for drinks and conversation. Both are very interesting NGO workers from outside of Cambodia. Lazar, who is from Belgrade, was very somber guy with a dry wit, and a very friendly, understated style. He politely expressed curiosity about our background. A few minutes later, Raj arrived. Raj’s manner was an interesting contrast to Lazar’s calm and soft-spoken style of conversation. Raj is a humorous, gregarious fellow – his statements were punctuated by eyebrow raises, hand gestures and the occasional chortle. Both gentlemen were quite engaging, with superb conversational skills and very interesting insights into Cambodian life as a foreigner.
The gentlemen were so engrossing, in fact, that we didn't quite notice when Virak's car got apprehended by the police and towed away - with his driver still minding the car. In fairness, the car was parked facing the wrong way. But I get the sense that this was largely a pretext for impounding the car. The area, with plenty of Khmer families out and about, affluent Western and Khmer NGO workers and journalists, is a target for such events I guess ...
We had a few moments of anxiety after we learned the car was gone... The car contained my laptop, iPod, Vidal's laptop and papers, Virak's laptop, cell phone, keys, et cetera. In Cambodia, its not a given that if and when the police impound your car, you will get anything back at all - that is, unless you are willing to negotiate. Virak went by himself - as a Cambodian, he was least likely to get extorted. Lazar's car was also apprehended and towed, so Virak went to negotiate on his behalf as well.
About 1/2 hour after we got word of the car tow, Virak's driver came to see us in the FCC. He came bearing good tidings – slung across his back was Vidal’s knapsack with the laptops. We also recovered the helmets he and I use for moto rides. But there was no sign of the iPods…
Yikes! After everything was said and done, I wished passionately I had kept the darn thing in my pocket. Virak, an old hand in such situations, handled the situation with grace. He made a few calls, sipped his beer, and kept his mind on the larger picture. He asked me if I wanted to try to push the envelope and make an example of this situation publicly – maybe by making a public stink we could try to shed light on the need for reform in the way Cambodian law enforcement officers conduct themselves. I said yes, half-heartedly... Virak, having tapped his social network a bit, got word a little while later of a person who could help him negotiate for the car and the belongings in the vehicle as well as Lazar's belongings.
The night ended with uncertainty about what would happen next. It was getting late, and Vidal and I hopped a ride on a moto bike and got back to the hotel to eat dinner and whittle the hours away before bed.
As of this morning, I am unsure if Virak was able to recover either his car or his effects last night. He was totally at the whim of the law enforcement officer that was 'negotiating'. I expect he's going to be lighter in the wallet today. This morning, Vidal opened the knapsack, and out popped the iPod. I'm certain the driver stuffed the iPod in the bag before he evacuated. Lucky me.
I appreciate law enforcers that conduct themselves with discretion and integrity in the USA a little more today. I lack the feeling of security or of trust that things will stay the same from day to day - it's brought me a little closer to understanding and re-examining my own assumptions while I'm here. In Phnom Penh, things can "turn on a dime". Or 500 Riel.
Phnom Penh
Sisowath Quay / FCC
______
An interesting thing happened yesterday which underscored the lack of rule of law... . Kind of funny, kind of not...
Background: One of the places where regular Khmer and non-Khmer folk mingle is the Riverfront or Sisowath Quay. A diverse array of restaurants line the busy street - Khmer food, Italian food, Thai food, western steak houses, Chinese, et cetera are all available on the Riverfront. One of the most famous places, and certainly popular with Westerners, is a place called the FCC (http://www.fcccambodia.com/).
As you may recall, I’m an intern as a participant in the One World Foundation’s Young Leaders delegation. My internship is with the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. My boss Virak is a good guy to just sit and listen to, and Vidal and I were invited to the FCC after work for cocktails and conversation. He requested that we go to network with two NGO workers he has been friendly with in the past few weeks.
Soon after we arrived, Lazar and Raj joined us for drinks and conversation. Both are very interesting NGO workers from outside of Cambodia. Lazar, who is from Belgrade, was very somber guy with a dry wit, and a very friendly, understated style. He politely expressed curiosity about our background. A few minutes later, Raj arrived. Raj’s manner was an interesting contrast to Lazar’s calm and soft-spoken style of conversation. Raj is a humorous, gregarious fellow – his statements were punctuated by eyebrow raises, hand gestures and the occasional chortle. Both gentlemen were quite engaging, with superb conversational skills and very interesting insights into Cambodian life as a foreigner.
The gentlemen were so engrossing, in fact, that we didn't quite notice when Virak's car got apprehended by the police and towed away - with his driver still minding the car. In fairness, the car was parked facing the wrong way. But I get the sense that this was largely a pretext for impounding the car. The area, with plenty of Khmer families out and about, affluent Western and Khmer NGO workers and journalists, is a target for such events I guess ...
We had a few moments of anxiety after we learned the car was gone... The car contained my laptop, iPod, Vidal's laptop and papers, Virak's laptop, cell phone, keys, et cetera. In Cambodia, its not a given that if and when the police impound your car, you will get anything back at all - that is, unless you are willing to negotiate. Virak went by himself - as a Cambodian, he was least likely to get extorted. Lazar's car was also apprehended and towed, so Virak went to negotiate on his behalf as well.
About 1/2 hour after we got word of the car tow, Virak's driver came to see us in the FCC. He came bearing good tidings – slung across his back was Vidal’s knapsack with the laptops. We also recovered the helmets he and I use for moto rides. But there was no sign of the iPods…
Yikes! After everything was said and done, I wished passionately I had kept the darn thing in my pocket. Virak, an old hand in such situations, handled the situation with grace. He made a few calls, sipped his beer, and kept his mind on the larger picture. He asked me if I wanted to try to push the envelope and make an example of this situation publicly – maybe by making a public stink we could try to shed light on the need for reform in the way Cambodian law enforcement officers conduct themselves. I said yes, half-heartedly... Virak, having tapped his social network a bit, got word a little while later of a person who could help him negotiate for the car and the belongings in the vehicle as well as Lazar's belongings.
The night ended with uncertainty about what would happen next. It was getting late, and Vidal and I hopped a ride on a moto bike and got back to the hotel to eat dinner and whittle the hours away before bed.
As of this morning, I am unsure if Virak was able to recover either his car or his effects last night. He was totally at the whim of the law enforcement officer that was 'negotiating'. I expect he's going to be lighter in the wallet today. This morning, Vidal opened the knapsack, and out popped the iPod. I'm certain the driver stuffed the iPod in the bag before he evacuated. Lucky me.
I appreciate law enforcers that conduct themselves with discretion and integrity in the USA a little more today. I lack the feeling of security or of trust that things will stay the same from day to day - it's brought me a little closer to understanding and re-examining my own assumptions while I'm here. In Phnom Penh, things can "turn on a dime". Or 500 Riel.
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