State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2016 - Cambodia

Events of 2015

Proceedings under the UN-backed Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) continued throughout 2015, with the first testimony related to charges of genocide against Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's 'Brother Number Two' and former head of state Khieu Samphan. In September, the court heard from survivors of the regime's policies, as prosecutors assembled a case for genocide, that Cham Muslims and ethnic Vietnamese were particularly targeted for extermination. The closing order detailing charges against the defendants noted that 36 per cent of Cham died during the Khmer Rouge regime, between 1975 and1979, compared to 19 per cent of the majority Khmer population during the same period. The Khmer Rouge also set out to destroy their culture, burning Qur'ans, prohibiting Cham from speaking their language and forcing them to eat pork, while also consciously setting out to erase their traditional way of life by dispersing communities across the country. Many Cham were executed simply on the basis of their identity. In October, testimony detailed equally grim recollections of targeted killings resulting in the deaths of an estimated 20,000 ethnic Vietnamese.

Progress was also made in cases against Meas Muth, a Khmer Rouge navy commander, who finally appeared in court in December after he had been charged in absentia earlier in the year. His case had genocide charges added to it in March, though these did not detail which minority group had been targeted. Testimony against him towards the end of year included allegations of mass killings of ethnic Vietnamese. Charges against Ao An, also known as Ta An, an acting secretary in the regime's central zone, were also brought in March, with crimes against humanity for 'extermination, persecution on political and religious grounds and other inhumane acts', implicated in his role of killing Cham Muslims. In December, the court also proceeded with charges against Yim Tith, also known as Ta Tith, an acting secretary of the regime's north-west zone, for genocide for his actions against Khmer Krom, a minority from southern Vietnam, among other allegations.

Troublingly, the prejudice that drove the Khmer Rouge to classify ethnic Vietnamese as 'historic enemies' or 'third pillars' aligned with the state of Vietnam persists to this day. Ethnic Vietnamese are arguably the most marginalized and impoverished community in Cambodia, with many lacking identification and as a result excluded from essential services such as education. Ongoing friction between Cambodia and Vietnam, such as a renewed border demarcation dispute in 2015, have led to rising discrimination and hate speech against ethnic Vietnamese. A national census of foreigners living in the country that began in 2014 has targeted ethnic Vietnamese for identification checks. As of 2015, ethnic Vietnamese are reportedly being asked to pay a bi-annual US$60 residency card fee, far too expensive for many community members, despite the fact that many already have residency documents.

Ethnic Vietnamese are further targeted for evictions from their homes. As they do not have citizenship rights under Cambodian law without identification papers and are barred from owning land, many settle by rivers and lakes. In June, local authorities announced the eviction of over 40 ethnic Vietnamese families living on the Mekong River in Kandal province, despite previously recognizing their residency; the families requested a postponement to allow them to sell their fish stocks. Similarly, in October the eviction of around 1,000 ethnic Vietnamese families living on Tonle Sap lake began as part of a beautification project that would require them to be relocated, despite having resided there for decades.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, land dispossession increased during 2014 and the first quarter of 2015. While the threat of land grabbing affects majority Khmer communities as well, Cambodia's indigenous peoples are especially vulnerable to expropriation of their ancestral lands for large-scale Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) for agriculture, mining, dams and forestry. Despite a moratorium on ELCs in 2012, according to a 2015 report from Cambodian non-governmental organization (NGO) Adhoc, they continued to be issued. In July, however, the government announced that it would reduce ELCs to a maximum of 50 years, a significant move considering that some span between 70 and 99 years, although this alone is unlikely to resolve the continued problem of indigenous dispossession.

Cambodia legally recognizes collective land ownership, but titles have been issued at a slow pace and communities continue to take companies to court. In July, members of the Bunong indigenous community in Mondulkiri province launched a civil lawsuit in French court against rubber giant Socfin, calling for compensation and the return of ancestral territories sold to Socfin for rubber plantations in 2009. In September, 44 families from the Phnong indigenous community filed a lawsuit in Mondulkiri provincial court against a local military chief and a business man who were said to have seized over 80 hectares of their land, even though families in the community had been issued land ownership certificates.

The importance of the forests and their associated traditions for indigenous communities is often misunderstood by government officials, who see forests from a primarily economic perspective. In March, Environment Minister Say Sam Al noted how important it was to protect the cultures of indigenous peoples, but then went on to explain that the agricultural industry was trying 'to create jobs for our people, so hopefully they don't have to depend on the forests any more' – instead, he said, they could 'depend on something else, like a skill'. His comments reflect a pervasive ignorance about the central value of local eco-systems, ancestral land and traditional livelihoods for indigenous peoples, particularly non-tangible elements such as sacred beliefs – considerations frequently sidelined by careless planning.

The ongoing construction of the Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province, to be completed in 2017, illustrates this tendency. One of the biggest dam projects in the country, it is being pushed through by its Cambodian, Chinese and Vietnamese backers regardless of wide opposition and a questionable environmental impact assessment (EIA). An estimated 5,000 indigenous Phnong and Brov, as well as minority ethnic Lao, are slated to be evicted to allow the flooding of thousands of hectares of forest. Despite continued protests by affected communities, the relocation of villages reportedly began in August. The dam will negatively impact fish stocks for another 78,000 people, many of whom are indigenous or ethnic minorities who depend on the river for their main source of protein. Especially worrying is the destruction of cultural heritage, including sacred forest areas and grave sites, as well as the likely erosion of traditional knowledge. Villagers are asking for the company to include a grave resettlement fee along with the potential relocation compensation, but the compensation offer is already inadequate and will not make up for the loss of cultural knowledge related to their forests.