Rights group urges Cambodia to release protesters detained over forced eviction

[News_Editor]

Rights group urges Cambodia to release protesters detained over forced eviction

2012-01-14 05:36:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- Amnesty International on Friday urged Cambodian authorities to immediately release dozens of women and children who were detained on Wednesday during a peaceful protest.

The London-based rights group said 24 women and six children were detained while protesting last week's forced eviction of some 300 families from the Borei Keila neighborhood of Phnom Penh, the country's capital. "These people never should have been arrested in the first place," said Donna Guest, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Asia-Pacific. 

"The women and children are some of Cambodia's poorest, most vulnerable people - and when they've stood up for their legitimate rights they've been rounded up and locked away. This kind of heavy-handed intimidation must stop," she added.

On January 3, the homes of the families were destroyed by construction company workers accompanied by a heavy security presence. According to reports, security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets against residents, triggering clashes that left 64 people injured.

The 30 women and children detained on January 11 are being held in the Prey Speu Social Affairs Center in Phnom Penh, where rapes and murders have been reported in the past, according to human rights organizations. Amnesty International also called for the release of the eight people detained during the January 3 eviction.

Borei Keila has been the home to a large poor urban community for many years. In 2003, the government designated the area as a 'social land concession', sharing land with a private developer which promised to build housing for the poor.

The 300 families have been protesting against the company and local authority since 2010 when the developer claimed that it could not afford to build all of the housing it had promised.

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