Cambodian Troops Bulldoze Villagers' Crops in Bid to Seize Land

Cambodian land rights activists hold a banner in front of the National Assembly building during the 29th World Habitat Day in Phnom Penh, Oct. 6, 2014. RFA

Troops assigned to a light infantry unit destroyed village fields in southern Cambodia’s Kampot province on Monday in a bid to expand the property used by a commune set up for retired army soldiers, sources said.

Crops and fruit trees were destroyed in the operation as about 30 soldiers armed with sticks and knives moved in with bulldozers against villages surrounding the Decho Akpewat commune, vowing to return on Wednesday to finish their work, one village chief told RFA’s Khmer Service.

“There will be serious tensions [on Wednesday],” Decho Anlong Khmeng Leng village chief Tim Hong told RFA.

“We can’t stop villagers from protesting, and other villagers are going to lose their land and face similar problems,” he
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Cambodian Opposition Senator's Trial Postponed Indefinitely

Hong Sok Hour's lawyer speaks to reporters after trial is postponed, Phnom Penh, Oct. 7, 2015. RFA

Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Municipal Court has indefinitely postponed the trial on charges of "forgery and incitement" of jailed opposition senator Hong Sok Hour, adjourning again on Wednesday after proceedings resumed following an earlier postponement on Oct. 2.

The move was quickly criticized by rights groups and the senator’s wife and lawyer, who called the further postponement—and the lawmaker’s subsequent return to prison without bail—a violation of his rights to a fair and speedy trial.

“The judge must speed up this process,” Am Sam Ath, senior investigator for the rights group Licadho, said following the
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Shan State Rebels Agree to Sign Myanmar Peace Accord

Shan State Army-South soldiers take part in a military parade at their headquarters in Loi Tai Leng in eastern Myanmar's Shan state, Feb. 7, 2015. RFA

Armed ethnic insurgents in eastern Myanmar’s Shan state have agreed to sign a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) with the government next week, becoming the eighth group to accept the terms of the pact, a rebel spokesman and state media said Wednesday.

The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) said Wednesday that its armed wing—the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S)—will lay down its weapons as part of the NCA, which is expected to be concluded during a signing ceremony with the
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អាយ៉ៃ រឿង សំណាបយោងដីស្រីយោងប្រុស ភាគទី ១