LES 6
COMMANDEMENTS		 COURRI@L    2004 THE 6
COMMANDMENTS



U.N. official calls for investigation into grenade attack on logging protesters (2004-Nov-17)
         PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - A U.N. human rights official on Sunday called for an investigation into a grenade attack on protesters at an anti-logging rally in central Cambodia. Police and a witness said an unidentified man hurled a grenade at about 600 protesters in the Ansa Chambok commune in Pursat province early Saturday. Six people were injured, three seriously. The protesters were blocking a road in the commune after bulldozers working for Pheapimex Co. Ltd. began clearing forests for a controversial acacia plantation. "I deplore the grenade attack that was launched against some of the peaceful protesters," said Peter Leuprecht, the U.N. special envoy on human rights in Cambodia. "I hope that a serious investigation will be carried out, and of course I hope that those responsible will be brought to justice."


         Land disputes in Cambodia have heated up in recent years. Last month, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for a review of land concessions, warning that a "peasant revolution" could occur if land was not redistributed among the poor and homeless. Pheapimex won a concession from the government in 2000 to develop 316,000 hectares (780,836 acres) of mostly forested land in Pursat and neighboring Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. The company is closely connected to the government and has a reputation for flouting forestry regulations, according to Global Witness, a British non-governmental organization which has long monitored logging in Cambodia.
         Poorly planned and nearly unregulated logging is a major problem in Cambodia. The country's foreign aid donors - who supply most of the national budget - insist that the sector be reformed to stem corruption and maximize environmental and economic benefits.
         Villagers in Ansa Chambok have been protesting the project since at least 2001, saying that clearing the natural forest would hurt their livelihoods, depriving them of a major source of fruit and other nutrition, as well as firewood and building materials such as rattan and bamboo.
[Copyright 2004 The Associated Press]



LES SIX COMMANDEMENTS REFORMING OUR BUDDHISM ROMAN POLITIQUE KHMER GRAMMAR COURRI@L 2004
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