A/HRC/45/56
Phnom Penh, Pursat and Preah Sihanouk Provinces. In one case, OHCHR negotiated the
postponement of a community’s eviction, and the subsequent granting of a social land
concession by local authorities to 31 affected families. In two other cases, one involving
1,000 forcibly evicted families in Kampong Thom Province, and the other involving 347
families at risk of eviction in Pursat Province on account of dam construction, local
authorities agreed to solve the land disputes and to provide compensation to evicted
families. As of May 2020, compensation had yet to be paid.
44.
OHCHR progressed its study of 17 resettlement sites in Cambodia, interviewing 43
per cent of an estimated 2,341 affected households. The study will be published in 2020,
together with draft guidelines on evictions and resettlement.
45.
In March 2020, OHCHR and Klahaan, a women’s rights organization, published six
fact sheets exploring the links between women’s economic, social and cultural rights and
violations of land and housing rights in Cambodia.23
46.
At the request of the Ministry of Justice, in November 2019, OHCHR held a training
of trainers for Department of Mediation and Local Justice staff in Phnom Penh. Organized
in partnership with civil society organizations, the training provided guidance on nonjudicial grievance settlement mechanisms, with a particular focus on gender-related land
rights disputes. OHCHR monitored and supported a mediation process in Mondulkiri
Province between the Socfin rubber company and Bunong indigenous peoples’
communities. The mediation, which started in 2017, has addressed traditional land granted
to the company as an economic land concession. With the support of OHCHR, most land
disputes relating to collective areas have been resolved and will be included in the
communities’ applications for communal land titling.
47.
In July 2019, OHCHR organized a training programme on responsible business
conduct and access to non-judicial remedies for local civil society organizations. Held in
cooperation with development partners the Interchurch Organization for Development
Cooperation, the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, and Action Aid, the training
addressed national and international non-judicial grievance mechanisms.
48.
Supported by an OHCHR sub-grant, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights
completed its project on promoting human rights standards in the business and land sectors
in December 2019. The project produced 21 awareness-raising tools on business and human
rights, including leaflets, fact sheets and infographics, and hosted 12 radio shows. It
provided four training programmes on business and human rights for State officials,
lawyers and private sector representatives.
49.
These developments aside, the Government is yet to develop a national action plan,
and adherence to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by the public or
private sectors remains relatively limited.
B.
Access to land for indigenous peoples
50.
OHCHR worked with the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and
Construction, the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Environment, local authorities, the
World Bank and civil society organizations to support efforts by indigenous peoples to
secure collective land titles.
51.
OHCHR continued to advocate for the simplification of the collective titling
process. Since the adoption, in 2009, of sub-decree No. 83 on the registration procedures
for the land of indigenous communities, 151 indigenous communities have had their
indigenous identities recognized, which is the first step in the process. Another 131
indigenous communities have progressed to the second step of the process, by being
23
10
See https://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Promotional-materialssoft/ESC%20rights%20and%20land%20rights%20violations%20OHCHR%20Klahaan%202020compressed.pdf.
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