Cambodia: Arrests of Land Rights Activists Doubled in 2012

Arrests of Land Rights Activists Doubled in 2012 – cambodiadaily.com, January 25, 2013
…Mr. Soveth said authorities ar­rested 201 land activists and protesters last year, which is more than double the 98 they arrested in 2011, and higher than any year on record since 2007.
“It’s a confrontation between the government and the people, rather than between the people and the private companies,” he said. “The government tries to protect the companies.”
Among those arrested last year was Tep Vanny, along with a doz­en other fellow residents of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood. Ms. Vanny became one of a group known as the “Boeng Kak 13” when the municipal court convicted them in May after a summary trial for peacefully pro­testing against their evictions…