Lao Farmers Block Chinese Developer From Surveying Land for Airport Project

A Chinese developer is moving to seize additional land from farmers in northern Laos for the construction of an international airport as part of a casino complex, according to the farmers who have prevented the developer from carrying out any survey work in the area.

The rare standoff last week marks the second time in three months that the rice farmers from Thonepheung district in Bokeo province stood firm as policemen armed with AK-47 assault rifles moved to enforce an order by the King Romans (Dok Ngiew Kham) Group to develop the land.

King Romans originally wanted to take 236 hectares (583 acres) from 46 farmer families in six villages in return for compensation well below market value, but last week the developer announced plans to extend the area required for the project by an additional six hectares (15 acres).

Angered by the potential loss of additional rice fields, the farmers on April 3 prevented King Romans officials from measuring out the new parcel of land under the protection of armed guards, villagers told RFA’s Lao Service recently.

They said that farmers angrily shouted: “Don’t measure! Don’t measure! Stop! Stop!” as the officials attempted to set up their equipment to survey the land.

While the confrontation occurred, villagers said, officials took pictures of the farmers, but would not allow themselves to be photographed, prompting one woman to ask, “Why do the officials have the right to take our photos?”

After a prolonged standoff during which the villagers refused to retreat, the situation was resolved when police and developer officials pledged to forgo the additional land confiscation, though the villagers said they remain on edge.

Citizen video of the standoff was posted on several social media sites after the confrontation, garnering support from sympathetic netizens.

Villagers said that officials are now working to get them to accept compensation for the original parcel of land by the start of the Lao New Year on April 13 and have been “keeping a close eye” on the farmers.

The 46 families have refused compensation from King Romans of around 100,000 Thai baht (U.S. $3,100) per rai (less than half an acre) of land, according to officials, and farmers contend that the rice fields to be taken for the project are valued at more than three times that amount.

The rice fields covering 235.6 hectares are part of 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) granted by Lao authorities to King Romans for the development of the airport, as well as golf courses and entertainment projects.

Inadequate compensation

Villagers told RFA that the compensation will not be enough for them to purchase the amount of farmland necessary to meet their needs, but that authorities have threatened those who do not accept the package with imprisonment.

“We need to get more compensation so that we can buy new plots of land, but the company and government officials do not accept our demands,” one villager told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Reasonable compensation needs to be made because the value of land never decreases,” he said.

Another villager, who also asked not to be named, said that the government was breaking the law in supporting King Romans’ interests, which center on the casino-driven Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project, almost exclusively catering to Chinese investors.

“Legally, rice field land must not be developed for other purposes, but the officials are flouting the law,” he said.

“It is not the people who are wrong, it is the officials.”

An official told RFA that the exact amount of compensation had not been settled yet.

“We have not paid compensation yet,” he said, adding, “We are measuring the area and collecting information and then we will compensate the villagers.”

Villagers have suggested that King Romans has pushed for district officials to move quickly on the airport land because Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, who has backed the project, is expected to retire next year.

They accused the local authorities of being on the company’s payroll and rewarded according to the amount of land they can secure.

SEZ project

The one-party Lao communist government in 2007 conceded to King Romans 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of land—3,000 hectares (7,410 acres) of which are dedicated to the SEZ—for 99 years, with the objective of promoting trade, investment, and tourism.

The SEZ, which is tax exempt, began construction in the early 2000s and now includes an international border checkpoint and river port, the King Romans Casino, hotels, and a Chinatown market with as many as 70 restaurants and shops selling a variety of retail goods.

Plans for the international airport project—which will affect the villages of Phonehom, Donmoun, Phiengyam, Mokkachok, Khouan and Sibouheung—were not made public until early 2013, after the Lao government signed a memorandum of understanding with the company.

In January, the farmers defied orders to vacate their land, standing in front of bulldozers sent to flatten their rice fields and forcing armed police deployed by King Romans to retreat.

According to sources, King Romans had attempted to clear the land in 2012 but the villagers resisted, although the police were not called in at that time.

Cambodian Court Convicts 13 Over 'Plot to Topple Government'

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A Cambodian court convicted 13 people of plotting to overthrow the government in a case slammed by rights groups as politically motivated and part of Prime Minister Hun Sen's strategy of using the judiciary to discredit the opposition.

The 13 were linked to a little-known Denmark-based group called the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF) whose "main goal is to create an armed force to topple the government," Judge Seng Neang of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said.

Only seven of the accused appeared in court while the others, including KNLF chief Sam Serey, were sentenced in absentia.

Sam Serey, a resettled Cambodian refugee who resides in Denmark, was sentenced to nine years in jail, while the others were handed sentences ranging from five to eight years.

The seven, some of whom were Buddhist monks at the time of their arrest in neighboring Thailand last year, protested the verdict, shouting in court that it was "unjust."

Bomb links

Judge Seng Neang said the KNLF had set up an armed force based in Thailand and planned to explode bombs at government buildings in Cambodia but the seven hit out at the court for arriving at the verdict without any evidence or witnesses.

The verdict was based on a one-day trial for the 13 who had been charged with “opposing the nation” by “treacherously plotting” to conduct insurrectionary attacks liable to endanger Cambodia’s state institutions or violate its national integrity.

“Yet during the trial no evidence of a crime committed by any of the accused was presented,” U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Thursday.

It noted that while the detainees were still under investigation, Hun Sen had spoken about the KNLF case at a campaign rally for his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in Prey Veng province.

Opposition links rejected

Hun Sen had alleged that “armed rebels” and “terrorists” — including organizers of the KNLF — were hiding within the main opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP).

The CNRP has denied any links to the 13 defendants.

“The conviction of any of these 13 defendants will not be proof of guilt but rather of Hun Sen’s control over Cambodia’s courts to weaken the opposition with false accusations,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“No one should be sentenced to prison to serve Hun Sen’s political agenda,” he said.

Crimes against humanity

Sam Serey, speaking to RFA’s Khmer Service from Denmark, rejected claims that his movement was involved in violence, saying it was mainly gathering documents to back charges against Hun Sen for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

“The front is working to liberate people to have freedom and democracy,” he said. “I am not surprised about the conviction because everything is so unjust for Cambodians.”

“Our goal is to seek justice based on international law. We want the international community to pressure the government to bring about freedom. We don’t use violence to topple the government.”

'Tortured'

Minority Rights Organization (MIRO) Director Ang Chanrith also questioned the conviction of the 13.

“Based on testimonies [of those present in court], they all rejected the confession document produced by the police. They said that they were tortured during questioning and police forced them to thumbprint their names against their confession,” he said.

He said that the court failed to prove that the KNLF was involved in any violent actions.

Date to be determined

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday that he and opposition leader Sam Rainsy had “agreed in principle” that the next election could be held five months early, in February 2018, but that Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy leader Kem Sokha was holding up a deal.
Rainsy, whose party called a press conference in response, denied that he had agreed to a February election date and rejected speculation that any rift had emerged between him and Sokha, who is currently in the United States.He added that without Sokha’s presence in Cambodia – he said the deputy leader could be out of the country for 10 more days – no agreement could be signed, dampening hopes that Rainsy and Hun Sen could ink a deal at the Royal Palace today.

“I would like to share some facts of the conversation [with Sam Rainsy]… We have agreed in principle to hold the next general election in February 2018, but Rainsy said he needed to consult with his deputy Kem Sokha,” the premier said yesterday at a ceremony for graduating students of the National Institute for Education, referring to a 45-minute phone conversation the pair had on Wednesday.“I told him to write this down: The commune election will be held in February 2017 and then the national election will be held in February 2018. This is in the draft [agreement], so [we] agreed together on this word already.”He was later informed by Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng that Sokha disagreed with the proposal, Hun Sen said.
“When the president agrees and the deputy president disagrees, I don’t understand.… Letting excellency Kem Sokha veto does not seem very good, [so] excellency Sam Rainsy should persuade excellency Kem Sokha 

“I told [Rainsy] that [he] is the president. So [he] should tell Kem Sokha not to be so obstinate.… If there is no agreement signed, it is not the fault of Hun Sen or the CPP or Sam Rainsy or his working group. It is the fault of Kem Sokha.”Hun Sen also threatened to release a recording of his conversation with Rainsy if the opposition denied his claims.“I have also reminded him please don’t make any statement which is different to what we have talked about.… If a wrong statement is issued, it will force me to leak a recording [of our conversation].”The premier then proceeded to play a brief segment of an audio recording, ostensibly of his phone conversation with Rainsy, in which the CNRP leader could be heard greeting Hun Sen for Khmer New Year.

CNRP deputy president Kem Sokha shakes hands with Prime Minister Hun Sen at the National Assembly last year. Heng ChivoanRainsy told reporters yesterday that his party had rejected a February 2018 election date in talks with Hun Sen because it was not early enough, adding that any deal made with the CPP would have to be agreed to and signed by both CNRP leaders.

“Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy are one person. So [the CNRP] cannot let Sam Rainsy do anything without Kem Sokha and cannot let Kem Sokha do anything without Sam Rainsy,” he said, brushing aside speculation that a rift had emerged between the two leaders over the election date.
“There is no way to split us in any way.”He added that his party would continue to push for an election at least a year earlier than currently scheduled.“They moved closer, earlier, by five months to February 2018, and we replied to them that this is not enough; we want the election to be earlier, at least one year earlier, because originally we asked for mid-term. Mid-term would be early 2016,” he said.

“February 2018 is still in 2018. So citizens do not agree, and I also cannot accept this.
“We have to make a compromise, if each party makes one step towards the other, we can find common ground, and I am still hopeful that in the very near future, in the coming days or weeks, we will reach that common ground.”On Wednesday, speaking via phone, Kem Sokha said he wanted an election in February 2016. But he added that both parties needed to be “flexible”.On that same day, Rainsy announced that he and Hun Sen had reached an agreement regarding a complete overhaul of the National Election Committee and the process by which its members are appointed.The CNRP and election watchdogs have long argued that NEC reform is needed for a future vote to be “free and fair”.

Both parties have remained tight-lipped as to any other aspects of what they have agreed on, aside from a possible television licence for the CNRP.Rainsy said yesterday that concessions such as the leadership of the National Assembly were “mentioned in the draft agreement”, and did not deny that he personally could replace Heng Samrin as assembly president.“I cannot confirm that, but I can tell you that this is not the point, this is not the stumbling block. The stumbling block now is the date of the election.”

Veteran political pundit Lao Mong Hay yesterday said that Hun Sen was trying to play “the divide and rule strategy” in implying that Sokha was holding back an agreement.
“If I were Sam Rainsy, I would tell Prime Minister Hun Sen: ‘Don’t poke your nose into our internal affairs. Mind your own business.'”He added that he did not think there was much validity to claims of internal discord, and, on the contrary to Hun Sen’s claims that Sokha was a hard-liner, “in the past, Kem Sokha used to be more subservient to the CPP”.“These days, perhaps, the CPP is [even] more divided than the CNRP,” he said.

Poor selling kidneys to pay off debt

Mr. Ho Van Tranh with the incision to take his kidney.

According to the authorities of Thanh Phu Commune, Co Do District, Can Tho City, in the past two years they have received dozens of applications from local people for kidney donations. The applicants are generally poor and have large debts.Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, a local official, says these people asked for the local government’s confirmation for kidney donation but in fact they sold their kidneys to strangers to have money to pay debt. In many cases, the local government only learned about the kidney donations after they had already been conducted.

After the Lunar New Year, Mr. Le Van Gion, a farmer in Hamlet 6 of Thanh Phu Commune, submitted his kidney donation application to the commune authorities. In the application, Gion said he would go to Hanoi to donate his kidney to a relative.“We did not confirm this petition, as well as other similar ones on kidney donation. But then Gion left home and he has not returned yet," Hoa says.According to Gion’s family, they do not know where he is and what he is doing because he has not contacted them since he left home. Previously, Gion used to leave home for a long time to do business."He left home because of the Lunar New Year. He had a conflct with someone in the commune. These people threatened to beat him,” Gion’s father explains.

In Hamlet 6, Mr. Ho Van Tranh, 43, donated a kidney for VND120 million ($6,000). Tranh says because of a debt he owes, he donated his kidney for money three months ago.
"The one who received my kidney is a man named Nguyen Quoc Loi, from HCM City, but I do not know his address. Loi helped me get a job when I was in HCM to avoid my creditors. He said both of his kidneys had failed and he was seeking a kidney donor. I took blood tests and our bloods are of the same type, so I gave him my kidney and he gave me some money,” Tranh says.
Tranh says he has not kept contact with Loi so he does not know Loi’s situation now. When he was in hospital after the surgery, some strangers told him to seek kidney sellers in his hometown to earn a commission.

Police begin investigation
On the day Tranh came home with the money from his sold kidney, his mother cried.
"If I had known about this, I would have stopped him from selling his kidney. He is very weak now. He cannot do anything arduous and his limbs keep trembling all the time," she says.
Says Tranh, "If I could do it again, I would not have donated my kidney. I would not encourage anyone to sell his kidney," Tranh says. He life now depends mainly on his wife.
Two years ago, Mr. Danh Lang, also in Hamlet 6, sold his kidney through a middleman for a price of VND150 million ($7,500).

"I paid the middleman VND5 million ($250). He took care of all the formalities. I only had to follow him to the hospital,” Danh Lang says.Since that day, Danh Lang’s health has deteriorated day by day. He spent all the money earned from his kidney and is now at risk of debt again because he needs money to treat his diseases.Not only Hamlet 6, but other hamlets of Thanh Phu Commune have many people selling their kidneys, but they have not let the local authorities know.
Responding to this apparent trend, the police of Co Do District launched an in
vestigation on April 8 to determine whether there is a criminal ring luring local people into selling their kidneys.
In a recent report to the Director of Can Tho City Police, Co Do District Police claimed to have identified at least eight locals who had sold their kidney. Each had received VND120 million. In particular, five people in the same family all sold their kidneys. However, all of them had fulfilled the legal formalities for kidney donation.

US urges countries to help Ukraine's economic rescue

He told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Ukraine's "sizeable financing needs" meant other nations must add to its $1bn (£597m, 720m euros) loan guarantee.
The appeal came as Ukraine's interim prime minister offered to devolve more powers to eastern regions.

Pro-Russian separatists there are defying the government.
Meanwhile, Washington on Friday announced a third round of sanctions against individuals it has linked to Russia's annexation of Crimea.The US Treasury said it had frozen the US-based assets of one former Ukrainian official, a Crimea-based energy firm and six Crimean leaders, including the chairman of the Crimea electoral commission and the mayor of Sevastopol. Immediate steps 'critical'
Mr Lew says the US is "bolstering the IMF program through a complementary aid package, which includes a $1bn loan guarantee and additional technical assistance," in a statement to the IMF.
"It is critical that the international community - multilateral development banks and bilaterals - take immediate steps to also support the IMF program by providing financing support, given the sizeable financing needs," he adds.

US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has described Russia's annexation of Crimea as "illegal and illegitimate"

The IMF announced a rescue package worth as much as $18bn last month in a bid to aid Ukraine's economy, and this has been bolstered to $27bn with contributions from Europe and the US.
In exchange, the IMF has demanded from Ukraine strict government spending cuts and tax increases.
Ukraine is being squeezed by Russia's decision this month to stop providing Ukraine with subsidised natural gas.
That discount had been agreed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's then President Viktor Yanukovych, in which Russia also said it would buy $15bn-worth of Ukrainian government bonds.

Interim Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk: "We've made an offer... but it's up to them [the separatists] to decide"

Separately on Friday, Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk offered to devolve more powers to the east of the nation and is holding talks with regional leaders in Donetsk, where activists demanding self-rule had occupied a government building.
The separatist protests in Ukraine's eastern cities follow Russia's annexation of Crimea last month - described as the biggest political confrontation in Europe since the end of the Cold War.
The IMF is also asking Ukraine to crack down on corruption and end central bank support for the Ukrainian currency.

Ukraine's new government has said it needs $35bn to pay its bills over the next two years.
Ukraine has not paid off its debt to Russian gas supplier Gazprom despite the passing earlier this week of a deadline for the nation to start reducing its debt. Gazprom says Ukraine owes it $2.2bn.
European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told Austria's ORF radio he was working on a plan to help Ukraine pay its gas bills to ensure its debts do not rise.
Gas supplies
 
On Friday, President Putin moved to assure the EU it would not cut off gas supplies. Brussels said it would stand with the new authorities in Kiev if the Kremlin carries out a threat to turn off the tap to Ukraine."I want to say again: We do not intend and do not plan to shut off the gas for Ukraine," Mr Putin said in televised comments at a meeting of his advisory Security Council, the Reuters news agency reported.

The EU says it can pump gas back to Ukraine using reverse-flow pipeline technology

Russia has turned off the gas tap to Ukraine before, in 2006 and 2009. As the 2009 row escalated, gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine were suspended for two weeks.
But Russia may be reticent about doing it again as it is dependent on revenue from EU customers.
The EU and US have imposed sanctions on a number of Russian and Ukrainian officials in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.

The US Treasury says its latest round of sanctions target the US-based assets of one former Ukrainian official, a Crimea-based energy firm and six Crimean leaders, including the chairman of the Crimea electoral commission and the mayor of Sevastopol.Talks between Russia, Ukraine, the US and the EU - the first four-way discussions since the crisis began - are scheduled to take place on 17 April in Geneva.