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In defense of land rights: A monitoring report on land conflicts in six Asian countries
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Lack of consultation and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), leading
to overlapping claims on land where the indigenous peoples and local
communities have no legal or written documents to prove their ownership;
Irregularities in granting land concessions in the name of development for
poverty reduction;
Land use of local communities not legally recognized by government;
Poor law enforcement;
Corporations do not apply UNGP BHR principles;
Overlaps among ministries managing land issues in Cambodia (Ministry
of Land Management, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, and
Ministry of Environment, etc.);
Unfair, inequitable and non-transparent land conflict resolution;
External pressure and limited access information on the part of rural
communities, making them unsuccessful in claiming their rights; and,
Increasing number of land title applications, causing overlapping claims
between the rich/military and poor/communities.
Policies on land, and investments
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On ELCs and indigenous peoples’ rights. Articles 23 to 28 of the 2001
Land Law grants indigenous’ peoples the right to collective ownership.
Article 23 defines an indigenous community as “a group of people that
resides in the territory of the Kingdom of Cambodia whose members
manifest ethnic, social and cultural and economic unity and who practice
a traditional lifestyle, and who cultivate the lands in their possessions
according to customary rules of collective use.” In addition, international
human rights law regards self-identification as an important criterion (ILO
Convention No. 169).
Other than residential land, Article 25 of the 2001 Land Law explicitly
specifies that lands actually cultivated and as well as land reserved
for shifting cultivation required by agricultural methods practiced by
indigenous people and recognized by the administrative authorities.
This is also confirmed by Article 6 of the Sub-Decree on Procedures of
Registration of Land of Indigenous Communities, which also recognizes
indigenous rights to collective ownership of spiritual forest land and burial
ground forest land (cemeteries)4, located on State Public Land.
ANGOC
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Land use. The 2002 Forestry Law is relevant to indigenous peoples in
terms of user and tenure rights of communities. In addition to indicating
rules for shifting cultivation areas (Article 37, Forestry Law), this law
One or more plots for each community with a limit of seven hectares in total size.
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