ICC focus on land grabs may turn attention to Cambodia

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AA) – The release of a new policy paper on case selections at the International Criminal Court (ICC) could “open the door” for further consideration of a two-year-old complaint in which Cambodia’s ruling elite are accused of crimes against humanity for their part in widespread illegal land grabs.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda issued a new policy paper on case selection and prioritization Thursday, which she said would provide “clear and transparent guidelines” to her office when cases are brought to it.

In her paper, the prosecutor, listed a number of crimes -- among them land grabbing -- committed under national laws that her office stands ready to assist in investigating further.

Bensouda then said “particular consideration” would be given to prosecuting crimes in which there has been an “illegal dispossession of land”.

In October 2014, a “Communication” was put before Bensouda’s office by Global Diligence lawyer Richard J Rogers, which accused Cambodia’s ruling elite of having “illegally seized and reallocated millions of hectares of valuable land from poor Cambodians for exploitation”.

It said an estimated 770,000 Cambodians had been affected by their “kleptocracy”.

At the time of its filing, Rogers alleged that these crimes against humanity were perpetuated from July 2002 to the present day.

Last year, he filed supplementary documents alleging that the land-grabbing “frenzy” continued unabated, and now affected 830,000 people.

He told Anadolu Agency in an email late Thursday that while there has been “no decision yet” from Bensouda’s office as to whether or not she will proceed with the case, he is expecting to hear about it “soon”.

In an earlier email, he welcomed Bensouda’s new policy paper, which “signalled that she will no longer stand by as kleptocratic dictatorships and businesses commit mass human rights violations in the name of profit”.

“This new focus will help close the impunity gap for international crimes committed during peacetime, and open the door for the case filed on behalf of Cambodian victims against Cambodia’s ruling elite,” Rogers said.

Council of Ministers Phay Siphan had told Anadolu Agency last year after the new documents were filed that land grabs were “not a policy of the government” and that it would not be tolerated “at all from a policy standpoint”.