16 October 2009 His Excellency Kep Chuktema Governor of Phnom Penh Phnom Penh Municipality 69, Preah Monivong Blvd. Phnom Penh Cambodia Reference: Threatened violation of housing rights of an estimated 400 families at Damnak Trayeung Dear Governor Kep Chuktema, The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) is an international human rights nongovernmental organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with offices throughout the world. COHRE works to promote and protect the right to adequate housing, including preventing and remedying forced evictions. COHRE is deeply concerned about the planned eviction of close to 400 families residing at the Damnak Trayeung relocation site who were illegally relocated to the site in January 2009 and are now threatened by forced eviction again. The families formerly lived at Dey Krahorm in central Phnom Penh, where they had market stalls or rented accommodation. They were illegally evicted from that site on 24 January 2009. No assistance has been provided to them at the relocation site, where families are living in temporary accommodation under tarpaulins and building material salvaged from Dey Krahorm. A legal analysis regarding the events of 24 January 2009 at Dey Krahorm is attached for your information. A notice dated 30 September 2009 from the District Governor of Dankor District announces that families have to leave the site by 15 October 2009 at the latest. The notice does not mention whether any assistance will be provided to families to enable them to find permanent, adequate housing. Attached to the notice, a letter from a private company, 7NG, recommends rented accommodations for the families at Damnak Trayeung. However, families report that they have not seen any evidence of the existence of such accommodation. The letter from 7NG further states that unless families agree to the offer of rented accommodation, they will be evicted from Damnak Trayeung and relocated to plots of land in Kandal. No further information is available to families about these plots of land. COHRE advises the Municipality of Phnom Penh that there exists under international law a framework for evictions in the rare instances when they are considered unavoidable. Any evictions that are not carried out in accordance with this framework are illegal. This framework should be used by the Royal Government of Cambodia, including the Municipality of Phnom Penh, because Cambodia has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Under international law Cambodia has an obligation to abide by the rules of the ICESCR, which include in Article 11(1) that “the States Parties to the present Covenant recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living [...], including housing.� The right to adequate housing and the framework for evictions are further specified in General Comments Nos. 4 and 7 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is mandated to monitor compliance with the Covenant. Based on General Comment No. 7, evictions can only be justified in highly exceptional circumstances and all feasible alternatives to eviction must
be explored in meaningful consultation with the persons affected. Such exceptional circumstances generally only exist where evictions are necessary in the public interest, not in the interest of a private company. Even in those rare cases where eviction is considered justified, it must be carried out in strict compliance with international human rights law and in accordance with general principles of reasonableness and proportionality. These include, inter alia:
Genuine consultation with those affected; Adequate and reasonable notice for all affected persons prior to the scheduled date of eviction; Information on the proposed evictions, and where applicable, on the alternative purpose for which the land or housing is to be used, to be made available in reasonable time to all those affected; Especially where groups of people are involved, government officials or their representatives to be present during an eviction; All persons carrying out the eviction to be properly identified; Evictions not to take place in particularly bad weather or at night unless the affected persons consent otherwise; Provision of legal remedies; and Provision, where possible, of legal aid to persons who need it to seek redress from the courts.
Under no circumstances should forced eviction render individuals homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights. This means that where an eviction can be carried out legally, authorities have an obligation to ensure that those evicted will have adequate alternative housing immediately after the eviction. Under no circumstances should the housing conditions of those evicted deteriorate as a result of the eviction. In light of the above, COHRE urges the Municipality of Phnom Penh to: 1. 2. 3.
Halt all plans to evict families at Damnak Trayeung until an adequate solution is found; Consult with the families currently living in temporary shelters at Damnak Trayeung about adequate housing solutions; On the basis of the consultation, jointly develop and implement a plan with community involvement to achieve adequate housing solutions for all families at Damnak Trayeung.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Yours sincerely,
Salih Booker Executive Director Please send your response to the address given above, or to cohreasia@cohre.org CC H.E. Mann Choeun Phnom Penh Deputy Governor H.E. Pay Siphan Council of Ministers H.E. Krouch Phan
Dankor District Governor Srey Chanthou Managing Director, 7NG Ms. Raquel Rolnik United Nations Special Adequate Housing
Rapporteur
on