Four people were killed when Cambodian military police opened fire on garment factory workers marching to demand higher pay in a Phnom Penh industrial zone Jan. 3. Hours later, police dispersed a protest camp that supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party [8] (CNRP [9]) had maintained since mid-December in the city's Freedom Park. The move came as the government announced emergence measures barring public protests by the CNRP, which accuses the Hun Sen government of rigging elections held in July. The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP [10]) accused the CNRP of using the deadly street clash as a "pretext" to suspend talks over the impasse. The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Huamn Rights LICADHO [11] decired the police violence as "horrific." (AFP [12], AP [13], Jan. 4; Reuters [14], Xinhua [15], Jan. 3)
Villagers locked in a land dispute with CPP senator Ly Yong Phat's Phnom Penh Sugar Company meanwhile submitted a petition to a provincial court asking for a cessation of summonses and arrest warrants. The court has so far issued 37 summonses, including nine arrest warrants, to some of the 200 people involved in the dispute with the local tycoon, who accuses the villagers of illegally occupying land in Thpong district's Omlaing commune. Recent sugar company land-grabs [16] have led to a wave of rural unrest in Cambodia. (Phnom Penh Post [17], Dec. 31)
