GLOBAL DILIGENCE PARTNER PARTICIPATES IN EU PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON LAND GRABBING On 5 November Global Diligence partner, Richard J Rogers, met in Brussels with officials from the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission to discuss the ICC Communication relating to Cambodia. Later that day the Communication was debated in the European Parliament. The Communication – which was filed on 7 October – alleges that the Cambodian Ruling Elite committed crimes against humanity against the Cambodian civilian population. The bulk of the allegations relate to crimes committed in furtherance of land grabbing, which has been orchestrated by state actors and implemented by police, gendarmes and military. Civil society organisations estimate that 770,000 people have been adversely affected by land grabbing since 2000; a significant proportion of the victims have already been forcibly transferred from their land or homes. During the debate before the European Parliament‘s Human Rights Sub-Committee, the Vice-Chair, Barbara Lochbihler MEP, asked the EEAS to comment on how it intends to deal the ICC Communication when addressing Cambodian counterparts. The EEAS representative assured the Committee that “those kind of accusations of crimes against humanity and raising it to the ICC we take it very seriously and will continue to look at it very seriously.” The representative of the European Commission stated that land grabbing was “a very important issue worldwide” and that the ICC Communication was “a very interesting initiative”. A guest panellist added that she “obviously welcomes the fact that now a case has been brought against the [Cambodian] Ruling Elite specifically on land grabbing…” At the request of the Committee Chairwoman, Rogers intervened to provide further detail on the ICC Communication.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:58:18 +0000
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