"Surprisingly, today it appears that the confrontation is no longer between

the head of government, the opposition party and human rights activists but is rather

between the head of government and Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh, top leader

of the coalition government."

"...it is clear that non-CPP parties are becoming increasingly divided while

the CPP keeps on strengthening. The lack of balance between the opposition parties

and the ruling party is very worrying and could lead to a situation with no checks

and balance of power and no progress towards democracy in Cambodia."

"Land dispute is spreading and is becoming a complicated social issue. In 2006,

Adhoc alone received 450 cases of land disputes compared to 335 cases in 2005, which

represents an increase of 34 percent."

- Human Rights Situation Report 2006, Adhoc

"Hun Sen continued to consolidate this power through strategic weakening or

co-optation of his coalition partner, Funcinpec, and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.

He ordered the dismissal or forced the resignation of dozens of Funcinpec officials

and parliamentarians."

"Opposition leader Sam Rainsy's reconciliation with his former foe Hun Sen led

to a noticeable decline in his party's traditional role as government watchdog and

advocate for the poor."

"The rural poor continued to lose their land to illegal concessions controlled

by foreign firms, senators, and people with connections to government officials."

"The courts -widely viewed as corrupt and incompetent-continue to be used to

advance political agendas, silence critics, and strip people of their land."

-Human Rights Watch's 2006 report on Cambodia

"The highest number of cases investigated by CCHR is related to land issues,

specifically land grabbing. The facts presented in the land grabbing cases showed

that there are different types of land grabbing incidents. These incidents are classified

into: land grabbing involving military; land grabbing involving private companies/organizations

in collusion with local officials; land grabbing arising from the national government

granting an agricultural economic concession; and land grabbing arising from urban

'development' and usually incorporating 'land swapping'."

"The patterns presented in the statistics of CCHR suggest that there is a continued

occurrence and deterioration of the human rights situation in Cambodia. The changes

in the number of cases over time do not indicate substantial efforts on the part

of the government to curb the commission of human rights violations perpetrated by

people under the control of the government.... Therefore, the government should seriously

consider taking positive measures to curb these violations rather than keep on negating

the validity of these realities."

- Cambodian Center for Human Rights, Human Rights Situation in Cambodia