With land grabbing fast becoming one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, the International Criminal Court has st

With land grabbing fast becoming one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, the International Criminal Court has started to recognize that the guise of economic development can mask many crimes against humanity. Indeed, environmental destruction, illegal seizure of land, and the illegal exploitation of natural resources can all have devastating effects on people’s right to a healthy, safe and dignified life.

On 7 October 2014, as a partner of Global Diligence LLP, I filed a Communication (similar to a “complaint”) on behalf of Cambodian victims before the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The Communication requested the Prosecutor to investigate the mass crimes associated with the land grabbing frenzy that has plagued Cambodia for the past 20 years. We contended in the document that an estimated 850,000 people have been adversely affected by land conflicts, with 300-400,000 already evicted from their land; in Phnom Penh alone around 145,000 have been displaced. Those who resisted eviction have been driven out by tear gas, batons, and live ammunition. Some have been killed, raped, brutally beaten, and imprisoned on false charges. The indigenous minority population, due to their particular dependence on and cultural attachment to their land, has been disproportionately affected.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights/richard-j-rogers/icc-will-investigate-environmental-destruction-as-well-as-war-crim?utm_source=Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dd6f751423-WEEKLY_NEWSLETTER_MAILCHIMP&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6e23da4aab-dd6f751423-407229149