"Cambodia Security Forces Shoot Protesters Dead in Land Dispute", 8 March 2018

Authorities in Cambodia’s Kratie province…opened fire on a group of people protesting over a long-running land dispute with a rubber plantation, killing as many as eight people and injuring dozens of others, according to sources.

…Workers from the Memot Rubber Plantation and security forces burned down the huts and razed the farms of 300 villagers locked in a dispute over ownership of the land….

…Tin Pheak said…“As of now, I know that six people were killed and 40 injured. All the six dead are men. Some of those who were killed are from nearby villages.”

Tin Pheak stressed that the clash occurred after “the company sent authorities to demolish and burn down our houses.”

…The villagers were unarmed and only resorted to throwing sticks and stones at authorities after they opened fire.

“Had they not opened fire on us first, we would not have thrown anything at them….”

…Authorities offered a significantly different account…“There was no death toll and only two people were injured—one in his buttock and another one in his thigh—and they were sent to the hospital right away.”

The Kratie provincial government also released a press statement denying the claims and calling earlier reports “fake news.”