"Human Rights Violations in Koh Kong Sugar Plantation Confirmed by Thai Human Rights Commission", 3 Jun 2015

Hundreds of villagers were evicted when their land was illegally confiscated in 2006 to make way for a 19,100 hectare sugar plantation in Sre Ambel, Koh Kong Province, Cambodia. Almost a decade after the forced evictions, a long-awaited final report by the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) has recognized the human rights violations at the plantation...The sugar plantation is operated by politically-connected Cambodian companies, controlled by Thai sugar giant Khon Kaen Sugar Ltd. (KSL), which had an exclusive sales contract with Tate & Lyle Sugars (T&L)...The report...finds that KSL bears the responsibility for human rights violations due to its decision to receive and benefit from the land concession which resulted in these violations, even if the company did not itself commit the abuses...The final report confirms those preliminary findings, stating that the land grab was in violation of the right to life, the right to self-determination, including the right to manage and benefit from natural resources, and the right to development...