1. George W. Cooper
georgecooper@hotmail.com;
+85512244993; born 21 Jan 1948; licensed
US attorney since 1979
Work History
Senior Attorney, Mekong Region, Inclusive Development International (IDI)
and Equitable Cambodia (EC) (Jan 2016 – present)
This involves casework in the fields of land rights and natural resources on behalf
of large groups of poor Cambodians against multinational companies and
development agencies. IDI and EC are non-profit organizations. I’m based in
Cambodia. I coordinate with attorneys in other countries when IDI/EC court
cases take place there. At times I lead in drafting Cambodia documents for those
cases. I advise and at times lead in document drafting for dispute resolution
proceedings that take place in international organizations. I advise on court
cases that take place in Cambodia. I advise on miscellaneous other legal issues
as well. I work half-time. (As a volunteer I also help ordinary people and various
other organizations including orphanages with miscellaneous legal needs.)
Legal Advisor, GIZ Land Rights Program in Cambodian Ministry of Land
Management, Urban Planning & Construction (MLMUPC) (2009 – June
2016)
This involved advising an administrative court concerned with land cases called
the Cadastral Commission, supporting indigenous peoples’ land titling, providing
information on land rights to a variety of organizations and people outside of GIZ
and MLMUPC, assisting with legal aid to poor urban communities, assisting
MLMUPC to draft legal texts, advising GIZ on human rights, and in general
working on tenure security issues of the poor. (As a volunteer during this time I
also helped various organizations including NGOs and orphanages as well as
ordinary people with miscellaneous legal needs.)
Board Chairman, Cambodia Defenders Project (Oct 2009 – Sept 2010)
This is a Cambodian legal aid NGO that did a wide
variety of criminal and civil cases on behalf of the poor.

2. Senior Legal Advisor GTZ Land Management Project in Cambodian
Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning & Construction (MLMUPC)
(2002 – 2007)
My main responsibility was to help set up and run the Cadastral Commission
which is an administrative court for land cases.
Legal Representative and Advisor for Families of Murder Victims (2002 –
2007)
I represented or helped Cambodian lawyers represent victims' families in all four
murder/kidnap cases against former Khmer Rouge (KR) commanders done in
the regular courts of Cambodia (as distinct from the special court set up to try top
KR leaders). I represented victims' families in other Cambodia murder cases as
well. In addition during this period I advised NGOs and orphanages on
miscellaneous legal matters, I helped them with fundraising, and I helped many
ordinary Cambodians with legal, health and financial problems.
Advisor to Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC) (1998 – 2002)
This is a legal aid NGO that did a wide variety of criminal and civil cases on
behalf of the poor. I found funds for and help set up a land unit which specialized
in large cases on behalf of the poor against various powerful people. I also found
money for a labor unit that mainly represented unions, and a children’s unit that
represented children involved with the legal system. I helped hire, train and
mentor Cambodian lawyers and legal assistants. I advised on the administration
of LAC, I helped six LAC employees go to the US for advanced university
degrees or internships. I commented on and helped draft laws and rules of the
Cambodian government including what became the 2001 Land Law. I helped
many ordinary Cambodians with legal, health and financial problems.
Occasional brief volunteer work while traveling in Asia (1996 – 1997)
In particular this consisted of teaching English in Viet Nam, helping a community
service organization in Bangkok apply for an award, and working in Mother
Teresa’s homes for the dying in Calcutta, India.
Private attorney including on major environmental and tenants’ rights
cases in US state of Hawaii (1986 – 1995)

3. Most importantly this involved representing the Waiahole-Waikane Community
Association to successfully oppose the creation of a golf course on conservation
land in Waikane, and negotiating long-term leases for association members to
land in Waiahole that they had long lived on and farmed. It also involved
assisting with a case against a large Canadian metals company—today called
Cominco Resources—that dumped hazardous waste near a beach in Hawaii.
Licensed private investigator, US state of Hawaii (1987 – 1988)
Co-Author of book Land and Power in Hawaii: The Democratic Years
(1985)
See New York Times December 31, 1985. This book has sold 36,000 copies, is
still in print and widely referenced. (A chapter in a book published in 2009
consisted of a short biography of me that described much of my work listed
above that took place before the book’s publication. The book is Bangkok
Babylon: The Real Life Exploits of Bangkok’s Legendary Expatriates are Often
Stranger than Fiction, by Jerry Hopkins. I was similarly included in a book
published in 1987 entitled Autobiography of Protest in Hawaii by Robert and
Anne Mast.)
Private attorney in Hawaii (1979 – 1980)
KIVM Hawaii Radio news reporter/announcer (1973 – 1975)
Wrote for The Garden Island Newspaper, in Hawaii (1974 – 1975)
Community Organizer in Hawaii (1971 – 1978)
I helped local communities resist mass eviction and development that would also
reduce farmland and damage the natural environment and historic sites. These
communities were mainly the Niumalu-Nawiliwili Tenants Association, the Ohana
‘o Maha’ulepu and the Kilauea Agricultural Association.
Teaching assistant and co-instructor University of Hawaii environmental
courses (1971 – 1972)

4. Education
University of Hawaii Richardson Law School juris doctor degree (JD). While in
law school I wrote two papers on corruption in Hawaii that were published in the
Honolulu Star Bulletin newspaper. (1975 – 1978)
Holy Cross College, Massachusetts, US, BA degree cum laude in political
science. In 1968-1969 I participated in a world study tour with the International
Honors Program and later I contributed a chapter to a book that resulted from the
tour. The book is called The Young Internationalists (1969). (1966 – 1970)
References
Gavan Daws PhD, FAHA
Emeritus Professor of Pacific and South East Asian History, Institute of
Advanced Studies, Australian National University
wotsup@hawaiiantel.net
(USA) 808 988 9613
(Co-author with me of book Land and Power in Hawaii.)
Lou McGrath OBE
Retired Chief Executive, Mines Assistance Advisory Group (MAG) International
Nobel Peace Prize medalist and currently CEO of Find a Better Way (FBW).
(UK) +44 (0) 1565 757 793 (FBW main phone number)
(I represented the father of a man employed by MAG who was murdered by the
Khmer Rouge.)
(Updated 26 September 2016)