Calls for the immediate release of Mother Nature Cambodia activists after court sentences them to prison

“A further blow to Cambodia’s environmental movement.”

On 2 July 2024, a Phnom Penh court sentenced ten environmental activists from Mother Nature Cambodia to between six and eight years in prison. They were charged under Article 453 of the Criminal Code for plotting against the state.

Three of the activists received eight year sentences because they were also convicted of insulting Cambodia’s King, Norodom Sihamoni. They were also fined US$2,500.

Reuters reports that,

The verdict comes amid growing concerns about freedom of expression in Cambodia under Prime Minister Hun Manet, who took power last year after the decades-long rule of his father, Hun Sen.

BBC reports that “Prosecutors have never explained how the activists had violated the law against insulting the king or conspiring against the government.”

The court issued arrest warrants for all 10 individuals. Four activists were surrounded by at least 50 police officers and security personnel outside the court. The activists were forced into police vehicles.

The German NGOs Rainforest Rescue, Stiftung Asienhaus and FIAN have set up a petition for the release of the activists. More than 96,000 people have signed on:

“Justice is dead”

Before they were arrested, the activists led a funeral-style procession, dressed in white — the traditional colour of mourning in Cambodia. Thun Ratha, one of the activists, carried a sign reading “justice is dead”. About 50 people joined the procession.

Mother Nature Cambodia’s activists have face harassment, threats and criminal charges for several years. They stopped the construction of a hydropower dam in the Areng Valley through non-violent direct action and social media campaigns. Mother Nature Cambodia has 459,000 followers on Facebook.

They have also campaigned against deforestation, sand mining in Koh Kong province, for the protection of Koh Kong Krao island, and against the effluent and sewage pollution of water bodies in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. They have also challenged corruption and human rights abuses, as well as supporting democracy.

Mother Nature Cambodia was founded in 2012. One of its founders was Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spanish national who was deported in 2015. He is banned from returning to Cambodia.

In 2017, the government cancelled Mother Nature Cambodia’s registration as a non-governmental organisation. Its members promised to continue their activism.

International outcry

In 2023, Mother Nature Cambodia won the Right Livelihood Award. The Award was given to Mother Nature Cambodia,

For their fearless and engaging activism to preserve Cambodia’s natural environment in the context of a highly restricted democratic space.

Right Livelihood “strongly condemns” the sentencing of the Mother Nature Cambodia activists and calls for the “immediate release of the arrested activists and urges the Cambodian authorities to respect and uphold human rights and environmental justice”. 

In a statement about the court verdict, Human Rights Watch writes that,

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, like his father, former Prime Minister Hun Sen, has repeatedly ignored calls by United Nations experts to address the closing space for civil society and human rights defenders. Development partners and others who invest in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment for Cambodia should call on the government to quash these verdicts and support genuine freedom of expression and association.

Licadho, a Cambodian human rights group, describes the verdict as “very disappointing. ABC News reports a Licadho spokesperson as saying that,

“Today, the court has ruled that youth activists fighting for environmental protections and democratic principles are in effect acting against the state. It is astounding that Cambodian authorities are convicting youth activities who are advocating for clean water in Phnom Penh, protecting mangrove forests in Koh Kong and warning against the privatisation of land in protected areas and presenting it as an attack against the state.”

Amnesty International describes the conviction as “a further blow to Cambodia’s environmental movement”. In a press release, Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, says,

“Today’s decision is another crushing blow to Cambodia’s civil society. Mother Nature Cambodia is a renowned activist group that has brought attention to environmental degradation fuelled by long-standing corruption in the country.  

“Instead of listening to young leaders at the forefront of the environmental movement, the Cambodian government has chosen to jail those that dare to speak out.

“The government has shown time and time again that it will not tolerate any dissent. This verdict is yet another sign that Cambodia’s government has no intention of protecting the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

“Cambodian authorities must release all these environmental defenders immediately and unconditionally.”

The UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan says in a statement that,

We are gravely concerned by the conviction and harsh sentencing, from six to eight years in prison, of 10 Cambodian environmental activists on charges, including lèse majesté.

Our monitoring of the proceedings raises concerns that many aspects of the trial procedure may not have complied with international human rights standards binding on Cambodia.

The increasing use by Cambodian authorities of lèse majesté and other articles of Cambodia’s criminal code to penalise the exercise of human rights is deeply worrying.

We call for the case to be reviewed on appeal in line with international human rights law. We also urge the authorities to review the charges brought against these environmental activists, particularly in relation to six of them who were minors at the time the acts were allegedly committed.

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