Arrested last year with two of his fellow environmental activists, Thun Rotha barely saw her baby, who is now 14 months old.
“He was arrested when our son was six months old,” Rotha’s wife Pat Raksmey told Al Jazeera.
“It’s a campaign to denigrate the powerful. He didn’t incite anyone. He questions those in power.
Rotha is one of three members of the environmental NGO Mother Nature who were arrested in 2020 after organizing a march to the home of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to express concern over a plan to fill the largest lake. of Phnom Penh, Boeung Tamok and to develop the site.
Filed in court last week, Rotha, 29, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for “inciting to commit a crime or disturbing social order” and fined $ 1,000, while her two colleagues from female, 22 years old, Long Kunthea and 19 years old. Old Phuong Keo Raksmey was sentenced to 18 months in prison and the same fine after being found guilty of the charges. The conditions take into account the time already served.
Their treatment has been condemned by the United Nations, as well as local and international NGOs, which have urged the government to release the three from prison immediately and unconditionally.
Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, called the condemnation of the activists “shameful”.
This “reinforces the government’s enduring policy of reducing civic space and dissenting voices,” she said.
“The verdict also shows how the court is unable and unwilling to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms that the government has voluntarily accepted,” she added.
“I am concerned about the growing trend of prosecuting human rights defenders in Cambodia since July 2020.”
Defending the “ common good ”
Two other activists were also convicted in absentia on the same charge, the court having ordered their arrest.
Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spanish national and founder of Mother Nature, expelled from the country in 2015, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, while Chea Kunthin, who is in hiding, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a fine of 1000 dollars.
“These young people were arrested for trying to protect the largest lake in Phnom Penh and preserve it for current and future generations,” said Naly Pilorge, director of LICADHO, the largest human rights NGO in Cambodia. , who provided legal support to activists. “These conservationists have suffered for too long and we call on the authorities to release them from overcrowded prisons so that they can reunite with their families and communities.
Boeung Tamok covers around 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) in the Cambodian capital and not only plays an important role in flood protection, but also provides income or food for hundreds of families.
In recent years, however, the government has transferred more than 500 hectares (1,236 acres) of the lake to public institutions and private companies – some with political ties – for development, according to sub-decrees cited by local media Voice. of Democracy.
Mother Nature’s arrests are part of an ongoing government crackdown on all forms of dissent – from protest to activism and formal opposition politics. The government accused some protesters and opposition members of trying to overthrow the government by causing a “color revolution”.
Development has engulfed lakes and wetlands in Phnom Penh, forcing thousands to leave their homes [File: Kith Serey/EPA]
Since July last year, the UN and LICADHO have documented the arrests of at least 24 human rights activists and, although some have been released, they say more than 10 remain in detention. Among those arrested are monks, rappers, a union leader and members of the political opposition, who have criticized the government.
Gonzalez-Davidson created Mother Nature in 2013 to help local communities organize peacefully to protect their lands and speak out against wrongdoing. Their first campaign was against a hydroelectric dam project in the Areng Valley in the country’s remote west.
He says he and his team had been concerned for their safety from the very beginning, but will not be disheartened.
“After so many years of being at least partially on the defensive, one becomes more daring and more resilient, and even more resolute in the fight for a better country, a country where the country’s few natural resources are in fact protected,” not destroyed for the benefit of a small elite, ”he told Al Jazeera, calling the arrests and sentencing“ a reaction to those who are ready to defend the common good ”.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said members of Mother Nature, along with other activists, were arrested simply for reporting abuse by officials.
“The government sees Mother Nature as a troublesome whistleblower who denounces corruption and government misdeeds, especially on projects with crony capitalists who destroy the environment and the livelihoods of local populations,” a- he declared.
“Mother Nature defends human rights and organizes communities to assert their opposition to harmful projects, and the government does not want to face this kind of pressure. So, they attack Mother Nature because they think that if they stop the NGO activists, the affected villagers will not be brave enough to continue their resistance.
‘An admirable job’
Since 2003, developers have filled more than 60 percent of Phnom Penh’s lakes and more than 40 percent of its main wetlands, according to Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, a Cambodian rights group.
Tep Vanny, pictured on the sand-filled Boeung Kak Lake, led her community to protest the site’s development plans. She has been arrested and jailed several times [File: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP]
The most publicized case has been in Boeung Kak, once the city’s largest lake, where thousands of people were forcibly evicted from their homes after the area was given to a politically connected company in 2007 and filled in. sand.
Opposition to the plan has sparked regular protests. Dozens of Beoung Kak community leaders, including well-known activist Tep Vanny, have been repeatedly arrested and jailed for protesting for their rights.
Pradeep Wagle, the representative of the Cambodia office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which has monitored and documented arrests and human rights violations in Cambodia, says his office has learned that 17 people, including six women, affiliated with human rights and community based organizations have been accused of criminal offenses since 2020.
He noted that international human rights norms and standards are binding on Cambodia and that “human rights work does not and should not in itself constitute a criminal offense”.
“We therefore urge the government to be vigorous in its efforts to ensure that people are not prosecuted for human rights work. We also urge the government to ensure that the right to fair and impartial justice is respected at all times. “
Ministry of Justice and Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) spokesman Chin Malin said the criticism amounted to a political attack on the government and said the courts were independent.
“Sentencing is the decision of the court,” said Malin. “There are reasons and facts to accuse them.”
“To help all these activists [they] must join the legal process, which means they must provide testimony and evidence for them to be acquitted. “
“Criticisms and political statements have no effect on the court and it is not the legal way to protect the accused.”
Environment Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra declined to comment on the case.
“The ministry of [environment] has no comment on the court ruling, ”he said.
Pat Raksmey and her husband had long expected her arrest given the sensitivities surrounding environmental activism in Cambodia.
Prominent environmental activist Chut Wutty killed while investigating illegal logging in remote western Cambodia [File: Samrang Pring/Reuters]
Gonzalez-Davidson was kicked out after the government was forced to abandon its hydroelectric projects for the Areng Valley in the face of huge opposition.
Other activists have suffered intimidation, or worse. Leng Ouch, who received the Goldman Prize for his work exposing illegal logging, has been arrested and detained at least twice in as many years.
Chut Wutty, another prominent activist, was shot dead by military police while investigating the illegal timber trade in 2012.
Raksmey describes her husband’s conviction as “very unfair”.
“They are not guilty,” she said, calling for his release. “Not only my husband, but all the young people who work to protect the environment.
“These young people should be commended and honored and not unfairly condemned on this subject.”
While the outlook for her family looks bleak, Raksmey says she would have no qualms about supporting her son if he decides to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“In the future, if my son enjoys environmental work, I will leave it and encourage him to do it,” she said. “We know we can’t live without nature, so protecting the environment is admirable work.”
