Open Letter to Cambodia: Drop charges against Mother Nature activists

H. E. Koeut Rith
Minister of Justice
No.14, Sothearos Blvd, Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.

5 June 2024,

Your Excellency,

Cambodia: Drop charges against Mother Nature activists

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is a global alliance of civil society organisations (CSOs) and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society worldwide. Founded in 1993, CIVICUS has over 15,000 members in 175 countries.

We are writing to you regarding the trial of 10 environmental rights defenders from the Mother Nature Movement that began at the Phnom Penh Capital Court on 29 May 2024. The activists face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The environmental activists include Yim Leanghy, Sun Ratha, and Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who are charged with insulting the King (Articles 437) and plotting (Article 453) of the Criminal Code. The remaining seven are charged with plotting, including Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea, Phuon Keoraksmey, Ly Chandaravuth, Binh Piseth, Rai Raksa, and Pork Khoeuy.Mother Nature activists June 2024

The charges of ‘plotting’ date back from 2012 to 2021 and cover a wide range of Mother Nature’s activism while the charges of insulting the King are linked to a leaked Zoom call from May 2021.

The Mother Nature Movement is an environmental group that focuses on defending and protecting Cambodia’s natural resources. They have raised issues around the filling-in of lakes in Phnom Penh, illegal logging and the destruction of natural resources across the country, and its members have faced repeated judicial harassment and imprisonment. The group was awarded the 2023 Right Livelihood award for their work, though the members facing charges were prevented by the court from travelling to Stockholm to receive the award in-person.

We believe their arrest and conviction is a clear attempt to stifle their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Cambodia is a party to. Under the ICCPR, the Government of Cambodia has human rights obligations to protect fundamental freedoms.

CIVICUS is also concerned about the use of ‘lese majeste’ provisions (Article 437) to criminalise human rights defenders. Such provisions are incompatible with Cambodia’s obligations under international human rights law, as they criminalise the legitimate exercise of freedom of speech, as highlighted by UN experts in 2018.

Further, human rights groups have noted that the language of Article 453 on ‘plotting’ is ambiguous. The article does not further specify the purposes for which this article may be used, which allows the authorities to use this article to restrict online expression and content for purposes beyond those permitted under the ICCPR. In actuality, Article 453 has been wielded to repress online expression.

Therefore, we urge your office take the following steps:

  • Drop all charges against the ten Mother Nature activists, immediately and unconditionally.
  • Halt the use of restrictive laws to criminalise human rights defenders and other activists.
  • Revise or repeal all provisions in the Criminal Code that criminalise exercise of fundamental freedoms in Cambodia.

Sincerely,

Mandeep S. Tiwana
Chief Officer – Evidence and Engagement
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

Cc:

  • H.E. Chea Leang, Prosecutor General of Cambodia
  • H.E. Keo Remy, Representative of Cambodia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)
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