On the one-year anniversary of the arrest of five Mother Nature environmental defenders, CIVICUS expresses concern over their continued imprisonment and its implications for civic freedoms in Cambodia. In the letter below, we urge your office to quash their convictions, release them unconditionally, and end the misuse of restrictive laws against human rights defenders.
H. E. Koeut Rith
Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister
No.14, Sothearos Blvd, Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.
Your Excellency,
Cambodia: Release Mother Nature environmental activists from jail
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 case of five jailed environmental rights defenders from the Mother Nature Movement. The five - Long Kunthea (27), Ly Chandaravuth (25), Phuon Keoreaksmey (24), Thun Ratha (33) and Yim Leanghy (35) – were sentenced a year ago, on 2 July 2024, to six to eight years in prison for ‘plotting against the government (Article 453) and with ‘insulting the King’ (Articles 437). The charges stem from Mother Nature Movement’s public activism since 2012.
The five activists were sent to prisons hundreds of kilometres away from their residences and families, in contravention of international standards around the treatment of prisoners. The activists are currently appealing their convictions. The Phnom Penh Appeals Court denied them bail in February 2025 while in April 2025, they were denied bail again by the Supreme Court.
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.
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.
As noted by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Article 437 on ‘insulting the King’ is ‘incompatible with Cambodia’s obligations under international human rights law, as they criminalise the legitimate exercise of freedom of speech’.
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.
CIVICUS is concerned that their conviction highlights a wider pattern of repression by the Cambodian government under Prime Minister Hun Manet which continues to stifle activism and civic space in the country by targeting activists and the political opposition
Therefore, we urge your office take the following steps:
- Quash the convictions and release all five 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,
Reylynne Dela Paz
Advocacy & Campaigns Lead
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Cc:
- E. Keo Remy, Representative of Cambodia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)
- Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
