The Khmer Movement for Democracy (KMD) condemns the prison sentences of between six and eight years handed down to 10 young Mother Nature activists by a court in Phnom Penh.

The convicted are guilty of nothing more than trying to highlight environmental issues such as illegal deforestation, sand dredging, waste discharge into rivers and lake destruction which undermine Cambodia’s fragile environment. Four of the activists were immediately arrested outside the court.

Six of the accused have already served prison time for environmental activism before being released in November 2021. The sentences show that nothing has changed in Cambodia under Hun Manet and that repression has in fact intensified.

The Hun Manet regime is unable to allow any form of open public discussion, and his government is unable to carry out any kind of positive reform. Donor countries and the United Nations must now realize that they are dealing with a rogue regime which simply feeds off the funding and the legitimacy which it has been afforded.  

As former US ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy stated, “documenting pollution is a public service, not terrorism. We urge authorities to be responsive to its citizens, not to silence them.” Words now are not enough. Donor funding to Cambodia is simply feeding an unaccountable partner.  International legitimacy simply gives the regime the confidence to extend its destruction of civil society and any element of a democratic system vital for sustainable development and peace.

Both funding and legitimacy for the regime must be suspended until Cambodia meets minimum standards on human rights. There is no way that any proposed corporate investment in Cambodia would make it through the kind of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) screening process used by major multinational companies.

The government-controlled judiciary is regularly ranked as one of the most corrupt and least independent in the world. The court was too scared to hold a public trial. Media and supporters of the accused were prevented from entering the court. The justice system is being weaponized to intimidate the population into silence on environmental issues, just as it has been used to end political opposition to the regime, and undermine free trade unions and media.

Most countries would be proud to have an organization such as Mother Nature Cambodia. The organization was given a major international award for its work by Right Livelihood in 2023. Members of the group facing legal action were prevented by Cambodia’s courts from travelling to Sweden to receive the award in person. The persecution of Mother Nature members violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which obliges the protection of fundamental freedoms, and to which Cambodia is a signatory.

The sentences are a disaster for Cambodian environmentalism and for people everywhere who care about the future of the planet. The most damaging aspects of the sentences are the invisible ones. The courts and the government are sending a message to the population that attempts to highlight the effects of government policies on the environment will be crushed. The natural role of citizens as stewards of their environment is therefore lost, and future generations will pay the price.