Cambodia, Mother Nature environmental activists condemned

Human rights organizations accuse Cambodian government of pursuing political trials against Mother Nature environmental activists

On July 1st a court in Cambodia he condemned a group of environmental activists to sentences of between six and eight years in prison because they were responsible for plotting against the government and insulting the king.The ten activists are part of the environmentalist group Mother Nature, which has received several awards over the years.

Several human rights organizations have questioned the trial – including Amnesty International And Human Rights Watch – claiming it was aimed at "muzzling criticism of government policies".Mother Nature is famous for carrying out its campaigns through the non-violent struggle, and it is precisely for this reason that the proceedings against its activists were perceived as an unfair political trial.

The activists they were convicted to a punishment that goes six to eight years of imprisonment because of their environmental protection activities.Furthermore, this sentence sends a frightening message to young Cambodians: the government sides with special interests to the detriment of the environment every chance it gets.

From 2001 to 2015, a third of Cambodia's primary forests – some of the richest in biodiversity in the world and an important carbon sink – it was deforested and the loss of tree cover has accelerated more than anywhere else in the world, according to the World resources institute.Much of the land has been deforested entrusted to companies through concessions which, according to experts, have favored deforestation and expropriation of the country.

The activities of the Mother Nature group

Since its founding in 2013, Mother Nature has led various campaigns against projects that damage the environment, particularly in the river area Mekong, and raised questions about how natural resources are managed in the Southeast Asian country.They document their findings in fun and informative videos that they post on their page Facebook.

Among the campaigns they have successfully carried out there is that for stop the construction of a dam Chinese-led hydroelectric plant in the Cardamomi Mountains that threatened an indigenous community.And then the campaign for put an end to the export of sand from the coastal estuaries of the Kah Bpow River in Koh Kong City, which was destroying the local ecosystem and fishing grounds.Last September, the group also received the Swedish award Right Livelihood Award for their commitment to nature and democracy.

Environmental groups they accuse for a long time Cambodian leaders to profit from the resources natural resources of the country.Activists over the years they continued to criticize what they describe as aunfair application of the laws in favor of companies and the richest elites.The government denies the charges and claims that Mother Nature works to create social unrest.

Gonzalez-Davidson defined the verdict as a "disastrous decision wanted by the Hun family regime", interviewed by BBC.The Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet continue to ignore the appeals of experts from the United Nations regarding the need to end the persecution of activists and the closure of political space to civil society.

The repression of dissent in Cambodia

There fight for environmental protection and against the exploitation of Cambodia's natural resources has long been one controversial issue in the kingdom, with environmentalists threatened, arrested and even killed in the last ten years.The arrest of the activists comes, in fact, at a critical moment for freedom of expression in Cambodia.There law against insults to the king – one of the charges brought against the convicted activists – is relatively new and only came into force in 2018.According to critics, this law is used to repress dissent.

In support of this thesis it should be noted that many opposition parties have been dismantled, independent media outlets were shut down and dozens of activists were imprisoned during the years of government of former prime minister Hun Sen, who resigned last year to pave the way for his son Hun Manet, who effectively assumed leadership of the country.

With Hun Manet, who presented himself as a reformer, the repression against civil society as a whole was actually exacerbated, thus placing Cambodia in the position of one of the most authoritarian countries from the world.