MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2021) A prominent rights watchdog on Tuesday reacted to the arbitrary arrests of four environmental activists affiliated with Mother Nature Cambodia - Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth, Yim Leanghy, and Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson - who may face up to 15 years in prison on charges of "plotting" and "insulting the king."
"These outrageous charges are a blatant attempt to silence and intimidate not only Mother Nature Cambodia, but an entire generation of Cambodian youth who have dared to stand up for human rights and environmental justice," Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns Ming Yu Hah said, urging that charges should be dropped immediately, and the arrested activists be released unconditionally.
The charges appear to confirm a series of escalating assaults by the Cambodian authorities to repress environmental activists and critical voices who shed light on pervasive corruption that facilitates ecological destruction. The rights watchdog believes that evidence being used against the activists includes recordings of private Zoom meetings held by Mother Nature Cambodia activists.
"It is alarming that the authorities appear to be engaging in unlawful surveillance of environmental activists to concoct evidence of far-fetched conspiracies. Time and time again, the Cambodian government has characterized critics of the government as rebels and conspirators and painted peaceful activism as a crime," the group said.
The right watch group urged the government to channel its efforts to prosecuting public officials, military officers, and influential business moguls who often engage in the destruction of Cambodia's forests, mangroves, and coastlines.
Mother Nature Cambodia is a prominent campaign group that has won several major environmental victories. Using a combination of community mobilization, direct action, and public awareness-raising, in 2015, they successfully convinced the Cambodian authorities to drop plans to build a major hydroelectric dam in Cambodia's Areng Valley, which had posed a serious threat to local Indigenous communities.
