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October 17, 2024

Cambodia: Fair Trial Report for Mother Nature Activists

Executive Summary

Long Kunthea, Phuon Keoreaksmey, Thun Ratha, Chea Kunthin, and founder Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson are activists with the Cambodian environmental organisation Mother Nature. For several years, activists associated with Mother Nature have faced threats, criminal charges, and criminal convictions in connection to their work, and in September 2020, Kunthea, Keoreaksmey, and Ratha were arrested, detained, and charged with incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code after posting on Facebook regarding the group’s intention to raise concerns to the Prime Minister on the filling in of Tamok lake. Kunthin and Gonzalez-Davidson were charged in absentia.

The trial against the five defenders took place between March and April 2021, and in May, the five defenders were sentenced to between 18-20 months imprisonment along with fines of approximately $1,000 USD each. Gonzalez-Davidson and Kunthin were tried, convicted, and sentenced in absentia. The defenders appealed their conviction, which was rejected by the Appeal Court in November 2021, and their convictions were upheld by the Supreme Court in July 2022. Kunthea, Keoreaksmey, and Ratha spent a total of 14 months in detention before being released on bail in November 2021.

This report examines the five defender’s trial at first instance and appeals to the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court regarding the charges of incitement under Articles 494 and 495. This report finds that the trial and findings by the first instance court and subsequent courts failed to properly implement Cambodian and international law with respect to guaranteeing freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, and the right to presumption of innocence.

This report concludes with recommendations for the government of Cambodia to address and remedy the violations experienced by the five defenders and to uphold its human rights obligations under Cambodian and international law.

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