They are young and passionate about protecting Cambodia\u2019s rich and ecologically fragile environment. <\/p>\n
Their peaceful green campaigns have been championed by climate activist Greta Thunberg and in 2015, they successfully fought against a plan for a hydroelectric dam they claim would have damaged a pristine rainforest valley. <\/p>\n
But this week, the Southeast Asian nation sentenced 10 activists from the group Mother Nature Cambodia to up to six years in prison each on charges of conspiring against the state. <\/p>\n
The government says the group encourages social unrest, but to their supporters, the ruling is just the latest in a pattern of attacks on climate activists in the wider region. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe demand that our friends in Mother Nature Cambodia, and all political prisoners, be released immediately,\u201d said Fridays for Future, the youth-led global climate strike movement founded by Thunberg, in a statement. <\/p>\n
Exiled opposition leader Mu Sochua said the group had tried to highlight environmental issues that \u201cthreaten Cambodia\u2019s fragile environment\u201d and claimed, \u201cthey would be heroes in any free country.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cambodia, a kingdom of nearly 17 million people that is rich in natural resources, faces pressing threats to its environment, including deforestation from illegal logging and agricultural expansion, water pollution affecting inland and coastal areas, and a surge in plastic waste. <\/p>\n
The country maintains about 46% forest cover and is home to 2,300 plant species and 14 endangered animals, according to the United States Agency for International Development. \u201cDeforestation and wildlife crimes continue to threaten Cambodia\u2019s forests and biodiversity,\u201d USAID says on its website. <\/p>\n
Critics and environmental groups say those threats have heightened under the nearly four-decade-long rule of strongman Hun Sen \u2013 who has quashed dissent and jailed opponents in recent years, forcing many to flee overseas. <\/p>\n
Though his eldest son, Hun Manet, succeeded him as prime minister last year, Hun Sen is still widely seen as the ruling party\u2019s center of power. <\/p>\n
\u201cLike what we are seeing with dictators in other countries, Cambodia is becoming more repressed,\u201d said Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spaniard who co-founded Mother Nature Cambodia over a decade ago, alongside local Cambodian activists. <\/p>\n
Climate activism in the country is at a \u201crougher, grassroots level,\u201d he added, with the conversation centering more on \u201cextremely rich and powerful tycoons and corrupt government officials trying to exploit and privatize,\u201d the environment. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Cambodia now \u2013 logging, poaching, mineral extraction, turning lakes into land and destroying rivers, as well as exporting massive amounts of sands. There are systems in place where (officials) exploit the environment for profit and our group has been doing as much as we can to stop these unethical projects and protect the environment \u2013 and that is why we are a threat in the regime\u2019s eyes.\u201d <\/p>\n
Outside the court ahead of Tuesday\u2019s ruling, a government spokesperson denied that the charges against the activists were politically motivated. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has never taken action against those who criticize. We only take action against those who commit crimes,\u201d spokesperson Pen Bona told Reuters. <\/p>\n
Founded in 2012, Mother Nature Cambodia has campaigned against environmental destruction and exposed alleged corruption in state management of precious mineral resources, and their savvy use of social media has resonated with young Cambodians. <\/p>\n
In 2023, the group was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, often called the \u201calternative Nobel Prize.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cMother Nature Cambodia is a group of fearless young activists fighting for environmental rights and democracy in the face of repression by the Cambodian regime,\u201d the jury said in a speech at the time, describing them as \u201ca powerful voice for environmental preservation and democracy in Cambodia.\u201d <\/p>\n
Several activists were unable to receive the award in person as Cambodian courts denied their requests to travel to Sweden to collect the prize. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey have successfully helped local communities stop environmental violations,\u201d Right Livelihood\u2019s executive director Ole von Uexkuell said last year. \u201cThrough innovative and often humorous protests, their activism defends nature and livelihoods while upholding communities\u2019 voices against corrupt and damaging products.\u201d <\/p>\n
The group has strongly leveraged social media, saying it helps get their message across to young supporters. They have more than 450,000 followers on Facebook, the most widely used social platform in the country. <\/p>\n
But it\u2019s on TikTok that their videos really make an impression on young Cambodian users like Run Bunry, a high-school student from the capital Phnom Penh and his friends. \u201cThey are positive and lighthearted and also teach us a lot about the environment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
One video, highlighting an investigation into the alleged illegal export of rare silica sand, showed three members buried up to their heads in sand and was shared more than 1,000 times. Another viral video taken along a beach in the coastal city Sihanoukville showed the extent of alleged illegal construction by hotels and casinos on the shore. <\/p>\n
\u201cFollower numbers have grown especially in the last five years and a lot of our old content regularly resurfaces on TikTok and goes viral,\u201d said founding member Gonzalez-Davidson, who was expelled from Cambodia in 2015 after the group\u2019s successful campaign to stop a Chinese-funded hydropower dam from being built over the Areng Valley, an area of pristine rainforest in southwest Cambodia. <\/p>\n
Members of the group say they have faced increasing threats, harassment and criminal charges for years. <\/p>\n
Under scorching heat on Tuesday, members of the group \u2013 dressed in white and accompanied by a crowd of supporters \u2013 staged a mock funeral procession in the streets leading to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. <\/p>\n
But peaceful scenes descended into chaos after the sentencing was announced. <\/p>\n
Video footage showed activists Mother Nature Cambodia activists Ly Chandaravuth, Long Kunthea, Thun Ratha, Phuon Keoraksmey and Yim Leanghy surrounded by dozens of armed police officers and dragged away into waiting cars, bound for prisons across the country. <\/p>\n
Arrest warrants have been issued for five other members of the group, including Gonzalez-Davidson, who was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday on the conspiracy charge and insulting Cambodia\u2019s king. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe increasing use by Cambodian authorities of l\u00e8se majest\u00e9 and other articles of Cambodia\u2019s criminal code to penalise the exercise of human rights is deeply worrying,\u201d United Nations Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement following the ruling. <\/p>\n
Gonzalez-Davidson, however, said the ruling would backfire against the authorities and inspire a new cohort of environmental campaigners. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis week, a new generation of Cambodian activists was born \u2013 one that did not exist back in 2012,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMany young Cambodians are very engaged in the next steps and public campaigning must continue. There have been (arrests and jailings) before and each time, we come out stronger. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey won\u2019t break our spirits. We are not going to be shut down.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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