Mother Nature is a group of young activists who work to protect Cambodia’s environment. The group has been increasingly targeted, with some even being jailed for their activism.
Long Kunthea, Thon Ratha, and Long Kunthea are passionate young environmental activists for Mother Nature. Both spent more than a full year in prison in terrible conditions for daring take on their government.
Ratha, now a well-known activist, was a student who worked at a supermarket to make ends met when he attended a workshop at the university in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital. It would change his entire life.
Alejandro Gonzalez Davidson, co-founder of Mother Nature’s environmental group in Spain, led the event. Gonzalez-Davidson speaks fluently in Cambodian Khmer and passionately discussed the planned hydropower dam in the Cardamom Mountains, west of the country. It would also cause severe damage to the environment.
Ratha was inspired to become an activist and joined the group. He began investigating Mother Nature’s needs. Sand mining, The illegal trade in wildlife partsThe effects of mass construction on the coast city of Sihanoukville
Long Kunthea (24 years old) was inspired to join after seeing one of Ratha’s videos from 2017. Before that, she had little interest in politics or the environment. “I was scared like ordinary Cambodian people,” she said. “I wouldn’t dare click on any political articles.”
Ratha and the other activists present their findings while being covered in sand. The entertaining, but powerful video captured Kunthea’s attention. Kunthea wasn’t alone. This video received more than 4.5M views and 150,000 shares on Facebook.
Kunthea said, “I felt like heroes.”
Prime Minister Hun Sin’s government has been accused of profiting off the plundering country’s natural resource – a charge he denies. Amnesty International says that Cambodia has experienced 64% reduction in its tree cover in the last year, making it one of the most deforested countries on the planet.
Other conservation and rights groups highlight the fact that half of Cambodia’s wetlands have disappeared in just 15 years. However, in Phnom Penh alone 15 of the 25 lakes have been refilled during a boom in construction.
Hun Sen blames deforestation for everything Increasing populationFor people living in rural areas To build houses, you need to cut down trees. He has defended the filling of lakes by stating it is necessary for national developmental, suggesting that “repetitive” criticism of him could be. Inflamed by jealousy
Mother Nature was created in 2013 in order to support local communities against the planned hydropower plant in the Cardamom Mountains. After years of protests, the project was finally scrapped in 2017.
Its young activists, many of whom are in their late teens and early 20s, have investigated everything from sand dug to illegal logging and pollution.
The group gained popularity when they began sharing their findings in fun and informative videos on their Facebook page. It now has 432,000 fans.
However, their criticisms have come at a cost.
Phay Siphan, a spokesperson for the government, stated that it supports environmental activism but claimed that Mother Nature activists have ulterior motives.
“The motives of those kids are completely different from the tasks of environmentalists. He stated that they have nothing to do with the environment.
They have taken a hard line against the group.
Kunthea was planning to walk to Hun Sen’s central Phnom Penh estate on September 2020 to protest the construction and filling of one of the city’s largest lakes.
Phuon Keorasmey was Phuon’s Mother Nature activist and was going to film the one woman march. They were taken to police cars shortly after their march began.
Kunthea recalls, “I was alone, but there were four to five officials who questioned me and yelled at us.” “They asked me if my march was an attempt to commit terrorism. I was speechless… How could I commit terrorism?
The two young activists were brought to court and charged incitement to cause social unrest or a felony. Ratha was quickly arrested and charged the same offense.
All three were placed in pretrial detention. They could face up to two year imprisonment.
Kunthea and Keorasmey shared a cell with up 150 women.
Keorasmey (age 20) said she tried to keep busy by reading books by Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi, but that was not always possible due to the harsh reality of prison. As inmates jostled to get space, fights would often break out. A woman in another cell committed suicide.
Kunthea believes that the government kept them locked up to send a message.
“These are threats, intimidation, not just against me and our family but also to other young adults who dare stand up for their natural resources.”
Kunthea Ratha, Keorasmey and Ratha were convicted and sentenced to lengthy jail terms. In July, they were convicted of plotting, and sentenced to between five and 10 years.
Three other Mother Nature members have been arrested in June for plotting and lesemajeste. This law carries severe punishments for insulting the monarchy, and is regularly used to harass critics by the government. It is not known what the activists said to insult the monarchy.
The Appeal Court released all six of them in November. Kunthea Ratha, Keorasmey and Ratha were released for the first-time in more than a decade.
But this freedom is fragile. They must report to the police each month as they are still on bail for the remaining plotting charges. If the investigating judge decides to take the case to trial, they could be rearrested.
Phil Robertson, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, stated that Hun Sen and his “cronies” didn’t anticipate “the anger of youth about environmental destruction and how Mother Nature has tapped into that generation’s demands for action by exposing the truth.”
He said that Hun Sen was using his tried-and-true tactic of “killing the chicken to scare them monkeys”, to intimidate others who might consider standing up for their rights for the environment.
Gonzalez-Davidson, Mother Nature’s co-founder, was expelled from Cambodia seven-years ago. He has since been charged for plotting and lesemajeste. Gonzalez-Davidson says that the group will still be operational in the country but without any staff members at the moment.
Despite the dangers, Kunthea and Ratha have all pledged to continue their work, although they will be sharing investigations on their personal Facebook pages. Ratha last month uploaded His first investigation after being released.
Ratha said, “Life prison was mental torture for us.” “But it made our mental strength stronger and I can overcome other large obstacles.”
He added that the charges were “showy and ridiculous”. “It is impossible to suggest that we can cause chaos in society or overthrow the government.”
Keorasmey believes that if you stop being active now, it would send the wrong message for other budding activists in Cambodia.
She said, “We are their model.” “If they quit, who will dare?