Repeat Defenders

A wave of arrests this year has ensnared a number of activists who had previously been jailed in Cambodia’s notorious prisons, and re-engaged in their activism upon their release. This has led to a growing number of “Repeat Defenders” – human rights defenders and political activists who are currently serving a second or third prison sentence due to their peaceful activism.

These are their stories.

***

Cambodia’s prisons are designed to crush spirits. The food is inadequate, clean water is scarce and expensive, contact with the outside world is restricted, and the heat of cramped cells is overwhelming. Occupancy rates regularly exceed 200%, and several exceed 500%. One former prisoner called living in prison “like living in hell.”

And yet, an increasing number of Cambodian activists continue to fight for a more just and fair Cambodia, even after being unjustly imprisoned for their activism. These “Repeat Defenders” do not fit a single mould. Their backgrounds, ages, and causes vary.

• One is a long-time political activist who spent most of his 50s in prison, winning an election and missing the birth of two grandchildren while behind bars.
• Another is a union leader who inspired her members to continue the longest-running strike action in Cambodian history.
• Another, an outspoken social commentator with a marked sense of humour, jailed for posting a joke on Facebook about putting face masks on chickens.

The thread binding these remarkable people is that they all share a refusal to give up their activism after their arrests, despite witnessing first-hand the horrific conditions within the Cambodian prison system. Knowing better than anyone the risks of persevering, they once again put their own freedoms on the line after their release in the hope that it would ultimately help shape a better Cambodia for all.

The situation for activists in Cambodia has continued to worsen this year. There are 24 activists imprisoned after being arrested in the first half of 2024 – an increase compared to 2023, which saw its own spike in arrests due to the National Election. It reflects an alarming rate of more than one human rights defender arrested each week.

This crackdown has largely hit members of the political opposition, targeting candidates for elected office and party leaders. But also arrested were two union leaders, a journalist, a social media commentator, and a student association president. The scale of the recent wave of arrests makes this one of Cambodia’s harshest crackdowns on dissent in recent memory.

It also takes place whilst the democratic institutions of the country are the weakest they have ever been. The political opposition has suffered a decade of decimation. The country’s once-vibrant independent media landscape is desolate. NGOs operate under constant threat and fear of arrest, and many resort to self-censorship to survive.

In this environment, these Repeat Defenders serve as our living reminders that the strategy of repression is ultimately doomed to fail. They are our proof of the continued desire for true peace – the peace of a fair, free and democratic Cambodia.

***

On 2 July 2024, Mother Nature activists were sentenced to between six and eight years in prison. Just over a month before these convictions, the environmental defenders published a book about their past experiences in prison. “People Taken to Be Corrected” is a funny, sad, and inspirational telling of the hardships of Cambodia’s prisons, and was released as the activists were facing yet another jail term over baseless charges of “plotting against the state” and “insulting the King” for their powerful and tireless efforts to protect the environment.

Prison carries severe consequences for these activists. Keoraksmey was 19 when she was first arrested in 2020, and now faces the prospect of spending most of her 20s behind bars due to her peaceful activism. The same burden is carried by Kunthea, who was 22 during her first arrest in 2020, and Chandaravuth, who was 20 years old when he was detained in 2021. Their youth has been stolen from them, and their lives marred by unjust imprisonment, through this repeated incarceration for daring to care about Cambodia’s natural resources. Leanghy, 35, and Ratha, 32, are fathers of small children. Ratha’s youngest child is not yet six months old, while Leanghy’s wife is expecting a new child in the coming months. Both men and their families will suffer the inherent challenges that come with their separation and isolation during their time in prison.

After their convictions in July, these five Mother Nature activists were split up and sent to five separate prisons: a punishing action that has no justification in Cambodian law and violates international standards on the humane treatment of prisoners. This cruelty will make their detention more difficult, but these activists have already shown they are capable of surviving Cambodia’s prisons and emerging with renewed passion and commitment to environmental justice.

***

Heng Chan Sothy was first arrested in November 2019 alongside nine others. An activist for the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Chan Sothy was charged with both incitement and plotting.

Formerly the deputy chief of a district in Phnom Penh for the party, Chan Sothy was released on bail later that month alongside around 80 other CNRP supporters. In December 2019, weeks after his release, he was beaten over the head by a metal pipe by two unknown assailants – a violent incident that was part of a wave of unsolved assaults on opposition activists at the time.

The 57-year-old was then rearrested on 5 June 2020 for allegedly breaching his bail conditions – bail conditions that neither he nor his lawyer were informed about upon his release. He was subsequently sentenced to six years’ in prison following a series of mass trials involving 44 opposition activists, all charged with both incitement and plotting. Chan Sothy has been detained since his re-arrest in June 2020, and is currently serving his sentence in Correctional Centre 1 (CC1) prison in Phnom Penh.

CC1 is Cambodia’s largest prison, and its current population is 7,364. According to a 2022 Prakas from the Ministry of Interior, CC1 should hold convicted men serving sentences between five and 15 years, and its overcrowded conditions continue to compound problems such as inadequate food, lack of clean water, and the effect of brutal heat waves.

***

Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU), was violently arrested and imprisoned in January 2022 on charges of incitement. This first arrest occurred when Sithar tried to join her fellow unionists on the picket line. She spent over two months in pre-trial detention before being released on bail.

Sithar and other LRSU members are part of the longest-running strike in Cambodian history. This strike followed mass layoffs at the luxury NagaWorld casino, which removed the union’s entire leadership and a significant number of its members during the pandemic. LRSU’s strikes have continued in the wake of sexual harassment and physical attacks by authorities.

Sithar returned to her labour activism after being bailed. The now-34-year-old union president was re-arrested and re-imprisoned in November 2022 shortly after her return to Cambodia from a labour rights conference in Australia. Accused of violating judicial supervision conditions – despite neither she nor her lawyers ever being notified of any such conditions – Sithar was sent to Correctional Centre 2 (CC2) prison.

CC2 is a women’s prison is located in Phnom Penh and holds women, minor children and babies living with their detained mothers. CC2 is plagued by overcrowded, unsafe, and unhygienic conditions. There remain issues with inadequate access to food, sleeping space, education, family contact, healthcare, menstrual and hygiene products, and water – the effects of which were made harder to bear during Cambodia’s recent heatwave in 2024.

***

Phon Yuth endured his first imprisonment between July and December 2019. He was jailed for posting content on Facebook critical of the government and demanding that then-Prime Minister Hun Sen step down.

Following his release, Yuth remained critical and involved in opposition politics. In March 2024, he criticised new Prime Minister Hun Manet on Facebook Live, questioning the government’s claim of 99% employment and speaking on foreign affairs. Yuth was arrested by authorities and again charged with incitement shortly after broadcasting the video. He now faces a sentence of between one and three years in prison, and is being detained in Takeo provincial prison.

***

Koet Saray was serving as a Buddhist monk shortly before he was arrested on 6 September 2020 alongside eight other political, social, and youth activists. The activists were arrested over incitement charges for protesting the imprisonment of labour leader Rong Chhun.

When he was released from prison in early 2021, Saray was slapped with a two-year probation period with restrictive conditions. Defrocked, Saray remained concerned about ongoing social issues, and he soon became the president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), a student activist group.

The 31-year-old activist was targeted a second time in April 2024. Saray was arrested outside of KSILA’s office over his comments to the media about a violent land conflict in Preah Vihear province. He was sent to pre-trial detention at Correctional Centre 1 (CC1) prison. Once again charged with incitement, Saray was also hit with charges of “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour” under Article 88 of the Criminal Code – doubling the potential sentence he faces to up to 4 years in prison.

Saray was denied bail on 20 June 2024, and remains detained in CC1. CC1 is Cambodia’s largest prison and designated for men serving sentences of between 5 and 15 years, according to a 2022 Prakas from the Ministry of Interior. With the state allocating 3,500 riel (around US $0.84) per adult per day to cover basic necessities, the impact on the physical and mental health of the people imprisoned there remains dire: inadequate food, a scarcity of clean water, and overcrowded cells with little ventilation.

***

Ny Nak is a 44-year-old outspoken social commentator who first served jail time after making a joke about chickens wearing masks: he was arrested in December 2020 for editing a video of then-Prime Minister Hun Sen to suggest that Nak would place his own chicken coop into a state of emergency, and that his chickens would wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. His joke resulted in convictions on charges of public insult and incitement to discriminate, for which he served an 18-month sentence in CC1 prison.

Following his release, Nak continued to advocate on behalf of farmers and speak to independent media outlets about social and agricultural issues. He was arrested a second time in January 2024 – this time, over a Facebook post in which he questioned the government’s decision to give away 91 hectares of land in Kampot province.

Nak was first detained in Correctional Centre 1 (CC1), before being sent to provisional detention in Correctional Centre 3 prison on 28 January 2024. He has been transported between CC3 and CC1 at least once; he was sent back to CC1 for one week during proceedings at the Phnom Penh Capital Court.

Nak was hit with charges of defamation and incitement to discriminate, as well as “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour” under Article 88 of the Criminal Code. The latter charge potentially doubles Nak’s sentence, meaning he faces up to six years in prison if convicted.

Ny Nak is the only person imprisoned in CC3 that has not yet faced trial. According to a 2022 Prakas from the Ministry of Interior, CC3 is designated for convicted men serving a sentence of 15 years to life. The prison is Cambodia’s fourth-largest and among its most isolated, located in Tbong Khmum province.

***

Kem Sokha is the former leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), and the 70-year-old has spent much of his life as a human rights activist and political opposition party leader.

Sokha was first arrested in December 2005 on charges of defamation, when he was head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights NGO, in relation to an International Human Rights Day celebration in Phnom Penh. He later formed the Human Rights Party, which merged to form the CNRP in 2012.

Sokha was arrested a second time in September 2017, ahead of the 2018 National Election, accused of conspiring with a foreign power. He was bailed in November 2019 with restrictive conditions.

After a prolonged trial, Sokha was convicted in March 2023 – fewer than five months before Cambodia’s next National Election. Sentenced to 27 years in prison and with his political rights to stand for or vote in an election removed, Sokha has been under house arrest while appealing his convictions. He is prohibited from meeting anyone other than his immediate family without the court’s permission, and police have been granted full authority to monitor and act as needed to enforce the court’s orders.

***

Chao Veasna, a former elected commune councillor for the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), has spent most of the last decade in prison. The 58-year-old was swept up in a pre-election crackdown in early 2017, ahead of that year’s competitive Commune Elections. The government accused him, then the top candidate in his commune, of inciting a protest in which rocks were thrown at a customs office. Veasna insists he was simply monitoring the protest, but was jailed months before the election and slapped with a five-year prison sentence. This did not prevent him from winning the commune chief seat in Poipet commune from behind bars.

Upon emerging from prison in 2022, Veasna immediately re-entered opposition politics. His former party had been dissolved months after his own arrest, so he joined the re-emergent Candlelight Party, becoming its vice president in Banteay Meanchey province. His daughter ran in the 2022 Commune Elections, winning a seat on the council in the same commune her father once won.

In 2023, Candlelight was barred from participating in the National Election. Robbed of the choice to vote for his chosen party, Veasna decided to spoil his own ballot. For this, he was again charged with incitement and jailed in July 2023. He remains in pre-trial detention at Banteay Meanchey provincial prison, where he faces up to three years in prison.

As with the rest of the prison system, overcapacity is a concern in Banteay Meanchey provincial prison. Its infrastructure is particularly susceptible to extreme flooding, which in the past has led to mass evacuations of prisoners to other facilities. There are also high numbers of people held in pre-trial detention including Veasna, which leaves many individuals stuck for protracted periods of uncertainty as they await the courts.

***

Mer Seng Hor, also known as Kea Visal, endured a year in Correctional Centre 1 (CC1) prison following his first arrest in September 2019 on charges of incitement to commit a felony. He was first arrested for expressing criticism of the ruling government over Facebook and on radio. Seng Hor, working as a security guard at the time, was arrested by five police officers and later taken to pre-trial detention.

After his release from his first stretch in CC1 prison, Seng Hor was vocal about the abysmal conditions he suffered there. He reported routine harassment by prison guards, who stripped him naked and put him in solitary confinement on arrival, with minimal food. Guards allegedly required prisoners to pay for water during the dry season, leaving those unable to pay to suffer from skin diseases and unhygienic living conditions from being unable to bathe – or even flush their toilets. Seng Hor also reported specific discrimination against political prisoners, who were denied rights enjoyed by other inmates such as mobile phone use, increased visitation time, or even privacy during such visits.

Upon his release, Seng Hor continued his political activism and became a provincial deputy leader for the Nation Power Party (NPP). He also rejected multiple attempts to recruit him to the ruling party during the 2023 National Election period. However, shortly after joining the NPP he was arrested for the second time in March 2024, and this time placed in pre-trial detention in Kampong Cham provincial prison on charges of insult and incitement to discriminate – once again, for comments he posted on Facebook, which were critical of the government’s democratic track record. Seng Hor faces up to three years in jail if convicted.

***

Soeu Sochea is a 31-year-old journalist who has worked for outlets including EPN News and ASEAN Daily. His most recent arrest came on 24 May this year as a direct consequence of his coverage of illegal logging in Kampong Thom province, which referenced the deforestation in Prey Lang and criticised the provincial administration’s failure to appropriately react to the issue.

Sochea’s first arrest was just over a year ago, on 10 May 2023, whilst he was a journalist for local media outlet TNM TV Online. Two timber traders had accused Sochea of making threats, and he was sent to pre-trial detention in Kampong Thom provincial prison on charges of extortion. Although released on bail on 1 June 2023, Sochea was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison in November that year, with the rest of the prison term suspended.

He is currently in pre-trial detention in Kampong Thom provincial prison following his second arrest in 2024. This arrest followed a complaint made by the Director of the provincial Department of Environment, after Sochea had posted information about deforestation on Facebook and Telegram. Sochea faces charges of incitement and defamation – with incitement charges carrying up to three years in jail.

The Kampong Thom prison has publicly acknowledged the challenges that it faces, including reduced space to deal with the increased number of imprisoned people, a lack of resources for staff to provide education and training, and slow provision of funding to ensure the wellbeing of imprisoned people.

***

Kong Saron is an activist targeted by authorities for expressing political opinions on Facebook. He was first arrested and taken into custody on 2 July 2023 on charges of insulting the King, incitement, and public insult. The charges stemmed from comments he published on a Facebook video during the 2023 National Election campaign period.

Saron issued an apology and was bailed shortly afterwards. But several months later in November, after being sentenced on the charges, he was again arrested for continuing to remain outspoken on Facebook. Saron is currently serving a three-year sentence in Banteay Meanchey provincial prison – a prison reliant on facilities dated to around 2010, and one that is extremely susceptible to flooding. The combination of these very real infrastructural risks with general prison issues (such as limited educational opportunities for education, minimal outside recreation time, and no designs towards the rehabilitation of the imprisoned people) results in a prison system that, by design, crushes the spirits of its population.

***

To read more about Cambodia's Prisoners of Interest, visit this page.

This Article was updated to include the imprisonment of five Mother Nature activists.