Today marks more than five years in prison for three political activists from the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). These men are not just campaigners: they are also fathers, brothers, and husbands – loved ones, whose absence remains deeply felt in the lives of their families to this day.

Since the CNRP’s dissolution by the Supreme Court in 2017, hundreds of politicians and activists have been arrested, tried, and convicted on charges of incitement and plotting against the state. Some have been released, but often only after apologising and joining the ruling party. Many others remain behind bars, and these three men have now spent more than half a decade in Cambodia’s overcrowded prisons.

Heng Chan Sothy was arrested on 5 June 2020 and accused of violating bail provisions that were imposed after he was arrested, convicted, and bailed alongside dozens of other CNRP activists in November 2019. The original charges came during former CNRP President Sam Rainsy’s failed attempt to return to Cambodia. As a father and grandfather, Chan Sothy has made his family proud through his work to better the nation.

Just days before Chan Sothy’s arrest, fellow CNRP activist Kak Komphear had also been arrested on charges of incitement and plotting related to Rainsy’s aborted return attempt. Since his imprisonment, Komphear has developed chronic health conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure, which require constant care.

While Komphear has languished behind bars, his family have become activists – and targets for harassment. Komphear’s wife, Prum Chantha, became one of the most prominent members of the Friday Women, the wives of detained CNRP activists who regularly protest in Phnom Penh and have faced physical assault and harassment from authorities. The couple’s son, Kak Sovanchhay, has also been persecuted. He was first detained and released in October 2020 before being jailed in 2021 for posting Telegram messages critical of his father’s arrest. During Sovanchhay’s trial, the court also refused to account for the fact that Sovanchhay is on the autism spectrum. He was only 16 years old at the time.

The same year, Sovanchhay was later attacked with a brick by two unknown assailants on a motorbike while he was riding with his mother, leaving him with a head injury requiring stitches.

Also behind bars is Ismael Pin Osman, who has been imprisoned since 7 February 2018. He and his uncle were charged with human trafficking in the aftermath of his numerous refusals to join the CPP and the forced dissolution of the CNRP by the government. Pin Osman was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and has served more than 3,000 days behind bars.

The three activists are among 69 Prisoners of Interest in Cambodia whose speech or activism has been classified as criminal. Spending even one day behind bars for peaceful speech, opinion, or activism is one day too long, and these men have now suffered separation from their families and communities for over five years. It is time for the government to allow them to reunite with their families and return to their lives, without fear or punishment for the simple act of standing up for their political freedoms.

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