Members of Chi Kha Kraom community in Koh Kong province pose for a picture as part of a social media campaign celebrating Human Rights Day.

Family members of at least five imprisoned human rights defenders called for their loved ones’ release today, as communities across Cambodia were forced to turn to social media to celebrate Human Rights Day. With a number of local authorities refusing to allow grassroots communities to gather together to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, citing the threat of a potential COVID-19 outbreak, more than two dozen communities chose instead to launch social media campaigns calling for their fundamental freedoms to be respected.

For the first time in 27 years, Cambodians were unable to celebrate human rights day as a public holiday after the government stripped it from the calendar last year. Despite this, dozens of communities across the country organised events bringing together hundreds of farmers, workers and grassroots groups to speak out about land grabbing, workers’ rights and ongoing human rights violations facing their communities. With Cambodia experiencing its first case of COVID-19 community transmission barely two weeks before the planned celebrations, many groups turned to social media, promising an online campaign stretching until December 25. A handful of people from one community in Koh Kong province who launched their digital campaign by filming themselves posing with a banner were observed by a large group of local police.

In addition, this afternoon the family and spouses of at least five young activists imprisoned in this year’s crackdown on peaceful demonstrations pleaded with the government for their release. Relatives of Khmer Thavrak youth activists Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy and Eng Malai, and Mother Nature activists Phuon Keoreaksmey and Thun Ratha, posted pictures of themselves holding photographs of their imprisoned loved ones in a public cry for their freedom. The five activists were arrested earlier this year as part of a wave of violent arrests of youth and environmental activists who took to the streets to peacefully protest the arrest of union leader Rong Chhun, as well as the selling off of Phnom Penh's Boeung Tamok lake. All five activists are in pre-trial detention and face up to two years in prison on incitement charges if found guilty.