The Fight for Freedom: Attacks on Human Rights Defenders 2018-2020
Released in December 2020
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The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) today is releasing “The Fight for Freedom: Attacks on Human Rights Defenders, 2018-2020”.“The Fight for Freedom” is not an exhaustive list of all attacks targeting human rights defenders since the beginning of 2018. Instead, it highlights a number of high-profile cases where human rights defenders have been targeted for intimidation, arrest or imprisonment while trying to peacefully exercise their rights to association, assembly and expression as guaranteed both in Cambodia’s constitution and under international law.
An annexe spanning the beginning of 2018 until the month leading up to this report’s publication draws upon the work of LICADHO’s human rights monitoring project to detail a broader, though still not comprehensive, pattern of attacks and threats against human rights defenders in Cambodia.
In the three years since LICADHO last released a report on attacks on human rights defenders carried out by authorities, the government has overseen the dissolution of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and continued its repression of non-political human rights defenders and activists.
The arrest and imprisonment of more than a dozen human rights defenders in the second half of 2020 has capped off three years of increasing repression of peaceful advocacy and activism by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). But despite the ruling party’s unyielding grip on the nation’s civil and political institutions, Cambodians across the country persist, standing up to demand and defend their fundamental human rights.
As his mother, when my son was arrested I felt so much pain. He’s never harassed or destroyed anyone’s property or any person or state institution. I want the government to release my son.
Ty Mary, mother of Khmer Thavrak activist Hun Vannak
The arrest of Rong Chhun in late July after the union leader joined garment workers on the street and visited farming communities along the Vietnam border sparked a wave of peaceful protests calling for Chhun’s release. His nephew, 28-year-old Rong Vichea, told LICADHO that his family were deeply upset by their relative’s imprisonment.
“We feel sorrow that the government has accused Mr. Rong Chhun,” he said. “What Chhun has done is clearly seen as protecting the interests of the public, like workers and teachers. He didn’t violate the law as he has been accused of by the authorities.”
Khmer Thavrak youth activist Hun Vannak was just one of the people imprisoned while calling for Rong Chhun’s release. His mother, Ty Mary, told LICADHO that her son had only acted for the betterment of society.
“All that my son has done is to protect human rights and society,” she said. “Before that, he helped to protect the environment, and now he was only calling for freedom of expression to be granted and Mr. Rong Chhun to be released.”
Repressive laws have been enacted in recent years that curtail fundamental freedoms and human rights, and these laws are often enforced by courts that lack independence, closing off the space for civil society organisations to operate.
In the face of this near-absolute control and repression, human rights defenders have continued to struggle for their rights, coming from their farms, forests and factories, from universities, pagodas and newspapers, coming together to struggle for their fundamental freedoms. Many have lost years of their lives to Cambodia’s overcrowded prisons. Others have faced physical attacks and life-threatening injuries. This report details some of their stories, and seeks to draw attention to the closing civic space in Cambodia.
For Hun Vannak’s mother, whose son is facing up to two years in prison for his peaceful activism, the price has been high indeed.
“As his mother, when my son was arrested I felt so much pain. It is not comfortable to be in prison … I would like to request to the government to drop its charges and release my son, because what he has done is within his rights and freedom. He’s never harassed or destroyed anyone’s property or any person or state institution. I want the government to release my son.”
For more information, contact:
▪ Ms Naly Pilorge, director of LICADHO, on Signal at +85512214454 (English)
▪ Mr Am Sam Ath, deputy director of monitoring at LICADHO, on Signal at +85510327770 (Khmer)
