Right Livelihood’s advocacy team rebuked Cambodia’s impartial justice system at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. We delivered the statement during the trial of ten members of 2023 Right Livelihood Laureate Mother Nature Cambodia (MNC) to raise awareness about the government’s repression of environmental defenders. All ten MNC activists have since been sentenced to six to eight years in prison on sham charges of plotting against the government and insulting the king.
You can read the full statement here.
Right Livelihood gave the statement during a dialogue with the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, calling for the continued scrutiny of Cambodia’s government as it manipulates its judicial system and targets human rights defenders.
“In Cambodia, judges and prosecutors are appointed based on their loyalty to the ruling party and are often engaged in the prosecution of political opponents and activists,” our statement said.
The sham trial against ten MNC members drew international criticism, including from the movement’s fellow Right Livelihood Laureate Greta Thunberg. MNC is known for innovatively and peacefully raising awareness about Cambodia’s environmentally disastrous development projects.
In particular, we criticised Cambodian judges and prosecutors’ attempts to expedite proceedings, ignore legal procedures and bypass key elements of the MNC activists’ charges during the trial. We also condemned the court’s decision to hold its June 5 hearing behind closed doors.
“These activists are standing for the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” we said. “Their efforts should be rewarded, not punished.”
Right Livelihood joins the international community in calling for the immediate release of all human rights defenders held in Cambodia, including all MNC members.