Cambodian activist Chut Wutty was shot dead by the military police as he investigated illegal logging. Photograph: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty |
Activist's murder in 2012 and election blow to Hun Sen's
government could trigger political change, say campaigners
By Kate Hodal in Phnom Penh [The Guardian]
In Cambodia, there is talk of change. Not just from Hun Sen,
the prime minister, who has promised reforms after his party suffered a
significant blow in recent elections, but from environmental activists and
campaigners, who say there has never before been such an opportunity to lobby a
government that has long ruled with an iron fist.
Despite alleged illegal logging, land grabs, harassment and
threats by police and government thugs, activists claim the ruling party's win
in July of just 68 seats to the opposition's 55 means that Hun Sen, who has
governed Cambodia for the past 28 years, may be softening, out of necessity, to
the will of the people, in turn allowing environmental groups to gain strategic
ground.
This is due, in part, to the increasing awareness of human
rights and social justice issues, activists say, such as the death of one of
Cambodia's most prominent environmental activists, Chut Wutty, in April 2012.
He was investigating illegal logging and land seizures with two journalists
when he was shot dead by Cambodian military police officers.
Though a provincial court dropped charges against his alleged
murderer and the government failed to conduct an adequate investigation,
Wutty's death has resonated far beyond Cambodia. Last week, the activist was
posthumously awarded in London for "extraordinary achievement in
environmental and human rights activism" by the Alexander Soros
Foundation, which promotes global social justice. The accolade was accepted on
his behalf by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN), which is campaigning to
protect the largest remaining primary forest in mainland south-east Asia.
"The cause Wutty died fighting for has never been more
important or more deadly," Soros said. "Cambodian activists and
citizens remain on the front line of the country's land-grabbing crisis, as
Cambodia's elites sell off community land and forests without their
consent."
In Cambodia, the award was welcomed by local campaigners,
who say it proves "[Wutty's] death is not forgotten". "Community
networks are more advanced now," said conservationist Marcus Hardtke, a
close friend of Wutty's who has lived in Cambodia for the past 17 years.
"Wutty was pretty instrumental in starting this [method
of] community law enforcement because, until then, the communities couldn't
rely on the uniforms and officials [who] were either not interested [in their
cause] or supporting the other side, big businesses, so they had to protect
themselves. This [award] sends a strong signal to the government and to
activists that his death is not forgotten – it's going forward."
Wutty's death has arguably been the highest-profile murder
in Cambodia, where activists routinely face harassment and threats while
campaigning for land justice. Not long after Wutty's death, a 14-year-old girl
was killed by military police during a land dispute and, later, a journalist
investigating timber companies was discovered dead in a car boot.
A report into the number of deaths arising from land and
forest disputes worldwide, published in June 2012 by the activist group Global
Witness (pdf), found that two people were killed a week in 2011 – nearly twice
the number recorded in 2009.
It stated that in Cambodia there was "strong evidence
that the killings were perpetrated with company or government
involvement". According to the human rights group Licadho, 2012 was
"the most violent year ever [for Cambodians] … in terms of the authorities
using lethal force against activists", with 232 arrests recorded – a 144%
increase from 2011, according to Adhoc, a local NGO.
Land rights were, perhaps unsurprisingly, a huge talking
point during this year's election. More than 2m hectares of land – equivalent
to nearly three-quarters of Cambodia's arable land – have been granted to
investors since 2008, in turn affecting an estimated 700,000 people across the
country, according to Global Witness.
Protesters have been vocal and their complaints taken on by
the opposition Cambodian National Rescue party (CNRP), which has called for an
end to all concessions and greater land justice.
This may explain why Hun Sen issued a full moratorium on
economic land concessions (ELCs) in May 2012, yet inserted a key loophole that
allowed those already approved, but not yet started, to move ahead. The result
was that nearly 400,000 hectares of land were granted as concessions last year,
nearly three-quarters of which came from wildlife sanctuaries and protected
forest.
The CNRP is boycotting parliament in an effort to lobby Hun
Sen's government for reform, including calls for an independent inquiry into
alleged voting irregularities and an end to land, mining and forestry
concessions.
Though the leader's call last month for a full moratorium on
ELCs and an inquiry into those being processed was met with scepticism by
activists and analysts, campaigners say Cambodia's current unprecedented
political landscape may allow them to "gain strategic ground" in
lobbying for change.
"If we don't focus on saving our forests [now], this
will be the last chance we have to save them," said activist Seng Sokheng,
of the Community Peace-Building Network, which works closely with the PLCN.
"We are all speaking up to protect the forests and prevent illegal
logging, all around the country now, and I do believe that the government will
listen."
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