Exiled Cambodian environmentalist activist Ratha Sun on why she fled her country • FRANCE 24

Key Concepts

• Climate Activism: The practice of advocating for policies and actions to address climate change.
• Mother Nature Cambodia: An environmental activist group in Cambodia.
• Sand Mining: The extraction of sand, often for construction purposes, which can have significant environmental impacts.
• Hydroelectric Dam: A dam built to generate electricity from flowing water.
• Indigenous Communities: Original inhabitants of a region, often with distinct cultures and land rights.
• Conspiracy: The act of planning secretly with others to do something unlawful or harmful.
• Insulting the King: A charge related to disrespecting or offending the monarch.
• Peaceful Protest: Demonstrations or actions taken to express dissent without resorting to violence.
• Environmental Corruption: Illicit or dishonest practices related to the management or exploitation of natural resources.
• Exile: The state of being barred from one's native country, typically for political or punitive reasons.

Summary

This transcript features an interview with Ratasan, a climate activist from Cambodia who is currently living in exile. Ratasan is associated with Mother Nature Cambodia, an organization that claims to have achieved several environmental successes, including forest and mangrove protection, safeguarding marine species, advocating for indigenous community rights, and halting a hydroelectric dam project. These actions have been viewed by organizations like Amnesty International as disruptive to the government.

Origins of Activism and Early Involvement

Ratasan's journey into activism began when a member of Mother Nature Cambodia invited her to participate in an event to replant mangrove forests in Koh Kong province, an area affected by sand mining. Her second significant involvement was with the Lower Sesan 2 Dam project, where she encountered indigenous communities. She recounts witnessing the distress of these communities, who were allegedly tricked by the government into signing away their land for the dam project. The emotional impact of seeing their tears and hearing their pleas for help, coupled with the realization that her accounting and statistics knowledge could be used to help others, led her to quit her job and join Mother Nature Cambodia.

Nature of Activist Activities

Ratasan clarifies that their activism was not always about direct protest. Initially, they organized events to bring youth from urban areas to affected regions. For the mangrove forests, they organized "mangrove festivals" to plant trees and educate young people about the impact of sand mining on local life. They also aimed to expose how authorities threatened local communities and silenced their voices. Regarding the hydroelectric dam, their focus was on educating indigenous people, who often have limited literacy, about the deceptive practices used by authorities to acquire their land. The activists highlighted how people were told signing would prevent them from losing their land, only to be cheated and lose it anyway.

Charges and Legal Proceedings

Ratasan and five other activists were charged with conspiracy and insulting the king. The specific reasons for these charges remain unclear to them. In June 2021, Ratasan and two colleagues were collecting sewage samples flowing directly into a river to test for pollution and its effects on the river's ecosystem and the people living along it. After collecting samples, they were apprehended by uniformed authorities, separated, and taken to a police station without a warrant or explanation. At the police station, they were denied access to their lawyer and held for five days.

Ratasan emphasizes that their activities involved no violence. They conducted peaceful street protests, "fun protests," and produced videos to expose corruption related to environmental and natural resource issues.

Sentencing and Escape

Despite the peaceful nature of their activism, Ratasan and her colleagues were sentenced to prison terms of six to eight years. Ratasan managed to escape the country before the sentencing. She explains that before the verdict, the team held internal meetings to strategize. They recognized the need for at least one member to flee the country to sustain their movement and continue advocacy. The individual who escapes has a significant responsibility to not only keep the movement alive but also to protect the environment and pressure the international community and local populations to exert pressure on the Cambodian government to release their arrested activists. The team decided Ratasan would be the one to leave, partly because she was in charge of accounting for the movement.

Imprisonment Conditions and Personal Feelings

Ratasan mentions that some of her colleagues are currently serving their sentences under what are described as harsh conditions, including small living spaces, a lack of clean water, and limited visitor access. Reflecting on her situation and that of her colleagues, Ratasan expresses difficulty in describing her feelings. She states she did not want to leave her country and misses her colleagues, with whom she spent five months in prison before being released on bail. She feels a sense of injustice, believing it is unfair to be tried as criminals when they committed no crime. Their actions, she reiterates, were solely for the environment, indigenous rights, and people's rights, yet they were imprisoned.

Hopes for the Future

Ratasan expresses a hope to one day see a Cambodia where people have a better life, the right to speak freely, and the right to protect their culture and land, especially for indigenous communities. She also hopes for a future where nature is protected.

The interview concludes with the host thanking Ratasan for her participation.