After marching for almost a week from areas surrounding the Prey Lang forest, some 400 Cambodian villagers were confronted by police who prevented them from going further. The confrontation with 30 armed police occurred at the site of the CRCK rubber plantation, where the protesters planned to hold a vigil. The Vietnamese military-linked company holds a 15,000-acre concession to carve a rubber plantation out of the Prey Lang forest. According to the Prey Lang Community Network, which organized the protest march, nearly 100,000 acres of forest have been granted in concessions for rubber plantations alone, while 27 exploration licenses and related concessions have been given to mining companies.
Upon returning to their homes after the protest, villagers were met by police seeking thumbprints and names of the leaders of their movement to save Prey Lang. District police chief Oung Moly filed complaints against two village activists and two NGO workers accompanying the movement, including Chut Wutty, director of the Natural Resource Protection Group, and Chhim Savuth of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR). The complaints accuse them of incitement and destruction of property, reported the Phnom Penh Post on Wednesday.
In a statement, (attached below) CCHR president Ou Virak said,” This is a concerning escalation in the intimidation attacks being employed by the authorities in Kampong Thom. Community members from all across Prey Lang are losing their livelihoods and are merely trying to raise awareness throughout the country of what is happening to the forest and the impact that is having on their lives.”
"I am worried about my safety," Roeun Sopheap, one of the accused villagers, told the Phnom Penh Post. "We are protecting the natural resources, but the authorities...support people who destroy the natural resources."
The Prey Lang Community Network said the marchers, as Cambodian citizens, were "asserting their rights to protect this forest by fanning out across the forest on foot to discourage forest crimes and to challenge concessionaires." Other activists gathered to pray in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
Take action to protect the Prey Lang forest and the Kuy villagers who live there. Write a letter to Cambodian officials today.
