Cambodian activist in attempt to overturn conviction

Activists believe Cambodia's prime minister, Hun Sen, has targeted Mam Sonando as an example to others ahead of elections in July. Photograph: Rolex Dela Pena/EPA

Rights groups criticise 'veritable death sentence' against Mam Sonando for speaking out against controversial land grabs

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Kate Hodal

guardian.co.uk

"The authorities must revoke Sonando's conviction, end their harassment of land and forest defenders and stop selling land out from under the feet of the Cambodian people."

A Cambodian journalist has launched an appeal to overturn a 20-year jail sentence for allegedly masterminding an insurrection. Rights groups have called it a "veritable death sentence" against the ageing activist for speaking out against land grabs.

Mam Sonando, 72, was found guilty in October of leading a secessionist plot in Kratie province, where villagers were protesting against evictions for a rubber plantation.

Despite not being in the country at the time of the protest, Sonando, who owns the independent Beehive Radio, is believed to have upset the authorities by broadcasting a complaint accusing Cambodian authorities of crimes against humanity because of forced evictions. Activists claim the treatment of Sonando is being used as a warning to other protesters to not criticise the government.

Land rights are a highly sensitive issue in Cambodia as land ownership was abolished under the communist Khmer Rouge, leaving small-scale farmers vulnerable to land grabs, mining and real estate projects as fast-paced economic development has swept over the country.

Nearly three-quarters of the country's arable land has been transferred in so-called "economic land concessions" to private companies, according to the international campaign group Global Witness, usually without consultation or compensation. Local activists estimate that more than 400,000 Cambodians have been evicted from their farms or homes since 2003.

With protests often resulting in jail terms and police brutality – figures from Global Witness show that twice as many people were arrested in land disputes in 2012 as the year before – villagers have become more and more desperate in their stand against the government: some are threatening a collective suicide in front of Cambodia's supreme court if it rules in favour of the agricultural company that evicted them, according to the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR).

"The country's land-grabbing crisis has already seen an area the size of Wales handed over to companies and it's getting worse," says Oliver Courtney of Global Witness. "The authorities must revoke Sonando's conviction, end their harassment of land and forest defenders and stop selling land out from under the feet of the Cambodian people."

Local activists believe that Sonando, who holds both French and Cambodian citizenship, was targeted specifically by the prime minister, Hun Sen, as an example to others before national elections in July, in which Hun Sen and two relatives will be running for office.

"As more and more people start to fight back [against the land grabs], the powerful respond by cracking down on villagers and people like Mam Sonando who are prominent and have a lot of influence on public opinion," says Ou Virak of CCHR.

"The decision to charge [Sonando] was on the order of the PM, and his conviction was also on the order of the PM. The PM rules this country through fear and to continue ruling, he must continue to create fear."

Local reports claim that Sonando's supporters have also been targeted by the authorities for owning or displaying "Sonando calendars", which show the number of days the activist has been jailed. But many turned out on Tuesday to support his appeal in the capital, Phnom Penh, where they waved placards calling for the activist's release.

Sonando's case has drawn widespread international criticism, with the US, the EU and the UN, as well as various international human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, calling for his immediate release.

However, activists believe it is highly unlikely that his appeal will be successful, says Ou Virak, who cites land disputes, as well as the July election, as reasons why the government would be loth to overturn his conviction.

Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia since 1979 and famously stated that he would not stand down until the age of 90. Sonando's hearing continues on Wednesday.