It was a stiflingly hot Phnom Penh evening when I last saw Chut Wutty, one week before his murder. Sitting outside in the still heat, he seemed unaffected: alert as ever, engaged, yet humble and gentle. We discussed strategies for working with communities in the Cardamom Mountains and elsewhere, wondering how to help them to protect their land and forests from the onslaught of illegal logging and land grabbing that has swept across Cambodia.
But this was no ordinary conversation. Wutty did not have time for the platitudes of mainstream conservation, or its apolitical ‘partnerships’ with government agencies. No. His ideas were characterised by a radical determination to seek truth and justice, as seen through his work in Prey Long and his leadership of the Natural Resources Protection Group (NRPG).
Chut Wutty was a soldier for Nature and Humanity, who inspired millions of Cambodians, and others around the world. He was on the frontline of a dirty war, in which Cambodia’s forests are being liquidated for unthinkable profits that accrue to a powerful few, while indigenous and local communities are left as voiceless bystanders, dispossessed from the forests that have sustained them for centuries.
Photo: Peter Pigott, 2002
The murder of Chut Wutty is a senseless and brutal tragedy. Not just for the loss of an incredibly brave and inspirational man, but for the loss of what he represented for Cambodian people. Wutty dared to stand up to power. He dared to confront the dark forces of violence, corruption and greed that have come to characterise the Cambodian state and its criminal-corporate enterprise (Le Billon 2000; Hughes 2003; Global Witness 2007).
Cambodia has been termed a ‘country for sale’. According to the human rights group Licadho, 22% of Cambodia’s surface area is now controlled by private firms, mainly through Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) held by agro-industrial companies (see Vrieze and Naren 2012). The land being sold off for private gain is not unoccupied or disused. Furthermore, it is often forested, which means that concession holders can obtain windfall profits from timber sales before cash cropping even begins. The government’s issuing of land concessions without warning or consultation has come at the expense of ordinary Cambodians. Tens of thousands of farmers have been evicted or forcibly displaced by ELCs in recent years (Schneider 2011). However, until about five years ago, it was unthinkable that villagers would organise themselves to challenge directly the powerful interests that threaten their land and livelihoods, as we have seen in Prey Long in recent years.
The role of Chut Wutty in inspiring villagers to protest against unjust development and exploitation across Cambodia cannot be ignored. He emboldened people to assert their rights in the face of intimidation, and in spite of daily poverty and insecurity. Indeed, with the support of a handful of others, he ignited the flame of a social movement in Cambodia around land, forests, and resource rights. Only someone of extraordinary selflessness and courage could inspire people in this way, as seen last November, when villages formed a ‘human shield’ around Wutty to protect him from police attacks.
Photo: Peter Pigott, 2002
One of Chut Wutty’s most critical achievements, therefore, was that he broke the deadlock of fear and complicity that so often paralyses villagers, community leaders and NGOs in Cambodia, preventing them from taking action against illegal logging and other injustices. Many have argued that this paralysis is part of Cambodia’s national psyche, and that the country is forever doomed to suffer from a ‘lack of local agency’ and civil society (├Цjendal and Sedara 2006; Brinkley 2012). But Chut Wutty and his allies were beginning to prove otherwise.
Apart from mobilising community action, Wutty was also instrumental in exposing forest crime in remote areas such as the Cardamom Mountains, where he was shot and killed on Thursday. The scourge of illegal logging for luxury timber, predominantly rosewood (genus Dalbergia), has left no corner of Cambodia unturned. However what is remarkable about the ‘rosewood phenomenon’ in Cambodia is the use of state authority and resources to facilitate its extraction and trade. Apart from dubious government licences and military protection for loggers, even hospital ambulances have been diverted from public duty to transport rosewood.
Probing deeper into the context of the Cardamom Mountains, however, the rosewood story becomes more complicated. On the day that Chut Wutty died, he was travelling from Pursat to Koh Kong on a new road constructed by the China-Yunnan Corporation, as part of its development of the Atai Dam, located in the Central Cardamoms Protected Forest. This forest area is part of a multi-million dollar ‘conservation landscape’ that is funded by international donors and managed mainly by Conservation International and the Cambodian Forestry Administration.[1]
Since 2009, when construction of the Atai Dam began, the trafficking of rosewood in the northern Cardamom Mountains has been rampant. It appears that tens of millions of dollars of timber have been extracted from the area so far, under the auspices of the MDS Import Export Company. This well-connected Cambodian company was originally contracted only to clear forest from the Atai dam reservoir area, but its logging activities have been widespread and systematic. The same has occurred around other dam sites further to the south, as Chut Wutty helped to expose last year. Remarkably, Conservation International has remained silent on this issue, refusing even to acknowledge the existence of illegal logging in the area, in spite of cries for help from villagers, and evidence of their own park rangers’ complicity in the timber extraction.
It is this failure of mainstream and ‘official’ conservation efforts that pushed the battle for Cambodia’s forests to the fringe. This is what drove Chut Wutty and his colleagues at NRPG to risk their lives gathering data on illegal logging operations in the Cardamom Mountains and elsewhere. The work of NRPG revealed not only the culpability of government officials who abuse their powers to profit from logging, but also the hypocrisy of NGOs like Conservation International that have denied the existence of logging altogether, in order to maintain the fa├зade of effectiveness, along with their government and donor relationships.
Photo: Peter Pigott, 2002
This highlights the other key contribution of Chut Wutty’s work as a conservationist: he was real and uncompromising. He therefore offered us an alternative, more radical, vision for nature conservation. By operating ‘on the edge’, Wutty was able to destabilise power structures and demand accountability from government officials and NGOs in a way that nobody else dared. This made him a vital force for conservation in Cambodia and elsewhere, and as Marcus Hardtke points out, his actions actually made a difference.
It is unlikely that mainstream conservation organisations will ever fulfil the role that Chut Wutty played in Cambodia. His life-force and approach as a leader and eco-warrior was truly unique, and this must be honoured and sustained by the Cambodian people. However, Wutty’s story and his tragic death in the Cardamom Mountains should serve as a wake-up call for conservation organisations and donors working in partnership with the Cambodian government on natural resource management. It is now no longer enough for them simply to choose a politically correct path of ‘capacity building’ and ‘technical advice’ for government, without challenging the status quo in some way. Or, if they are unwilling to do this, then they should at least commit to nurturing local social movements and protecting those who are prepared to stand in the firing line, as Chut Wutty did.
As I write, the first stage of Wutty’s Buddhist funeral is taking place in his home village of Svay Meas, in Kandal province, near Phnom Penh. Not able to be there in person, I have asked two young Cambodian friends to go in my place. They are educated and motivated people, with a heartfelt desire to pursue justice and environmental conservation in Cambodia. The murder of Chut Wutty has hurt them, causing a wound of despair and outrage. But somehow, collectively, this pain must be converted into a force for change. The future of Cambodia depends upon it, as does the legacy of Chut Wutty.
In this struggle, we can derive hope from the words of Svay Phoeun, village representative in Preah Vihear who worked with Wutty: “Chut Wutty’s heart is gone, but thousands of Chut Wutty hearts still survive. We are not afraid of the person who killed Chut Wutty… we have never been afraid”.
Dr Sarah Milne is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Resource Management Asia-Pacific Program at the Australian National University. She is interested in the practice and politics of transnational biodiversity conservation, especially in the Cambodian context. Her PhD research focused on community-based conservation in the Cardamom Mountains, where she worked with Chut Wutty and others from 2002-2005.
References
Brinkley, J. (2012) Cambodia’s curse: The modern history of a troubled land: PublicAffairs.
Global Witness (2007). ‘Cambodia’s family trees: Illegal logging and the stripping of public assets by Cambodia’s elite’. London, A report by Global Witness, June 2007.
Hughes, C. (2003) The political economy of Cambodia’s transition 1991-2001. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon.
Le Billon, P. (2000) ‘The political ecology of transition in Cambodia 1989-1999: War, peace and forest exploitation’, Development and Change 31: 785-805.
├Цjendal, J. and K. Sedara (2006) ‘Korob, kaud, klach: In search of agency in rural Cambodia’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 37(3): 507-526.
Schneider, A. (2011) ‘What shall we do without our land? Land grabs and rural resistance in Cambodia’, Global Land Grabbing conference, Land Deal Politics Initiative, University of Sussex.
Vrieze, P. and K. Naren (2012) ‘SOLD: In the race to exploit Cambodia’s forests new maps reveal the rapid spread of plantations and mining across the country’, The Cambodia Daily March 10-11: p. 4-11.
That’s not just true of Cambodia, it’s true of Lao, Thailand, Burma … China, Japan, Germany and the USA as well.
It’s not just the villagers, community leaders, NGOs and donors of Cambodia who are unable to take action against injustice … it’s the Laos, Thais, the peoples of Burma … of China, Japan, Germany and the USA as well …unable to stop the damming of the Mekong, the rape of village lands, the nuclear power plants that have so ravaged their lives and land, the wars of aggression in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen …
NGOs are corporations. Corporations are by nature corrupt. This is not in the least ‘remarkable’…
You mean unlikely “to make a difference”? It’s not just “unlikely” the mainstream will fail to do so … it’s a dead sure thing.
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Condolences to the family of this brave man. Cambodia will remember him.
The sort of things multiplied by thousands heading our way to Burma, desperately invited by the military, the venerable highly celebrated oppositions and the wise commentators alike for “progress and prosperity” and catching up with the rest of the world and all that.
Can’t wait!
Oh! It WILL be different in Burma? Yes, if one is delusional.
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Very, very sad, someone murdered standing up the the forces of evil and greed with only their courage to support them. There are indeed similarities in Cambodia to the worldwide financial fraud, where politicians and regulators are co-opted, so that the insatiable greed of the few can flourish unhindered, there too whistle blowers are often found “suicided”.
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[…] http://www.newmandala.org/2012/04/30/chut-wutty-tragic-casualty-of-cambodia%e2%80%99s… […]
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First of all, I would like to say thank you so much to the writer. You did a really great job of describing Chut Wutty life and his devotion work to help save the forest in Cambodia. My prayer and deep condolences goes to him and his family. It is a very sad moment in deed to have lost such a brave and courages man. I hope his lost won’t go in vain and that this will do a wake up call to the Globe and help bring justice for his death and clean up the corruption.
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[…] Chut Wutty: Tragic casualty of Cambodia’s dirty war to save forests […]
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And never forget the words he spoke just five minutes before being killed –
“I am a slave… ” he asked, ” – to who?”
Paul Everingham.
[email protected]
quote: Cambodia Daily; 28/29 April ’12)
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Cambodia and the world needs more brave spirits like Chut Wutty…may his energy and actions not go to waste…even in death he is an inspiration to others…where one Chut Wutty falls may a thousand and more brave spirits rise to continue the work that engaged his life…Peace
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A video profile of the late Cambodian environmental and social justice activist, and now icon, Chut Wutty:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2012/may/01/cambodian-chut-wutty-video
See also:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/may/01/death-cambodian-forest-activist-chut-wutty
And a recent video of rubber plantation development in Prey Lang forest:
http://www.rubbernaut.co.uk/
RUBBERNAUT is the story of two families living in Prey Lang forest,
Cambodia. Rubber plantations are encroaching on the forest with the
force of a juggernaut. We follow Phalla, a young mother working
strenuous hours in the plantations, and Ty, a grandfather who still
follows a traditional forest-dependent way of life. Now the people of
Prey Lang are challenging the conversion of forest to rubber –
fighting for the right to determine their future.
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*Teenage girl shot dead in Kratie land eviction*
Phnom Pehn Post, 16 May 2012
A 14-year-old girl was shot dead this morning by heavily armed
officials who opened fire on a group of about 1,000 families they were
sent to evict in Kratie province, military police have confirmed.
A man who identified himself as a military police official but refused
to give his name, said his forces had no choice but to fire on the
villagers who were violently defying an order to vacate their land.
Heng Chantha, 14, was killed while two other villagers were injured
and four arrested during the incident that took place in Prama
village, Kampong Damrei commune.
About 200 heavily armed military police officials assisted by a
helicopter stormed the village in the eviction operation before an
unknown number of them opened fire.
Military police have blocked off the area and are allowing no one in.
The villagers were being evicted from the area to make way for agro-
business company Casotim, military police and rights groups said.
The fatal shooting follows the slaying of Chut Wutty last month and
several other incidents this year already in which guns have been used
against defiant villagers or protesters.
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Fantastic post, thank you.
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New op-ed from the Wall Street Journal.
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“Cambodia and Cronyism; Phnom Penh’s foreign donors are enabling abuses of human rights.”
– Anonymous.
Wall Street Journal (Online) [New York, N.Y]
21 Sep 2012: 9.
Abstract
Absent meaningful pressure to protect property rights, foreign aid and investment will bring limited benefits.
On Sept. 11, the body of Cambodian journalist Hang Serei Oudom was found stuffed into the trunk of his car with his head bashed in. At the time of his death, Mr. Oudom was writing about collusion between local businessmen and officials in the mountainous northwest. There as elsewhere in the country politicians, officials and logging companies have conspired to clear-cut virgin forests that are supposedly protected by the government.
The murder of Mr. Oudom is hardly an aberration in Cambodia. At least 10 journalists have been killed in Cambodiasince 1996. Social activists have fared no better: In April, a military policeman shot and killed environmentalist Chhut Vuthy as he investigated illegal logging in southwestern Koh Kong province. Dozens more have been summarily imprisoned for protesting illegal land seizures.
In 2011, Transparency International ranked Cambodia 164th out of 182 countries in its annual Corruption Perception Index. Rampant cronyism also suits Cambodia’s one true foreign friend, China, which has poured billions of dollars of aid and soft loans into the country. In the process it has secured economic concessions and diplomatic fealty. At the July 11-12 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh, Cambodian diplomats scuppered a collective response to Beijing’s encroachment in the South China Sea. Coincidentally, Beijing this month announced another $2.5 billion in investment and soft loans.
Trade between America and Cambodia is also on the rise, with the U.S. accounting for 41% of Cambodia’s garment-driven exports. Yet the Obama Administration has remained largely silent about Cambodia’s recent malfeasance, most notably at the Asean summit. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made no public mention of Cambodia’s rights record. Two days after Mrs. Clinton left the country, the authorities imprisoned one of the country’s leading opposition figures on dubious charges of secessionism.
Cambodia’s ongoing genocide tribunal still receives a lion’s share of Western attention when it comes to human rights. But the most pressing issue for most Cambodians is land use. In the past decade, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians have endured land grabs and evictions. They have suffered further when they dared to protest these abuses.
Phnom Penh’s international donors might stop to consider that Cambodia’s oppressive cronyism is ultimately a manifestation of its disregard for the human right of private property. Absent meaningful pressure to protect property rights, foreign aid and investment will bring limited benefits.
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See also:
New York Times
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/critics-press-cambodia-to-fight-violence-on-its-forest-frontier/
ASIA September 22, 2012
“Critics Press Cambodia to Fight Violence on its Forest Frontier”
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
I was heartened to see an editorial in The Wall Street Journal push Cambodia (and its supporters, including the United States and international donors) to fight rampant corruption under which “hundreds of thousands of Cambodians have endured land grabs and evictions.”* The editorial added, “They have suffered further when they dared to protest these abuses,” noting the murders of the journalist Hang Serei Oudom (covered here) and land-rights campaigner Chut Wutty.
I also encourage you to read “‘Blood Wood’ Killings in Cambodia Deserve U.S. Rebuke,” by Olesia Plokhii, a journalist who was a few feet from Chut Wutty when he was shot on April 26 (she was covering the land and timber fight for Cambodia Daily. Here’s an excerpt from her piece that makes some important points:
It is heartening to see that when a reporter is killed in the forest, people hear about it. The same must go for the activists and others who risk their lives daily, like the Prey Long People’s Network in one of last great ancient forests in Cambodia. The loss of Wutty removed a vital voice speaking up for powerless villagers and indigenous minorities.
The deforestation crisis in Cambodia is unique only because it is relatively new. While 130-foot trees in tropical jungles have been gutted for the last two decades in Cambodia, neighboring Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam began exporting illicit timber long before. In Cambodia, the forests may still have a chance – if change takes root.
Mu Sochua, Cambodia’s leading in-country opposition figure, commented in her blog that she hoped the issue would be on the agenda for an upcoming meeting of international donors and the Cambodian government.
Despite Cambodia’s increasing reliance on Chinese money, the United States still carries weight there. But will President Obama exercise his power and address the deforestation crisis and this rash of killings at an upcoming Asean summit in Phnom Penh in November?
I hope the Obama administration is taking this issue seriously, at the very least in behind-the-scenes interactions with Cambodian officials, and – if necessary – publicly.
Addendum: I belatedly noticed that Unesco has also condemned the killing.
[3:55 p.m. | Clarification |* I cleaned up some turgid prose in the opening sentence.]
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[…] April 2012, Cambodian environment activist Chut Wutty was shot and killed while taking two journalists to visit and photograph an illegal logging site in […]
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