"Open Letter To Mark the Tenth Anniversary of the Murder of Chut Wutty", 26 April 2022

Today marks 10 years since Chut Wutty was shot dead in Koh Kong province ... Wutty was the director of the Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG) which trained, educated and strengthened the capacity of grassroots community members to understand and implement their rights and roles to protect Cambodia’s forests and natural resources. Wutty was shot dead while accompanying two journalists who were investigating a forestry crime near a protected area in Koh Kong province, where Wutty had repeatedly attempted to expose illegal logging involving military officials in connection to the building of hydropower dams.

On the tenth anniversary of his murder, we … reiterate the call for relevant institutions including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of National Defense and Koh Kong provincial authorities to undertake a credible and thorough investigation to hold all those responsible for his murder to account…

We reiterate our calls and urge the Cambodian government and above-mentioned institutions to conduct an immediate and independent investigation into the shooting of environmental activist Chut Wutty and to bring all those responsible for his murder to justice. We call for the Cambodian government to refrain from arbitrarily closing the space for civil society, environmental youth and activists and grassroots communities to protect Cambodia’s shrinking forests and natural resources.