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The
Observatory has been informed about the denial of entry and
harassment of Mr Gerald
Flynn,
a British journalist who has been reporting on the intersection
between human rights, ecosystems, and natural resource governance,
and has investigated illegal logging networks across Cambodia, where
Mr Flynn had been based since 2019.
On
5 January 2025, upon arriving at Siem Reap airport, Gerald Flynn was
refused entry to the country, even though he was in possession of a
valid visa. Mr Flynn and his wife were returning from a holiday in
Thailand. Immigration officers at Siem Reap airport stopped him and
took him and his wife aside for questioning. During their
interrogation, immigration officials repeatedly took photos of them.
Mr Flynn was then notified that he had not been allowed to enter
Cambodia since 25 November 2024 and that he had been permanently
blacklisted and banned from entering the country. He was subsequently
accompanied to a plane bound for Bangkok, Thailand. Cambodian
immigration officers justified this decision by claiming that Mr
Flynn had lied on his latest visa extension application, an
accusation that Mr Flynn has categorically denied.
Before
leaving Siem Reap to travel to Bangkok by air on 2 January 2025, Mr
Flynn had been stopped by Cambodian immigration and informed that
there was an issue with his visa, as a document had allegedly been
incorrectly submitted as part of his visa application. Mr Flynn
explained that he had not encountered any issue with his visa
application process and the immigration officers eventually allowed
him to board his flight, without giving him further explanation, nor
specifying that he would not be allowed to return to Cambodia.
The
Observatory notes with concern that the decision to ban Mr Flynn from
entering Cambodia from 25 November 2024 came shortly after Mr Flynn
was featured as a primary source in a France24 documentary
on deforestation in Cambodia’s Cardamom forest, which was aired on
22 November 2024. On 23 November 2024, six environmental activists,
including two who were featured in the documentary, were arrested
as they were investigating an illegal logging operation in Veun
Sai-Siem Pang National Park. They were released on 25 November 2024.
On 27 November 2024, Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment issued a
statement
declaring that the France24 documentary presented “a distorted and
misleading narrative about the impact of REDD+ (Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) projects on
deforestation and indigenous communities’ access to land.”
The
Observatory recalls that Mr Flynn’s denial of entry comes against a
backdrop of increasing repression of human rights defenders, and in
particular environmental rights defenders, in Cambodia. On 6 November
2024,
Koet Saray,
Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA)’s President,
was sentenced
to four years in prison for “incitement to commit a felony” and
“committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour”
for speaking to reporters about the plight of villagers evicted in
Preah Vihear Province. On 2 July 2024, 10 environmental rights
defenders with Mother Nature Cambodia were sentenced
to between six and eight years in prison on charges of “plotting”
and “insulting the King” for their participation in a Zoom
meeting.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the harassment of Gerald Flynn and the
arbitrary ban on his entry into Cambodia, which seem to be a direct
retaliation to his legitimate human rights activities and journalism.
The
Observatory urges the Cambodian authorities to immediately and
unconditionally lift the entry ban on Gerald Flynn and allow him to
travel to Cambodia and to put an end to all acts of harassment -
including at the administrative and judicial levels - against him and
all other environmental human rights defenders and journalists in the
country.
The
Observatory further urges the Cambodian authorities to guarantee in
all circumstances the right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in
international human rights law, and particularly in Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which
Cambodia is a state party.
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