A courageous soul that broke the deadlock of fear and complicity

Depending on where you source your news, most of my friends in Australia will not have heard of the recent murder of Chut Wutty, a Cambodian environmental activist shot by a military police officer in Koh Kong province when he refused to give up his camera memory card after taking photos of illegal wood stockpiles.  The alleged murderer was then also shot and killed.

In the following days, news reports had many versions of the story with struggles, ricocheting bullets, and grief-stricken suicide (with a rifle no less!).  The official line now is that the second shooting was accidental according to a joint investigative committee.

The committee findings are a difficult pill to swallow for the grieving family of Chut Wutty who have always known the dangers of his work. His 19 yo son told reporters "he knew that something might happen to his life, so he educated me how to be a good person in the family and in the nation".

Chut Wutty's legacy to the nation was as the Founder and Director of the Natural Resource Protection Group he was a tireless environmental activist determined to end illegal logging throughout Cambodia.  His influence was steadily growing - he was profiled in a major English language newspaper here in Cambodia only weeks before his death and was actually accompanied by two reporters on his final trip.

A former PhD student who worked with Chut Wutty claims that "One of Chut Wutty’s most critical achievements ... 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 (cite). But Chut Wutty and his allies were beginning to prove otherwise." See her tribute.

Svay Phoeun, a village representative in Preah Vihear states for many “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”.

This morning I was heartened to receive a press release via the Christians for Social Justice group.  Tomorrow, around 600 people from eight provinces will meet in Koh Kong province to take part in a patrol to gather evidence of illegal logging around the area where Chut Wutty was killed.  Rather than weakening their hearts, his death only consolidates their resolve to continue the work.

Thought you'd like to know... (see also a youtube tribute)