In Focus: Highlighted Environmental Human Rights Defenders

Kady Hammer
Jan 11, 2017
2 min read

Cambodia: Leng Ouch

Cambodia, in the early 2000s, started issuing Economic Land Concessions (ELCs), which is a type of leasing system that provides for large-scale agricultural development with the idea of economic development. The government permits companies to utilize the land for agricultural purposes with the idea of stimulating economic growth. Unfortunately, the ELCs typically displace people in poverty by removing them from their land with little to no compensation. In the case of Cambodia, these ELCs were used to hide illegal logging operations. Roughly 80% of Cambodia’s population live in rural areas and rely on small-scale farming to survive, and its forests are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Leng Ouch was born in the Takeo province to a family of poor farmers, whom migrated from forest to forest, foraging off the land for survival. After the end of the 1980 civil war ended, his family moved to Phnom Penh. In order to attend school, Leng cleaned classrooms and helped teachers, and scavenged to find paper to complete his homework. He excelled in school and was granted a scholarship to attend law school where is started working with human rights organizations to help the poor and uneducated in protecting their rights against government violation.

Leng founded the Cambodia Human Rights Task Forces and went uncover to obtain evidence of the illegal activities. He disguised himself, posing as a tourist, laborer, drive, timber dealer, etc., and later released photos and videos revealing the illegal activity. His work illustrated the collusion between government officials and logging companies and how the ELCs were merely a cover to hide the criminal activity. His efforts resulted in the government canceling 23 ELCs which now protect 220,000 acres of forest land. Environmental activists and critics of the government are at extreme risk in Cambodia. In 2012, environmental activist, Chut Wutty, was brutally murdered, along with many other incidents of such violence. Leng has been forced into hiding several times and his family has been threatened and intimidated by security forces.