Cambodian activists called for government accountability at events held on Sunday to mark the disappearance of Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a Thai activist who was allegedly abducted in Phnom Penh in 2020.
Around 20 young activists and students lined up on a street outside the Mekong Gardens complex in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar district where Wanchalearm was last seen on June 4, 2020. They held printed cutouts of Wanchalearm’s face in front of their own, with black and white ribbons pinned to their shirts. Four monks prayed, honoring the good deeds of the missing activist.
20-year-old Cambodian activist Mean Lisa, one of the event organizers, said it was important to commemorate Wanchalerm to hold the government accountable.
She has received some pushback from fellow Cambodian youth asking why the focus is on a Thai activist, but she thinks it’s important to fight for the human rights of all people, no matter their nationality, and to build a network of activists across the region.
“Between Thailand and Cambodia, we have a toxic history with each other. People and youth in Cambodia still feel that, don’t really forget it,” she said. “I try to focus more on the present and future, what we can build and solidarity.”
But when it comes to what Lisa hopes will come out of the memorial events, she’s not anticipating much action from the government.
“We don’t really expect that the government will take action or even the Thai embassy,” she said. “But we just want to raise up, to show a picture to the public, to [show] people what the government is doing. There are so many unfair things that happen in Cambodia.”
Wanchalearm was a pro-democracy activist who also focused on LGBT rights and HIV in Thailand. He used humor to mock Thai junta officials online and built a following through a satirical Facebook page.
In 2014 a military coup overthrew the Pheu Thai Party government. By then, Wanchalearm was affiliated with the Pheu Thai Party and the Red Shirts Movement. He was summoned to attend a meeting at a military camp after the coup, and decided to flee to Cambodia, where he lived until his disappearance.
Witnesses say they saw armed men forcing Wanchalearm into a car on June 4, 2020, and video footage published by Thai publication Prachatai allegedly shows the same car driving away from Mekong Gardens. This was at least the ninth abduction or killing of a Thai activist in exile since 2016, according to Amnesty International.
Spokespersons for Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and the National Police did not return CamboJA’s requests for comment on the status of the investigation as of Sunday evening.
In an interview with Radio France International in April 2022, Khieu Sopheak, spokesperson for Cambodia’s Interior Ministry, said Cambodia has worked in collaboration with the Thai embassy and Thai authorities, but has not had success in finding Wanchalearm.
“Fighting until death, we still cannot find him. We also want praise, not mockery,” Khieu Sopheak told Radio France International. “Some have complained that [the investigation] has been politically motivated. Even if an organization director has 100 eyes and then adds another 100 or 1,000 eyes, he still could not find [Wanchalearm].”
In July, Sopheak told VOD that “there are no new leads” in the investigation of Wanchalearm’s disappearance, and local police had “already lost the trail.”
Human rights groups have criticized the Cambodian and Thai governments for failing to properly investigate the disappearance.
Similar gatherings took place in Thailand on Sunday to remember the activist. But Wanchalearm’s family decided not to plan commemorative events, according to his sister Sitanun Satsaksit.
“This year’s environment is not fruitful to make an impact if I organized something,” she said. “If I decided to organize something and it will not have a great impact, I feel like that commemoration service or memorial would be suffering, sad.”
Sitanun remembers exactly how her brother said “I can’t breathe” on the phone to her when he was allegedly abducted three years ago. She is very disappointed in the justice system and police in Cambodia, as there is so much evidence that her brother was abducted in the country but she has not heard of developments from the investigation, she said.
She is also concerned about the safety of the Cambodians who planned and participated in the Phnom Penh events.
“When I spoke out, I was also charged by the Thai authorities. But in Thailand, when I was charged, we had a human rights lawyer, we had the media to help me,” she said. “If something happens [to Cambodian protesters] that’s similar to what happened to me or even worse, what will be the protection for the human rights defenders in Cambodia?”
Sitanun appeared before a Phnom Penh court in December 2020 to submit evidence of her brother’s disappearance, after which gun and illegal detention charges were filed against unknown individuals in the case. There has been no progress in the case since.
On Sunday, there was no police intervention as the group marched along National Road 6 from Mekong Garden to Chroy Changvar Bridge with a banner and signs reading “#JusticeForWanchalearm.”
In the evening, the same group of activists and students held an event outside the Thai embassy, and organizers said they intended to deliver a letter to the embassy when it is open on Monday.
Ke Chamroeun, who is 28 years old, said he joined the event to demand justice for all nationalities. He stressed that he did not have anything to do with a political agenda or a political party.
“I am also a youth, I want to express my feelings about how [Wanchalearm] has been missing for three years and there’s been no justice for him until now,” he said. “He has been missing for so long and there is no information. So, the government, please help to push the process of finding Wanchalearm.”
Chamroeun said he hoped the Cambodian government would no longer be silent about Wanchalearm’s disappearance, and urged the government to protect young people who cared about social issues.
Additional reporting by Eung Sea.
