Log in to hire Omar

Omar Havana

Photographer
     
A woman's Cry: The detention of Tep Vanny
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Nationality: Spanish
Biography: Omar Havana, 1975 Granada, Spain. Spanish Freelance Photojournalist. Based in Brussels, Belgium. Previously based in France 2017-2021, Nepal 2014-2015 and Cambodia 2008 - 2014 ; 2015-2017. Omar has worked as a professional photojournalist since... MORE
Public Story
A woman's Cry: The detention of Tep Vanny
Copyright Omar Havana 2024
Date of Work Jul 2013 - Dec 2017
Updated Jan 2020
Location Phnom Penh
Topics Activism, Activist, Arrests and Prosecutions, Asia, Boeung Kak Lake, Cambodia, Civil Rights, Community, detainee, Documentary, Editorial, Essays, Europe Photographer, Eviction, Family, France Photographer, Freedom, FreeVanny, Human Rights, Incarceration, Media, Paris Photographer, Phnom Penh, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics, Prison, prisoner of conscience, South East Asia, Tep Vanny, Women, Womens Rights

Tep Vanny is Cambodia’s most famous activist and the leader of the women of Boeung Kak Lake, who stormed the country after their forced eviction from the lake. Since then, Tep Vanny has received several international awards for her activism and has been jailed several times, but has never given up her fight for justice. She has become a symbol of the human rights movement in Cambodia, a country where freedom of speech is constantly being curtailed by the ruling party. 

On 15 August 2016, she was arrested during a protest calling for the release of five fellow human rights defenders (known as the “Freethe5KH”). One week later, she was convicted on charges of “insult to a public official” and sentenced to six days in prison. However, instead of releasing her, authorities subsequently reactivated charges that had been brought against her in 2013 but never followed up on; in September 2016 she was sentenced to six months in prison, and in February 2017, to an additional 30 months in jail and fined USD3,500. Multiple appeals for her release have been denied.

"Tep Vanny’s only “crime” is defending human rights. Her detention is arbitrary and illegal and sadly shows how the Cambodian authorities have turned the courts into tools of repression. Her trial was deeply flawed as no credible evidence was presented against her... This is a clear attempt by the Cambodian authorities to silence one of the country’s most prominent activists – conveniently for the government, they have also assured that Tep Vanny will be kept in prison during next year’s general election".

Josef Roy Benedict. Former Deputy Director - Campaigns. Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional Office Amnesty International 


Vanny was finally released from prison in August 2018 after receiving a royal pardon from Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on request of Prime Minister Hun Sen. 


Photography: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved

LinkedIn Icon Facebook Icon Twitter Icon
4,408

Also by Omar Havana —

Story

Escaping War

Omar Havana / Suceava
Story

23:30 Last Train To Bucharest

Omar Havana / Suceava, Romania
Story

23:30 Last Train To Bucharest

Omar Havana / Suceava, Romania
Story

Portfolio Retrato

Omar Havana / Bruselas, Belgica
Story

Portfolio Eventos

Omar Havana / Bruselas, Belgica
Story

Portfolio Portraits

Omar Havana / Brussels, Belgium
Story

Portfolio Événements

Omar Havana / Brussels, Belgium
Story

Portfolio Events

Omar Havana / Brussels, Belgium
Story

Portfolio NGO Food Security and Agriculture

Omar Havana / Brussels, Belgium
Story

Portfolio NGO Education

Omar Havana / Brussels, Belgium
Story

Portfolio NGO

Omar Havana / Brussels, Belgium
Story

From Rice Fields to Ice Rink: Cambodia

Omar Havana / Phnom Penh
Story

The Big C

Omar Havana / Bhaktapur
Story

A Bloodbath in the Name of Gadhimai

Omar Havana / Bariyarpur, Nepal
Story

The Forgotten

Omar Havana / Lele, Nepal
Story

Endurance

Omar Havana / Nepal
Story

35 years searching for justice in Cambodia

Omar Havana / Phnom Penh
Story

CEMENTery

Omar Havana / Kampong Trach
Story

The Bucolic Life of a Cambodian Grandmother Accused of Mass Killings

Omar Havana / Anlong Veng, cambodia
Story

They Smashed Banks for Pol Pot. Now They are Founding Them

Omar Havana / Malai cambodia
Story

Breaking tradition among Nepal's Maithil women

Omar Havana / Janakpur, Nepal
Story

Bonjour, Paris

Omar Havana / Paris
Story

Trapped: the Dark Side of Cambodia's Beer Gardens

Omar Havana / Siem Reap
Story

When the Earth Shook Nepal

Omar Havana / Nepal
A woman's Cry: The detention of Tep Vanny by Omar Havana
Sign-up for
For more access