By Bopha Phorn, Michael Hudson, Barry Yeoman and Ben Hallman

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia Nget Khun, a 76-year-old known to some in Cambodias capital as Grandma Mommy, hasnt had a quiet retirement.

Authorities have tossed the former street vendor in prison for months at a time. Khun says police have beaten and shocked her with electric stun batons.

All because, she says, she dared to speak out against a wave of evictions targeting poor people living in an area of Phnom Penh that was supposed to be protected by a World Bank-financed land management program. An internal World Bank investigation found that bank officials failed to do enough to stand up for residents rights as Cambodian authorities pushed thousands of Khuns neighbors from their homes to make way for luxury high-rises and high-end shops.

Khun is among dozens of grassroots activists and ordinary folks around the globe who say governments and companies backed by the World Bank Group have targeted them for threats, beatings, arrests, spying and other reprisals because theyve criticized big development projects.

Human rights campaigners claim the World Bank Group has repeatedly failed to intervene to stop its borrowers from cracking down on critics of dams, roads and other projects backed by the bank, leaving vulnerable people like Khun to fend for themselves against companies and governments that often have little patience for dissent.

In a report released in June, Human Rights Watch said the banks weak response to reprisals by its borrowers makes a mockery of the institutions commitment to give people affected by its projects a say in how development efforts are handled. In some cases, the report contends, the World Bank Groups prevailing response has bordered on complete apathy.

As a multinational lender, the World Bank Group doesnt have the authority to directly step in to protect people targeted for reprisals. But it still wields clout in the developing world. Human rights advocates say bank officials should be willing to cut off funding when governments or companies try to silence critics. In years past, even a phone call from the World Banks president could prompt governments to back off retaliatory measures.

The World Bank Group declined to provide detailed answers to questions for this story. It said in a statement published in June that it has strong policies and mechanisms to protect people who want to speak out about its work. When complaints are brought to our attention, a spokesperson said, we work within the scope of our mandate with appropriate parties to try to address them.