Cambodia is under increasing pressure from the United States, other Western countries and human rights groups over the arrest of investigative journalist Mech Dara, who had exposed human trafficking, online scamming, environmental destruction and corruption.
Mech Dara, who had been honored by the U.S. for his work, was arrested on September 30 and charged the next day by the municipal court in the capital Phnom Penh with “incitement to cause serious social unrest” over online posts about a quarry excavation at one of the most sacred sites in Cambodia. He faces up to two years in jail.
The arrest comes at a time when ties have been strained between the U.S. and Cambodia over U.S. Treasury Department sanctions on a senator, tycoon and top level adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet’s administration for alleged involvement in human trafficking and scam centers of the type exposed by Dara.
“There is a growing drumbeat of pressure on the Cambodian government to drop the bogus charges against Dara and release him,” Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates, told Newsweek.
“By arresting Mech Dara, the Cambodian government shows that it neither respects media freedom nor cares about efforts to investigate and clean up the burgeoning ‘pig butchering’ scam center enterprises operating with impunity in the country.”
Robertson said he believed it was no coincidence that Mech Dara’s arrest followed U.S. Treasury sanctions on Ly Yong Phat and his businesses “for their role in serious human rights abuse related to the treatment of trafficked workers subjected to forced labor in online scam centers.” Cambodia’s government expressed deep regret at the sanctions. Ly Yong Phat denied wrongdoing, according to the Kiripost news website.
Cambodia’s foreign ministry and information ministry did not respond to Newsweek‘s requests for comment on Mech Dara’s arrest. The information ministry said in a statement that Mech Dara’s arrest was “not a journalism-related affair” and therefore did not reflect on the state of the media in Cambodia.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stands with Mech Dara, left, a 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report Hero, for his work in Cambodia, during a ceremony at the State Department on June 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Dara’s arrest has prompted international condemnation.
AFP via Getty Images/SAUL LOEB
Hun Manet has publicly sought to portray an image of Cambodia as an open country that seeks investment. He wants to rebuild U.S. ties after taking office last year to succeed his father Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who ruled with an iron hand for nearly four decades, crushing independent media and the political opposition.
The U.S. embassy was among the first to call for the release of Mech Dara.
“We are deeply troubled by the arrest of internationally respected journalist Mech Dara and call for his release,” the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement on October 1, the day he was charged.
Last year, Mech Dara was honored by the U.S. State Department as a Trafficking in Persons Report Hero for his work.
“Mech Dara is a Cambodian journalist whose reporting on increased incidents of human trafficking connected to online scam operations were some of the first in-depth investigative pieces on the subject,” its website said.
“Mr. Dara’s reporting on online scam operations brought international attention and improvements in the Cambodian government’s anti-trafficking response.”
Ties between the U.S. and Cambodia grew difficult under Hun Sen, who brought Cambodia firmly into China‘s orbit and made it Beijing’s most reliable ally in Southeast Asia.
The European Union and Australia were among others saying they were concerned by the arrest, and 46 local human rights groups have called for Mech Dara’s release.
“The arrest of Dara is a clear attempt to intimidate and silence him and other journalists in a country where press freedoms are routinely curtailed,” the rights groups said in a statement.
Journalist campaign group Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia at 151 out of 180 countries on its world press freedom index even before the detention of Mech Dara. It said that remaining broadcasters and newspapers maintain the government line and that subjects including opposition, corruption and deforestation are impossible to cover.
“Independent journalist Mech Dara was likely arrested due to an abusive legal complaint from the provincial administration for simply doing his job of reporting information of public interest. We call on the Cambodian government to ensure that he is immediately released,” said Cédric Alviani, the group’s Asia-Pacific Bureau director.
