Ned Price, a spokesperson for the State Department, stated that the United States was "deeply concerned" by the arrest of Chhim Sithar and urged that charges against her and other detained trade unionists for "exercising their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly" be dropped.
Sithar was arrested along with other trade unionists for "exercising their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly." The statement issued on Wednesday also demanded the release of Theary Seng, a citizen of the United States who was incarcerated as a result of a different political case.
After a mass trial that was condemned by the United States and rights groups as being politically motivated, Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist, was one of sixty opposition figures jailed in June on charges of conspiring to commit treason. The trial was carried out in June.
After returning from a labor convention in Australia, the State Department said that Sithar, whose union has been in a dispute with the NagaWorld casinofor the past year, was arrested upon his return to Cambodia. It was reported that Cambodian authorities had previously violated the rights of workers by detaining union officials and workers who were protesting the firing of NagaWorld employees. The department said in a statement:
“„We urge Cambodian authorities to release Chhim Sithar and all detained trade unionists exercising their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, drop charges against them, and move to constructively resolve their disputes.- The statement by the State Department
Several workers holding a white sheet with pictures of two officials of the NagaWorld company on it According to a statement that was distributed on Monday by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights on behalf of 69 civil society organizations, Sithar was arrested on Saturday and accused of violating the conditions of her bail, which purportedly banned her from leaving the country.
It was stated that Sithar was arrested in January but was later freed on bond in March and that neither she nor her lawyers were told of any termsassociated with her release. In late 2021, the NagaWorld, which is the sole legal casino in Phnom Penh and is extremely profitable, let go of 373 of its employees on the grounds that the company had suffered financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision was made because the NagaWorld was the only casino in the city.
Actions taken by labor unions are not unheard of in Cambodia; nonetheless, they typically take place in remote regions or in industrial estates located in neighboring provinces. The demonstration that was held by the workers of NagaWorld in the central portions of the capital city was exceptionally high-profile and resulted in action by the police.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training said that 249 individuals who had been terminated had agreed to take the compensation offered under the labor legislation and had given up their claim to be rehired. It stated that 124 individuals continue to contest their dismissal and that the ministry would continue to negotiate with those individuals.
In addition, the statement stated that the arrest of Chhim Sithar on Saturday had nothing to do with the labor issue.
Chhim Sithar's immediate and unconditional release was demanded in a statement issued by 69 Cambodian civil society and rights organizations. The statement urged the Cambodian government “to stop being afraid of Chhim Sithar’s strength and bravery.”
“Neither Sithar nor her lawyers were informed of any bail conditions. Her lawyers’ request to view her case file, which would have contained such bail conditions, was never granted, in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure,“ said the statement. “Punishing people for failing to follow secret and undisclosed rules is an injustice and inconsistent with basic principles of the rule of law."
Accusing the government of beating, arresting, sexually harassing and assaulting strikers, the statement called Chhim Sithar's arrest “an unacceptable continuation of this failed policy of repression.”