Page 6 - aruba-today-20241001

A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 1 OcTOber 2024
A Cambodian reporter who investigated online scam centers has

been arrested

By GRANT PECK and cial disorder or confusion,”
SOPHENG CHEANG which can be prosecuted
Associated Press as a criminal offense. The
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia province also called on the
(AP) — Cambodian free- Information Ministry to take
lance reporter Mech Dara, legal action against him.
noted for investigative re- Mech Dara previously
porting in a country with worked as a journalist for
limited press freedom, was the Cambodia Daily and
arrested Monday, a lead- the Phnom Penh Post, two
ing local human rights or- once-vibrant English-lan-
ganization and a journalists guage newspapers forced
association said. to shut down under gov-
Known especially for inves- ernment pressure, and the
tigating online scam cen- V oice of Democracy radio
ters, Mech Dara’s arrest and website, which was
followed posts he made closed by the government
about a rock quarry that last year. Mech Dara is best
local officials denounced known for his reports in the
Monday as an attempt to past few years about hu-
foment dissent. man trafficking connected
Mech Dara managed to to online scam operations.
send an SMS message to Cambodian freelance journalist Mech Dara in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Feb. 21, 2021. The activity involves trick-
the rights group Licadho Associated Press ing people into signing up
saying he was being arrest- for what they believe are
ed by military police before members of Mech Dara’s pressway to Phnom Penh a quarry operation and of legitimate jobs in Cam-
his phone was seized, said family. when police arrived in a the revered mountain Ba bodia, only to then keep
Am Sam Ath, a Licadho CamboJA on its Facebook military vehicle and five Phnom, which has a Bud- them in virtual slavery in
spokesperson. page also reported that other cars. The relative said dhist pagoda, in the south- compounds often housing
The Associated Press was military police spokesper- the authorities cited an ar- eastern province of Prey casinos as well, where they
not immediately able to son Eng Hy confirmed the rest warrant, but did not Veng. His post may have they go online to target
confirm the arrest, news of arrest, saying it had been show the document. implied that the sacred people around the world.
which circulated Monday carried out with a warrant, The relative said Mech Da- mountain wastatephotos@ In a scam known as “pig
night after government but did not give the cause ra’s phone was seized and ap.org s being destroyed, butchering,” scam opera-
offices were closed. How- or say where Mech Dara that his family members which appears not to be tors slowly build up a rela-
ever, CamboJA News, a had been taken. were asked to stay in their the case. tionship of trust with their
project run by the indepen- A family member whom car and remain silent. On Monday, the Prey Veng targets, often involving ro-
dent Cambodian Journal- CamboJA did not name The police action may provincial administration is- mance, before convincing
ists Alliance Association, said Mech Dara’s car was have been related to two sued a statement rejecting them to hand over large
published details of the stopped at a toll booth at images Mech Dara posted his post, and accused him amounts of money for fake
incident, citing unnamed the entrance to the ex- on his Facebook page of of “wanting to cause so- investments.q

U.N. extends Kenya-led force to tackle gangs in Haiti, but sidelines

call for U.N. peacekeepers

By EDITH M. LEDERER U.N. Security Council voted the Kenya-led multination- ment official since the Unit- with you. And we are un-
Associated Press unanimously Monday to al force helping to tackle ed States proposed a U.N. wavering in our efforts to
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The extend the mandate of gang violence in Haiti, after peacekeeping mission in help restore security and
brushing off a call from Haiti early September as a way stability and put the coun-
to start talks on transform- to secure more resources try on the path to peace
ing it into a U.N. peace- for the Kenya-led mission. and stability.”
keeping mission. Nearly 400 Kenyan officers She said additional finan-
According to the final draft are now in Haiti, joined by cial contributions are ur-
obtained by The Associat- nearly two dozen police of- gently needed for the mul-
ed Press, China and Russia ficers and soldiers from Ja- tinational force and also
succeeded in eliminating maica. The officers fall sig- called on council members
the paragraph in the reso- nificantly short of the 2,500 to heed Haiti’s call for a
lution that acknowledged pledged by various coun- U.N.-funded peacekeep-
the call by the president of tries, including Chad, Benin, ing operation.
Haiti’s transitional presiden- Bangladesh and Barbados China’s deputy U.N. am-
tial council at the U.N. Gen- for the mission. It is also seri- bassador Geng Shuang
eral Assembly “to start a ously short of funding. countered that “The U.N.
discussion” on moving to a U.S. Ambassador Linda has sent multiple peace-
U.N. peacekeeping force. Thomas-Greenfield told the keeping operations in Haiti,
Kenyan police officers, part of a UN-backed multinational Last Thursday’s call by Ed- Security Council that the but the results have never
force, stand next to armored vehicles on their base during a
visit by Kenya’s President William Ruto, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, gard Leblanc Fils was the 15-0 vote “sends a strong been satisfactory, and the
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. first public announcement message to the people of lessons learned have been
Associated Press of support by a govern- Haiti: The world is standing extremely profound.”q