Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American dual citizen, dressed as Lady Liberty the day she received a 6-year sentence from the Phnom Penh municipal court for “conspiracy to commit treason” and “incitement to create social disorder.” The evidence was nothing more than a series of Facebook posts criticizing Hun Sen, Cambodia’s Prime minister.
In a video she posted en route to court, she stated, “I am freedom… I am the oxygen you breathe. This autocratic regime wants to stop you from breathing. This autocratic regime wants to imprison freedom.”
Seng was arbitrarily detained on Jun 14, 2022. Over two years later, Seng’s lack of release is a haunting display of how democracy is failing our very own “Lady Liberty.”
A survivor of the Cambodian genocide, Seng emigrated to the United States at age nine and went on to receive her B.S. from Georgetown University and J.D. from the University of Michigan. She then returned to Cambodia and founded two advocacy organizations, the Cambodia Center for Justice and Reconciliation and the Center for Cambodian Civic Education. In her advocacy efforts, she became a vocal critic of the reigning Cambodian People’s Party, particularly its leader, Hun Sen, and a proponent of the opposition party.
Seng’s civic work was highlighted by the USC Shoah Foundation, an institute dedicated to collecting testimonies from subjects of genocide. This article outlined Seng’s triumphant journey from an orphan by the Khmer Rouge to the fiery political activist, lawyer and author she is today. Attached to this article is a headshot in front of a vertically columned building, a location eerily familiar to a USC student. This image was taken in front of the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Center for International and Public Affairs, the same building that houses classes such as International Courts and Globalization of the Law, Leadership and Democracy and Global History of War Crimes: Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Although initially published just a paltry two months before her arrest, Theary’s photo with the backdrop of our campus now appears next to articles discussing her political suppression from news channels around the world. Seng’s continual detainment taints the walls of not only our capital but our campus, too.
The face in that professional headshot is unrecognizable from Seng’s mugshot, where she dons a shaved head, orange prison garb and a sullen expression. During her two years in prison, numerous human rights organizations such as Freedom House and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Groups have spoken out against her arrest. The Clooney Foundation of Justice’s TrialWatch Initiative found that she was imprisoned on a lack of evidence in a marred justice procedure, resulting in an arbitrary conviction under international law. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention supports these claims, asserting that her detention violated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Despite a change in leadership when Hun Sen’s son, Hun Manet, took over the prime minister role, the call for Theary Seng’s release remains ignored by the Cambodian parliament.
These calls for release are heard not only outside her prison cell but inside it as well. In Dec 2023, Theary held a hunger strike while in prison, which ended in a stay at Phnom Penh Hospital. This hospital visit delayed an appeals court visit scheduled for later months. Her brother, Mardi Seng, reported that Theary fired her lawyers and plans to represent herself when the appeal eventually occurs.
Even President Biden has echoed the ubiquitous call for justice. When visiting Cambodia in Nov 2022, five months after Seng’s detainment, Biden called for the release of activists detained on politically motivated charges, explicitly naming Theary Seng. However, simply calling on Seng’s release is a shallow and cowardly display of Biden’s presidential powers.
The Robert Levison Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, signed into law in Dec 2020, establishes various procedures and entities to address the wrongful detainment of US citizens abroad. If the Department of State designates Seng as “unlawfully detained” under this act, her case will be transferred to the Office of Special Presidential Envoy on Hostage Affairs. This case transfer allows for additional resources and expertise, ensuring her case receives the attention it deserves. The bi-partisan Levinson Act is bolstered by Executive Order 14078, which expands the tools available to deter and reprimand those responsible for the detainment of US citizens abroad. Issued by President Biden a month after Seng’s arrest, this order declared hostage-taking a national emergency and provided a pathway to impose sanctions on hostage-takers.
Biden’s unwillingness to invoke the Levinson Act reflects a larger loosening of US influence on Cambodian Politics as China’s power expands south. The United States adopted the Cambodian Democracy Act in 2021, which allowed for the sanctioning of individuals who have undermined democracy. This act, coupled with an arms embargo, caused a rapid deterioration of US-Cambodia relations, providing ample opportunity for China to assert dominance. China recently moored its naval fleet at Cambodia’s Ream Naval base, representing China’s first maritime post in the Indo-Pacific. Chinese funds built this base, which was met with concern by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. As democratic influence in the nation withers away, so does hope for Theary Seng’s release.
Infuriatingly, Seng’s imprisonment is not an idiosyncrasy. Despite protections such as the Levinson Act and Executive Order 14078, the State Department has routinely abandoned foreign citizens abroad. The 2023 Hostage report by the James Foley Foundation found that 59 US nationals are held captive in foreign countries, 90% of whom are wrongful detainees. The instituted protections don’t mean anything if they are not implemented to serve those immediately affected.
US democracy is rooted in the enshrined freedoms put forth in the First Amendment of the Constitution, securing freedom of speech and freedom of petition. Democracy in Cambodia echoes those same values, with Article 41 of the Cambodian Constitution stating, “Khmer citizens shall have freedom of expression of their ideas.” Seng’s arbitrary detainment for expression of her belief reflects a blatant disregard for the very values that democracy stands on.
Cambodian democracy neglected Seng with imprisonment and a botched trial. But US democracy is a violent bystander in her prosecution, abandoning not only her but a whole nation desperate for hope and equality.
Seng’s case is a vile example of the detrimental encroachment on civil liberties, both domestically and to citizens abroad. Despite the damaging history of the US presence in the nation, The United States does not deserve the privilege to step back and disengage from Cambodia. They must act on the human rights violations and collaborate with advocates, such as Seng, to pave the way for a more equal and just Cambodia.