Cambodian police and military officers worked as private security guards in scam compounds where thousands were forced to work in the online fraud industry, according to a report by Amnesty International.
The global rights group alleged they worked for security companies as part of a system that enabled slavery and rape in the compounds, with some guards using electric batons to keep people trapped.
“For years, survivors of these nightmarish compounds described encountering members of the Cambodian military or police inside. These accounts could not be independently verified – until now,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general.
Based on 151 survivor interviews, visits to 82 scam compounds and social media videos from dozens of guard accounts showing them in company uniform, the investigation said it could link illicit operations with five well-connected private security companies.
“Our findings begin to expose the long-suspected links between Cambodia’s billion-dollar criminal scamming networks and politically connected figures who have remained largely beyond scrutiny,” Callamard said.
“At the heart of these connections are security companies whose guards controlled compound exits, hunted down people who…