Cambodia: Bring Killers of Trade Unionist to Justice

Cambodia: Bring Killers of Trade Unionist to Justice

Six Major Human Rights and Trade Union Groups Condemn Recent Killing
(London, February 27, 2007) - The Cambodian government must ensure
that the killing of trade unionist Hy Vuthy is thoroughly and
independently investigated and that all persons responsible are
brought to justice in accordance with international standards of
fairness, a group of leading human rights and trade union
organizations said today.

The organizations include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Asian Forum
for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), and the Observatory for
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint programme of the
International Federation for Human Rights/FIDH and the World
Organisation against Torture/OMCT).

On February 24, Hy Vuthy, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers
in the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) at the Suntex garment factory, was
shot dead while riding his motorbike home after finishing his night
shift at the Suntex factory in Phnom Penh's Dangkao district. The
murder, which took place one kilometer from the factory, was
reportedly committed by two men on a motorbike.

Hy Vuthy is the third FTUWKC official to be killed in three years.
Chea Vichea, the union's President, was shot dead in January 2004. In
May 2004, Ros Sovannareth, the FTUWKC President at the Trinunggal
Komara factory, was murdered.

The killing of Hy Vuthy is the latest in a string of attacks and
assassinations of union activists in Cambodia. During 2006 there were
several violent attacks against FTUWKC officials at Suntex and the
neighboring Bright Sky factory. Throughout the year, FTU
representatives at the two factories, which have the same owner,
lobbied for improvements in employment conditions, particularly
relating to contract periods.

In May the union's vice-president at Suntex, Chey Rithy, was attacked
while he was riding home from work. The same month, Chi Samon, FTU
president of the Bright Sky factory, was attacked by seven men,
allegedly including a member of a rival trade union. He was hit
several times in the face and on his body with sticks and iron bars.
Still in May, Yeng Vann Yuth, active member of FTU of the Bright Sky
factory, was attacked as well. In June, Lem Samrith, FTU treasurer of
the Bright Sky factory, was beaten by about 20 men as he was coming
out of the factory after a night shift. In July, Lay Chamroeun, FTU
vice-president of Suntex factory, was attacked by six young men on
motorbikes as he was leaving work. In September, Choy Chin, the union
secretary-general at Suntex, was beaten on the head by two men armed
with a metal pipe. In October, Em Chhay Tieng, FTU vice-president of
the Bright Sky factory, was hit in the face and threatened with arrest
during a strike in the factory.

Such a pattern of violence is extremely likely to have a chilling
effect on the members and leaders of FTUWKC and other union activists
throughout Cambodia. It results in the stifling of trade union
activities among workers. Cambodia is a party to all major
International Labour Organisation conventions, notably those relating
to freedom of association and collective bargaining. It is also a
party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which both provide for the right of everyone to form trade unions and
join the trade union of his or her choice as well as the right of
trade unions to function freely. The UN Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders of 1998 also enshrines "the right, individually and in
association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection
and realization of human rights".

Prosecuting those responsible for Hy Vuthy's killing is the only way
to give a clear signal to the perpetrators of acts of violence against
trade unionists that such behaviour will not be tolerated in the
future. The Cambodian government must put an end to the prevailing
climate of impunity.

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