Unions Threaten May Day March Despite Ban

May Day parade in 2010 (Photo: AP)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 28 April 2011

“This is a worry and a threat by the government to the freedom of assembly and expression of the Cambodian people.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a circular on Thursday banning workers from assembling on International Labor Day, May 1, but a coalition of unions says it will go ahead with plans.

The missive comes after the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union announced plans to gather some 3,000 laborers in Phnom Penh to mark the day.

Ath Thon, president of the coalition, said he plans to gather the workers in a march nevertheless.

“This circular shows a tightening on the rights to assembly and march, but up to now, our working group will follow the plan without changing,” he said. “Our assembly will not affect security and public order. The authorities have the ability to protect security and public order. I think the government should not worry about this.”

The march is scheduled to start in front of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, near Wat Phnom, and pass by the Royal Palace and National Assembly, where workers will bring a petition for better working rights and conditions.

City restricts union march

Unionists march in 2009 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the killing of union leader Chea Vichea. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Thursday, 20 January 2011
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Phnom Penh municipal authorities have granted permission for unionists to hold a march through the city in memory of slain unionist Chea Vichea, though they have imposed restrictions on where and how the group can assemble.

In a meeting at City Hall on Wednesday, Koeut Chhe, deputy chief of the municipal cabinet, said 250 members of the Free Trade Union would be permitted to participate in the march, but that they would not be permitted to carry banners make public statements.

According to a report of the meeting obtained today, Koeut Chhe also said the march would be barred from passing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house near Independence Monument, and warned that the ceremony must not be used as a platform for FTU members to make political statements.

“If the participants do not respect the above conditions, the permit holder must be completely responsible before the law,” the report quoted Koeut Chhe as saying.

Sam Rainsy Meets State Department Official

Sam Rainsy, leader of SRP, talks to VOA Khmer on 'Hello VOA', while visiting Washington DC, on Thursday. (Photo: by Pin Sisovann)

Click here to listen to the report in Khmer (MP3)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Thursday, 10 June 2010

“The current ruling party in Cambodia uses the court system as a tool to prevent opposition or minorities from having a legitimate right to protect the people’s interest against corruption."

Exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy met with a senior US State Department official in Washington on Wednesday, claiming Cambodian courts were working to marginalize his party.

“The current ruling party in Cambodia uses the court system as a tool to prevent opposition or minorities from having a legitimate right to protect the people’s interest against corruption,” Sam Rainsy said, following a meeting with Scot Marciel, the Assistant Secretary of State in charge of Asean affairs.

Sam Rainsy is currently on a visit to the US to build political support for his party, which holds 26 seats in the National Assembly, compared to 90 held by the Cambodian People’s Party.

Sam Rainsy is facing criminal charges for publishing a map on his party’s website to support claims that a border arrangement between Vietnam and Cambodia has eroded national land, and he is facing a jail sentence on charges related to uprooting border markers in Svay Rieng province.

Sam Rainsy told VOA Khmer that he had raised issues of forced evictions, restricted freedom of assembly, the prosecution of journalists and a biased judiciary with Marciel.

“So there should not be one group that tries to eliminate another group, like in Cambodia,” Sam Rainsy said. “In the US, democracy is lively because they know how to respect each other, especially the majority that respects the minority.”

Cambodian government officials said Wednesday they were not concerned with Sam Rainsy’s visit to the US.

Sam Rainsy is scheduled to meet with other officials from Congress and rights groups before giving a speech to a group of Cambodian-Americans in Virginia.

Rights Party Attacks Demonstration Draft

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 May 2008

Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha blasted a new draft law on demonstration that he said would limit the rights of Cambodians to freedom of assembly, especially in seeking redress to governmental wrongdoing.

The draft law has received widespread condemnation from rights groups, especially a clause that limits the number of demonstrators to 200 participants and the time of gatherings from 6 am to 6 pm. The draft law also focuses more responsibility on demonstration organizers “if the demonstration becomes violent and destroys public or private property.”

“The human rights party cannot accept this new draft law on demonstrations, as it is not serving the interest of people or democracy, but the ruling [Cambodian People’s Party] interest,” Kem Sokha said.

The party would seek laws that open more rights and freedoms if it wins July’s general election, he said.

“The new draft law on demonstrations is not widely democratic for the people to express and protest on their grievances and concerns,” said Ny Chakrya, chief of Adhoc’s rights investigation unit.

The people have a right to push the government to solve such issues as the judiciary, corruption, poverty and land disputes, he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has welcomed the draft, saying it does not limit peaceful demonstration but helps authorities protect “national security, public order,…public health [and] morale [and] rights and freedom of other people.”