ACTION: Cambodia trade union leader murdered
Sunday, 18 March 2007 20:17
| Article Index |
|---|
| ACTION: Cambodia trade union leader murdered |
| European motion on Cambodia murders |
| Take Action |
| All Pages |
On February 24 2007 Hy Vuthy, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of 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 factory . The murder, less than two kilometers from the factory, was reportedly carried out by two men on a motorbike. According to preliminary investigations by local organizations, the 36-year-old union leader received telephone death threats approximately three months ago.
Contact the Cambodian authorities now, urging them to launch a proper investigation into his murder and to take steps to ensure the saftey of all trade union leaders in Cambodia.
Labour Behind the Label, along with the FTUWKC, local human rights organizations, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others, strongly condemns this killing. We are calling upon the Cambodian government to bring to justice those responsible for this and previous killings of unionists and to bring to an end the climate of impunity that surrounds the violation of human rights in the workplace.
Hy Vuthy is survived by his wife, Var Sopheak, a four-year-old son, and a five-month-old daughter. Serious concerns remain about the safety of his family, who are still subject to harassment. They were forced to flee their home after it was pelted with rocks and later was surrounded by a group of motorbikes. Your contributions to a support fund for Var Sopheak and her children are urgently needed.
More information on making a contribution to this fund >>
Three trade union leaders killed in three years.
Hy Vuthy was killed shortly after successfully negotiating a one-day holiday for Suntex workers for the Khmer New Year. The Suntex factory is owned by the Singapore-based Ocean Sky group, which reports that they produce for export, mainly to the United States for US-based brands and retailers. Hy Vuthy is the third FTUWKC official to be assassinated in three years. Chea Vichea, the union's president, was shot dead in January 2004 by two men on a motorbike. In May 2004 Ros Sovannarith, the FTUWKC president at the Trinunggal Komara factory, was also murdered by two men on a motorbike.
A three-year campaign has been ongoing to seek justice for Chea Vichea. In that case, the credibility of the Cambodian justice system has been seriously compromised by the imprisonment of two innocent men for the crime. His family and the union are appealing for the release of the two men and a new investigation and follow-up that meets international standards.
Ongoing violence against trade unionists at Ocean Sky factories
Hy Vuthy's murder also follows at least five violent attacks in 2006 against FTUWKC officials at Suntex and the neighboring Bright Sky factory, also owned by Ocean Sky. In May union vice-president at Suntex, Chey Rithy, Yen Vann Yuth, FTU member at Bright Sky were both attacked and beaten. In June Lem Samrith, FTU treasurer at Bright Sky was beaten by 20 men as he left the factory after working the night shift. In July, Lay Chamroeun, FTU vice president at Suntex was attached by six men as he left 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, a workers' strike at Bright Sky factory was violently broken up by police; one worker was shot in the stomach and an FTUWKC activist was punched in the face.
"There is a disturbing pattern of assassinations and physical assaults against FTUWKC representatives in general, and in particular against those at Suntex and Bright Sky factories," said Kek Galabru, president of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) in a statement following the latest murder. "We believe this is an orchestrated campaign of violence, intended to crush this union and frighten its members."
