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CAMBODIA: Police used violence to break up a strike at Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company in Kandal province

December 5, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

5 December 2007
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UA-336-2007: CAMBODIA: Police used violence to break up a strike at Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company in Kandal province

CAMBODIA: Denial of freedom of assembly & expression; labour rights
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from an official of the Cambodian Government Garment Workers Democratic Union (CGWDU), a human rights activist and other reliable sources, that on the morning of 29 November 2007 some 200 police officers armed with assault rifles, electric batons, tear gas and anti-riot shields used violence to break up a peaceful strike by over 2000 workers at the Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company. This company is located in Prek Khsev village, Rokar Khpuos commune, Saang district in the southern province of Kandal. The police assaulted workers and arrested CGWDU officials. Two female workers were injured in this violent crackdown.

CASE DETAILS:

According to Yan Sarann, CGWDU vice-president at the Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company in Prek Khsev village, Rokar Khpuos commune, Saang district in the southern province of Kandal, on 28 November over 2000 workers of that factory began to stage a peaceful strike. That factory is located along Highway 21, which leads to the Vietnamese border. The workers were requesting the company to accede to the remaining five points of their twelve-point demand.

The strike had proceeded peacefully, with workers gathering in front of the factory. On the morning of 29 November, the Saang district police, the Kandal provincial police and the military police dispatched a combined force of some 200 men armed with assault rifles, electric batons, tear gas and anti-riot shields to the factory. According to Yan Sarann there were two groups of police: one of some 100 men, which approached the front of the factory while the rest went to the back and inside the yard.

According to the same union official, at around 9am the former group of 100 officers went to tell the strikers that their action was disturbing public order. Then they started to grab the sound equipment which union officials were using to amplify their demands. The workers resisted this confiscation of their equipment. A commotion broke out in which the police went to arrest not the speakers, but four apparently pre-targeted union officials in front of the gate of the factory. They handcuffed them tightly, dragged them into the yard of the factory, beat them and kicked them about.

The other workers could not just look on at the brutal treatment of their representatives, and started to pelt the police with stones and pieces of soil. The police fired tear gas and then fired gun shots in the air to disperse the workers, causing further commotion among them. The police then charged against the workers, beating and electrocuting whoever got in their way.

The crackdown lasted altogether about 15 minutes. Many workers were beaten or electrocuted, and suffered the effects of the tear gas. Two female workers suffered serious injuries, one of whom, named Vong Kina, 20, had to be hospitalized for injuries sustained in her left leg. Four union officials, all male -- named Pich Pin, 24, Yim Sarun, 24, Non Pheara, 25, and Eth Chey, 27 -- were arrested and taken to the headquarters of the provincial police in Takhmau, the capital of Kandal province.

Many workers followed the four union officials taken away by the police, and went to the provincial court, then to the provincial police headquarters to demand their release. Later in the day all the four men were released. Yim Sarun who sustained serious injuries during the police assault, had to undergo medical treatment at a clinic after his release.

Saang District Governor Lim Chankiri has been reported as saying that the police had gone to open the traffic on Highway 21, which the workers were blocking, but when they arrived there, the workers thought the police were coming to break them up and started to resist police intervention by pelting them with stones and pieces of soil.

However this allegation was an attempt to cover up the police crackdown on a peaceful strike. There are traffic police that can and should do the aforementioned job. This traffic police force is not armed as heavily as the police force that broke up that strike. It is hardly likely that the latter police force - armed and equipped with anti-riot equipment - had originally been dispatched to open the traffic.

According to the sources cited above, the police did not go there to open the traffic. They set out to break up the strike.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company is a Taiwanese-owned company which employs nearly 2900 workers, 1600 whom are members of Cambodian Garment Workers Democratic Union (CGWDU). It is located some 10 kilometers away from the private residence of the current prime minister, who is also a member of parliament for Kandal province.

Cambodia’s garment industry employs the largest workforce in the country and has created over 300,000 jobs for local people. It exported over 2.5 billion USD worth of garments in 2006.

The cause of the strike was a dispute over a twelve-point demand by the workers. With the help of the Labour Arbitration Council, the owner and CGWDU had reached an agreement on seven of the 12 points of the dispute. CGDWU accepted the decision of the Labour Arbitration Council on those 12 points. But the company rejected five points: on bonuses for work attendance, an annual 18 day-paid holiday (in compliance with the Labour Law), employment contracts, salary based on number of package instead of monthly payment for those packaging workers and a request for the dismissal of the company's arbitration officer. CGWDU considers all these points are important to its overall demand.

Before the strike, CGWDU had complied with all the procedures as determined by the Labour Law of 1997, including negotiations with the company, arbitration by the Labour Inspector, arbitration by the Labour Arbitration Council, and notification of the strike to the company.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) holds that the police crackdown on the strike of the workers of the Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company was a blatant violation of the right to strike, guaranteed and protected by the Constitution and the Labour Law of Cambodia. The Cambodian government should take action against the police who used violence to break up the strike. It should also take effective measures to prevent any further crackdown on labour strikes, and ensure that the police are a force that serves and protects the people.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send your letters to the authorities listed below to call for action to be taken against the police force that used violence to break up a lawful and initially peaceful strike, and also for measures to prevent further crackdowns on labour strikes. The AHRC is writing separate letters to UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia, calling for intervention in this matter.

To support this appeal, please click here:

Suggested letter:


Dear _________,

CAMBODIA: Police used violence to break up a strike at Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company in Kandal province

Name of victims:
1. Vong Kina, 20, hospitalized for injuries sustained in her left leg
2. Pich Pin, 24
3. Yim Sarun, 24
4. Non Pheara, 25
5. Eth Chey, 27 and other works
[All are workers at the Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company]
Name of alleged perpetrators: Members of the Saang district police force, the Kandal provincial police force and the military police force
Date of incident: 28 November 2007
Place of incident: Prek Khsev village, in the southern province of Kandal

I wish to express my deep concern relating to the violent police crackdown on the lawful and peaceful strike staged by over 2000 workers at the Fortune Garment and Woolen Knitting Company on the morning of 29 November, 2007. That garment factory is located in Prek Khsev village, Rokar Khpuos commune, Saang district in the southern province of Kandal. During the crackdown the police arrested and assaulted workers, causing serious injuries to two female workers. The police arrested officials of the Cambodian Garment Workers Democratic Union (CGWDU), one of whom has sustained serious injuries.

I have learned that the strike had begun peacefully on 28 November with workers gathering in front of the factory, but on the morning of 29 November a mixed police force of some 200 men armed with assault rifles, electric batons, tear gas and anti-riot shields was dispatched to the factory. Some 100 officers approached the front of the factory while the rest went to its back and inside its yard.

The former group officers went to tell the strikers that their action was disturbing public order, then started to grab the sound equipment union officials were using to amplify their demands. The workers resisted this confiscation of their equipment, sparking a commotion in which the police went to arrest - not the speakers - but the four apparently pre-targeted union officials in front of the gate of the factory. They handcuffed them tightly, dragged them into the yard of the factory, and then beat them and kicked them about.

The other workers could not look on the brutal treatment of their representatives and started to pelt the police with stones and pieces of soil. The police started to fire tear gas and then fired gun shots in the air to disperse the workers, causing further commotion among them. The police then charged against workers, beating and electrocuting whoever was in their way.
 
In the crackdown many workers were beaten or electrocuted, and suffered from the effects of tear gas. Two woman workers suffered serious injuries, one of whom named Vong Kina, 20, who had to be hospitalised for the injuries she sustained in her left leg. Four union officials, all male, named Pich Pin, 24, Yim Sarun, 24, Non Pheara, 25, and Eth Chey, 27, were arrested and taken to the headquarters of the provincial police in Takhmau, the capital of Kandal province. These four were later released, thanks to pressure from fellow workers.

I hold that the police crackdown on the strike of those workers was a blatant violation of the right to strike guaranteed, which is protected by the Constitution and the Labour Law of Cambodia.

I therefore urge the Cambodian government to take action against the police who broke up the strike and used violence to do so. It should pay compensation to workers who have sustained serious injuries due to this police action. It should also take effective measures to prevent any further crackdown on labour strikes, and ensure that the police are a force that serves and protects the people.

I trust the Cambodian government will take such action and measures.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Samdech Hun Sen
Prime Minister
Cabinet of the Prime Minister
No. 38, Russian Federation Street
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 2321 9898
Fax: +855 23 36 0666
E-mail: cabinet1b@camnet.com.kh

2. Mr. Sar Kheng
Deputy-Prime Minister
Minister of Interior
No.275 Norodom Blvd., Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax/phone: +855 23 721 905 / 23 726 052 / 23 721 190
E-Mail: info@interior.gov.kh or moi@interior.gov.kh

3. Mr. Tea Banh
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of National Defence
Russian Federation Street
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855-23 883184 / 428171
Fax: +855-23 883184
E-mail: info@mond.gov.kh

4. Mr. Ang Vong Vathna
Minster of Justice
No 240, Sothearos Blvd.
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: +855 23 36 4119 / 21 6622
E-mail: moj@cambodia.gov.kh

5. Mr. Vorng Soth
Minister
Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training  
No 3, Russian Federation Street
12156 Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855-23-88 43 75; +855-12-85 41 17
Fax: +855-23-35 35 38
E-mail: mlv@cambodia.gov.kh or mlvt.gov@camintel.com

6. Mr. Henro Raken
Prosecutor-General
Court of Appeal
No 240, Sothearos Blvd.
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 11 86 27 70
Fax: +855 23 21 66 22

7. General Hok Lundy
National Police Commissioner
General-Commisariat of National Police
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 23 21 65 85
Fax: +855 23 22 09 52

8. General Sao Sokha
Commander
Military Police
Mao Tse Tung Blvd
Khan Tuol Kok
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 12 36 3636

9. Mr. Christophe Peschoux
Director
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - Cambodia
N 10, Street 302
Sangkat Boeng Keng Kang I
Khan Chamcar Mon
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 23 987 671 / 987 672, 993 590 / 993 591 or +855 23 216 342
Fax: +855 23 212 579 / 213 587
E-mail: cpeschoux@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-336-2007
Countries :
Issues :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.