May 3, 2013
A statue of a Cambodian union boss gunned down on a Phnom Penh street
in 2004 was unveiled Friday in a rare public recognition of a champion
of workers' rights in the impoverished kingdom.
Government critic and labour activist Chea Vichea was shot dead in
broad daylight while reading a newspaper on a street in the capital nine
years ago.
Two men have been jailed over his murder, but rights groups and the
victim's family allege they were wrongly convicted to protect the real
culprits.
Chea Vichea founded the Free Trade Union, which now boasts around
90,000 members mostly employed in Cambodia's lucrative garment industry,
which has been at the heart of labour disputes and media scandals over
low wages and conditions.
Campaigners say his murder is a symbol of the kingdom's culture of
impunity for powerful interest groups determined to muzzle dissent.
Permission to erect the statue -- in a park near where he was slain
-- was for many years denied by the government of strongman prime
minister Hun Sen before being granted recently.
It will now stand as a symbol of "gratitude for his physical and
mental sacrifice for... workers across the country," according to the
late activist's brother Chea Mony.
Chea Mony, who now heads the Free Trade Union, also called for the
release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun -- the two men sentenced to 20
years in prison for the murder. The pair allege they were framed by
police.
The country earned $4.6 billion from its garment exports last year
but a series of strikes has pointed to festering discontent in the
industry which employs about 650,000 people and produces clothes for top
western brands.
The monthly minimum wage for the hundreds of thousands of workers who
make clothes for firms such as Levi Strauss of the US and Sweden's
H&M this week rose from $61 to $75 following months of protest.
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