Ei-iE

Mr Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers' Association (CITA) and of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) was arrested by the police on 21 January while attending a workers’ meeting in Phnom Penh.

CITA expressed grave concern for Mr. Rong Chhun’s safety and security as they have not been able to contact him since he was arrested and have been unable to identify where he is detained.

Continued harassment against the teacher union members

This arrest is another strong signal from the government towards the CITA leaders and members who have already been intimated at provincial level  when exercising their right to freedom of assembly and expression. On 14 January, Mr. Rong Chhun had been summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to answer questions relating to the garment workers' strike and demonstration for minimum wage increase. The court released him but he remained under investigation.

This continued harassment of CITA and of its leader in particular demonstrates the government lack of respect for teachers’ rights as guaranteed under the ILO Conventions 87 and 98 or for the due process and best practice as recommended in the ILO-UNESCO Recommendations on the Status of Teachers.

EI will write again to the Cambodian authorities to deplore the continued abuse of workers’ rights in Cambodia.

The UN also deplores the repressive response

Earlier this week, on 17 January, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Mr Subedi, urged the Government to overturn the current ban on demonstrations in force since 4 January and stressed that the Government must work to ensure that the national minimum wage is set at a sufficient level to provide workers and their families with a decent standard of living, to be reviewed periodically, based on data, analysis and participation, not repression.