EI is relieved to learn that Mr Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers' Association (CITA) and of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), was released a few hours after his arrest on 21 January.
Rong Chhun and 10 other activists were arrested at 9.30am on 21 January in front of the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, where they were going to deliver a petition asking for US intervention to release human right activists and workers who have been detained following a police crackdown earlier this month. Rong Chhun and his companions were transferred to the police headquarters before being eventually released around 2pm the same day.
On 14 January, Rong Chhun had already been summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to answer questions relating to the garment workers' strike and demonstration for a minimum wage increase. The court released him but he remained under investigation.
Continued abuse of workers’ rights
EI has written to the Cambodian authorities to condemn the arrest of the CITA President and the continued abuse of workers’ rights in Cambodia. This new worrying episode in the continued harassment of CITA leaders and members demonstrates the Cambodian Government’s lack of respect for teachers’ rights as guaranteed by international labour standards and as recommended in the ILO-UNESCO Recommendations on the Status of Teachers.
In June 2013, the Committee on the Application of the Standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) once again put Cambodia under the international spotlight for its non-compliance with international labour standards, and in particular with ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. In its conclusions, the Committee “noted with concern the allegations of continuing violence, threats and intimidation suffered by trade union leaders and members” and recalled that “the freedom of association rights of workers and employers could only be exercised in a climate free from violence, pressure and threats of any kind, it urged the Government to take the necessary measures to bring an end to impunity in relation to violent acts against trade unionists”. It also requested the Cambodian Government to take further measures to ensure freedom of association rights to public service workers.
EI will continue to monitor closely the situation of teachers’ rights in Cambodia.