On 28 April 2006 the Municipality of Phnom Penh issued a ban on peaceful demonstrations that three trade unions had planned to celebrate International Labour Day on May 1. The trade unions–the Independent Teachers’ Association (ITA), with over 8000 members; the Free Trade Union Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), with over 70,000 members, and the Cambodia Confederation of Apparel Worker Democratic Unions (CCAWDU), with over 2000 members–were ordered to celebrate May Day at their respective offices.
The unions had notified the government of their plans through a joint letter to the prime minister on March 29, with copies sent to various institutions, including the Municipality of Phnom Penh. The demonstrations were to include a procession along a specified route in order to pay homage to the memory of renowned FTUWKC leader Chea Vichea where he was brutally slain in January 2002. They were to include two petitions to the prime minister: one on minimum pay and the other on better working conditions and shorter hours. On April 18, the unions sent a letter of notification with the same contents but with a more detailed route of the procession to the municipality.
On April 24, municipal officials met with the union members, together with representatives of the police, the military police and local authorities. The Deputy-Chief of the Cabinet of the Municipality, Suon Rindy, said that another trade union, the National Federation of Trade Unions of Cambodia (NFTUC), had also applied for a permit to organize demonstrations at the same place on the same day and had agreed to hold the rally indoors somewhere else. The meeting minutes make no mention of the NFTUC’s application at all but only a caution that the celebration should not be used “to serve any political party” and a request by the municipality to hold events at respective trade union offices so that it would easy to maintain security and law and order. In a letter of April 26 the municipality reported the matter to the interior minister, stating that it had requested all applicants to organize activities at their respective offices so as to avoid any clashes and to make the maintenance of security and law and order easy. The next day, April 27, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng approved the municipality’s request that all demonstrations be indoors. In effect, this decision banned demonstrations to commemorate International Labour Day.
In fact, the ban on demonstrations the grounds given for the ban were baseless. The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that the NFTUC, whose leader is an advisor to Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, had planned to hold its indoors all along. Prime Minister Hun Sen addressed this rally. The authorities could under any circumstances have determined different localities for the respective demonstrations if there were genuine fears that they might clash. Phnom Penh still has open spaces for separate demonstrations to be held at the same time. Many people have concluded that the reference to another application for demonstrations was just a ploy to ban the three groups’ joint demonstrations.
Not only was the ban was unjustified, but it was also politically motivated. The ITA and the FTUWKC are known to be critical of the government over persistently poor working conditions and low wages for teachers, public servants and workers. ITA leader Rong Chhun was among those arrested last year for allegedly defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen. FTUWKC leader Chea Mony was also named in the lawsuit; he was abroad at the time and could not be arrested. The government is also still very sensitive to any remembrance of the death of Chea Vichea, who has been widely considered a national hero. When he was slain, up to a hundred thousand people joined his funeral, and the two men arrested and convicted for his murder are believed innocent.
When on April 28 the municipality met with representatives of the unions to inform them of the ban, the unionists said they would go ahead with the demonstrations anyway, as their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. The municipality reminded them that according to the 1991 Law on Demonstrations, it is entitled to ban gatherings organized by two different groups at the same place as they “can have bad consequences”. It said that the unions would be responsible for the safety of participating workers and for security and social order if they proceeded.
As early as at 4am on May 1 civilian police and military police forces armed with rifles and electric batons were deployed to seal off all entrances to Phnom Penh. Demonstrators arriving in trucks were beaten with electric batons and sprayed with foul water from canons. Many persisted and took different transport to enter the city. As workers were struggling to get into Phnom Penh, the police detained FTUWKC leader Chea Mony and several other unionists in an attempt to intimidate the others.
In the city centre the civilian police and military police forces sealed off National Assembly Square with police trucks. The teachers and workers who had succeeded in slipping into town were forced to hold their rally at the office of the FTUWKC. Civilian police and military police forces were also deployed to block access to this office and prevent the assembled group from organising any marches outside. Phnom Penh looked like a city under siege, with police blocking routes all across and around the capital.
At this point opposition party leader Sam Rainsy asked the interior minister to lift the ban and release the detained workers. Sar Kheng acceded to the request. Finally, some 5000 demonstrators who had been able to reach the FTUWKC office began their march to pay homage to Chea Vichea. They then proceeded to National Assembly Square, rightly proclaiming victory over the ban and reaffirming their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and expression.
The Asian Human Rights Commission salutes the Cambodian teachers and workers for their solidarity and determination to exercise their rights, and success in defying this ban. This success is an invaluable contribution to the progress of human rights in Cambodia.
