Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 392, October 2020

Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body

1. 16. The Committee last examined this case (presented in February 2015), in which the complainant denounced the refusal to register a trade union at a garment factory, acts of anti-union discrimination following a strike, the use of military force on striking workers and excessive legislative requirements for the determination and election of union leadership, at its June 2019 meeting [see 389th Report, paras 25–37]. On that occasion, the Committee requested the Government to provide concrete information on the results of the fact-finding committees investigating the allegations of killings, physical violence and arrests of protesting workers and expressed its expectation that the concerned workers would be fully compensated for any damage suffered. The Committee also requested the Government to provide information on the outcome of the appeal proceedings concerning six trade unionists who had led the general strike in December 2013 and who had been sentenced to a suspended two-and-a-half year imprisonment and ordered to jointly pay 35 million Cambodian riels (US$8,750) as compensation.
2. 17. In its communication dated 4 October 2019, the Government indicates that the six trade union leaders – Ath Thorn, Chea Mony, Yarng Sophorn, Pav Sina, Rong Chhun and Mam Nhim – who had been sentenced to a suspended two-and-a-half year imprisonment and ordered to jointly pay compensation appealed the judgment with the legal support from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) and the Ministry of Justice. On 28 May 2019, the Court of Appeal delivered its ruling and ordered to drop all charges against the union leaders. The Government affirms that following the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the unionists enjoy the exercise of their freedom of association as prescribed by the Law on Trade Union. It adds that the judgment was based on the evidence and the outcome of the fact-finding committees investigating the allegations of killings, physical violence and arrests of protesting workers.
3. 18. With regard to allegations of anti-union discrimination, the Government states that in addition to the existing mechanisms, the Department of Labour Inspection and the Department of Labour Dispute jointly prepared an administrative letter to alert employers and employers’ representatives on the strict implementation of the provisions related to anti-union discrimination, including inappropriate termination of employment contract. The MLVT is confident that the existing mechanisms and legal provisions can safeguard and provide an adequate protection against anti-union discrimination. The Government also reaffirms its commitment to guarantee the exercise of freedom of association in a climate free from intimidation and violence and requests the Committee to withdraw this case from the list of pending cases.
4. 19. The Committee takes notes of the information provided by the Government. It welcomes, in particular, the Government's indication that in May 2019, the Court of Appeal ordered to drop all charges against the six trade union leaders who had led the general strike in December 2013 and who had been previously sentenced to a suspended two-and-a-half year imprisonment, and that the union leaders are now freely exercising their freedom of association rights. The Committee also welcomes the Government's updated information in relation to the initiatives taken to ensure adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, as well as its reiterated commitment to guaranteeing the exercise of freedom of association rights in a climate free from intimidation and violence. The Committee trusts that these measures will contribute to creating and maintaining an environment conducive to the development of harmonious and stable industrial relations.
5. 20. While further noting from the information provided by the Government that the three fact-finding committees, established in the aftermath of the alleged use of military force on striking workers in January 2014, seem to have investigated the allegations of killings, physical injury and arrest of protesting workers denounced by the complainant and that their findings were used in the above judgment of the Court of Appeal, the Committee regrets to observe that more than six years after the alleged incidents, the Government does not provide any concrete information as to the actual findings made by these committees in relation to the complainant's serious allegations (the killing of five workers, the wounding of more than 40 workers and the arrest of 23 union leaders and striking workers (see 380th Report, October 2016, para. 123)). The Committee therefore recalls that it is important that investigations into the murders of trade unionists should yield concrete results in order to determine reliably the facts, the motives and the persons responsible, in order to apply the appropriate punishments and to prevent such incidents recurring in the future [see Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, para. 96]. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government once again to provide concrete information on the results of the fact-finding committees investigating the allegations of killings, physical violence and arrests of protesting workers, in particular to indicate whether the responsible persons were identified, the guilty parties punished and the concerned workers or their families fully compensated for any damage suffered. The Committee trusts that the Government will be able to provide details in this regard without delay.