Chea Vichea

Chea Vichea was the leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) until his assassination on 22 January 2004.

Vichea was shot in the head and chest while reading a newspaper at a kiosk in Phnom Penh; he had recently been dismissed by the INSM Garment Factory (located in the Chum Chao District of Phnom Penh), as a reprisal for helping to establish a trade union at the company. He was also closely affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party. Following his death, he was succeeded in his position at the FTUWKC by his brother Chea Mony.

A few days after Vichea's killing, and facing mounting criticism for their failure to act, Cambodian authorities arrested two men and charged them with the murder. The first, Born Samnang, intitially admitted to the killing but then publicly retracted, claiming to have been beaten into confessing. Multiple eyewitnesses have placed Born Samnang in a different part of the country at the time of the murder. The second suspect, Sok Sam Oeun, has consistently denied any involvement.

On 19 March 2004, the Investigating Judge in the case, Hing Thirith, threw out the charges against the two men, citing a lack of evidence against them. A few days later, Thirith was sacked from his job at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and his decision to drop charges was subsequently overturned by the Appeals Court. More than a year after the murder, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun have yet to be tried and remain in custody in Phnom Penh, despite a Cambodian law that no one be detained without trial for longer than six months. The case has been taken up by many human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has publicly accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of being behind the murder of Chea Vichea. This led to a defamation lawsuit being filed by Hun Sen, which was one factor in the removal of Rainsy's parliamentary immunity on 3 February 2005 and his subsequent flight from Cambodia.

External links

• Human Rights Watch press release: Labor Leader’s Murder Fosters Fear
• Amnesty International report: The killing of trade unionist Chea Vichea
• CHRAC press release January 22, 2004