The IUF strongly condemns the decision by the Cambodian Supreme Court to affirm the lower court rulings in the guilty verdicts and sentences for IUF affiliate LRSU leaders including President Chhim Sithar who is serving the maximum sentence of 2 years in prison. The Supreme Court ruling effectively rejects the defendants’ appeals and upholds the verdict of the Phnom Penh Court of Appeals from October 2023. Based on Article 439 of the Cambodia Criminal Procedure Code, the verdict of the Supreme Court is final.
We further call on NagaCorp to use its considerable influence to persuade the Government of Cambodia to change course immediately, to release Sister Sithar and to drop all charges against her and the other LRSU leaders. We further call on NagaCorp to reinstate the terminated workers and members of LRSU and to negotiate in good faith with the union.
- In a formal statement, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence stated, “[LRSU leaders]…were convicted for simply exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, protected by both the Cambodian Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Cambodia in 1992. The rights to peaceful assembly and association include the right to hold meetings, sit-ins and strikes, and the right of individuals to interact and organise among themselves to collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests.”
- The ILO Committee on the Application of Standards will review Cambodia’s compliance with ILO Convention 87 on the freedom of association and protection of the right to organise at the June 2024 International Labour Conference; the case has been “double footnoted” meaning that more detailed information has been requested from the government
- IUF has filed OECD complaints against NagaCorp’s key investors in Switzerland and the US for their failure to conduct due diligence under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
For more information about the struggle at NagaWorld in Cambodia, please see the IUF’s campaign website which gives the public a detailed history of this struggle and is available in English, Khmer and Chinese.
IUF General Secretary Sue Longley stated, “The struggle for labour rights at NagaWorld, including the right to organize and to bargain collectively, will continue. We call on the Royal Government of Cambodia to release Sister Sithar immediately and to drop all outstanding charges against the leaders of LRSU.”
