" Cambodia: Arrests of strikers may amount to breach of human rights law – UN experts", 5 January 2022

The arrest and detention of at least 29 Cambodian casino union leaders and activists in connection with an ongoing strike may amount to a breach of human rights law, UN experts said …

“Many of the arrests of the mostly female strikers were conducted in a violent way and appear to contravene the freedoms of association, assembly and expression,” the independent human rights experts said.

“We also strongly condemn the manner in which the first arrests took place, after dark on New Year’s Eve when multiple other events diverted public attention. This could be seen as an underhanded way to clamp down on fundamental human rights.”

The experts called on the Government to explain the response by the police, and said they were following developments closely…

The first arrests of nine people took place at around 8pm ... Continued strikes resulted in another 17 arrests …; while the three most senior union leaders, including its President Chhim Sithar, were separately arrested … on their way to join the ongoing strikes. Video footage shows police using what appears to be excessive force during the arrests…

“The pattern and manner of these arrests, after industrial action failed to be resolved quickly, appears to be an escalation in tactics used in previous cases that have occurred in Cambodia over recent years and resulted in the wrongful imprisonment of human rights defenders,” the experts said…

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn has previously spoken out on the shrinking of civic … space in the country…