Clean Clothes Campaign strongly condemns the ongoing smear campaign against independent labour rights NGO in Cambodia

The report specifically evaluates the processes used by the International Labour Organisation’s Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program and analysed whether these processes appropriately assess and adequately report on employer-imposed barriers to freedom of association. The report is at times critical of the effectiveness of these processes and comes with a set of clear recommendations on how to improve the programme to ensure workers’ right to freedom of association is safeguarded better. The findings of the field research and the recommendations were shared with BFC prior to publication of the report.

Pro government unions, seemingly unaware of the exact content of the report, are now claiming that the report does not reflect the real situation of trade unions and freedom of association in Cambodia and is harmful for existing and future investors. This language, typically coming from employers organisations rather than worker representatives, can also be found in the letters of petition requesting investigation into CENTRAL’s operations and finances that over 15 different pro-government unions have filed with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI). CENTRAL is accused of illegal activities for which foreign funds have been used. These false accusations pose a serious risk for the future existence and operations of the organisation, as similar investigations have led to temporary or permanent suspensions of other independent organisations operating in different sectors in Cambodia in the past. It is clear that the report is being used as a excuse to undermine and attack CENTRAL, and to further restrict the space of civil society organisations to exercise their right to freedom of speech, which is an enabling right, and essential for exercising the right to freedom of association.

This smear campaign against CENTRAL fits in seamlessly with the wider repression against labour and human rights advocates in the country. Civic space has been under enormous pressure in Cambodia for years now and trade unions’ room for manoeuvring has been severely limited since the introduction of the Trade Union law in 2016. The current targeted attacks on CENTRAL appear coordinated and a well-planned effort to eliminate yet another independent voice in Cambodia’s civic space landscape.

Clean Clothes Campaign stands in strong solidarity with CENTRAL and will support CENTRAL in its fight against these false accusations.