Brands Urge Gov’t to Act on SEZ Shooting

Some of the world’s largest international clothing brands, along with foreign labor protection groups, have called on the Cambodian government to intensify its investigation of last month’s triple shooting of spectators at a Svay Rieng special economic zone. … Signed by several of the biggest customers of the domestic garment industry, including H&M, American Eagle Outfitters and Columbia, the statement is the strongest condemnation to date from international buyers over both the shooting and the government’s still unsolved, and at times baffling, investigation of the prime suspect – former Bavet City Governor Chhuk Bandith. … Jill Tucker, chief technical adviser of the International Labor Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia, said the buyers’ joint letter reflected a feeling shared by other international buyers. “I think that the brands are concerned that it’s three weeks later and no arrests have been made,” Ms. Tucker said, adding that she has been told as much during conversations with representatives of clothing brands that source from Cambodian factories. … “It’s just one factor in many. But with the faintings, this is really just one more [factor], and we really don’t need one more.”