Picking up the pieces
The sight of traffic moving easily and people milling about along Veng Sreng Boulevard in the capital’s Meanchey district yesterday was a far cry from two days earlier, when the street was occupied by makeshift roadblocks, bonfires and military personnel carrying automatic rifles. While visible evidence of the deadly crackdown on a garment worker strike near the Canadia Industrial Park on Friday – which claimed the lives of at least four – and attacks on pro-opposition demonstrators in Freedom Park on Saturday had largely disappeared, the unprecedented violence remained all too real for those affected. … Demonstrations at the industrial park over the minimum wage began peacefully on Thursday, witnesses said, though Post reporters on site said that hours before police arrived, the road had been partially blocked and more than a half-dozen bonfires lit. After an initial encounter that saw law enforcement officials beat demonstrators and go as far as chase some into their homes, police withdrew, only to return in greater numbers, and with deadly force, hours later. … UN human rights envoy Surya Subedi similarly condemned the shooting. In a statement dated Friday, Subedi said he was “deeply concerned at the latest clashes in Cambodia and deplore the loss of life. I call on the authorities to exercise restraint towards protesters. Any use of force by officials must be subject to the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality.” …
May Titthara, Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/picking-pieces
