Protest ban firmly in place on Women’s Day
Freedom Park was placed under lockdown and a march by land rights activists was blocked Saturday morning as Phnom Penh’s security officials were out in force to ensure that peaceful rallies on International Women’s Day could not go as planned. Prime Minister Hun Sen on February 25 indicated he had restored the constitutional freedom to assemble, overturning a January 4 protest ban instituted by the Ministry of Interior, but authorities have continued to break up demonstrations critical of the government, sometimes violently. At about 7 a.m. Saturday, police began forming a perimeter of 2-meter tall metal barricades on the east and west sides of Freedom Park, and blocked roads entering the park from the north and south. … Minutes later, with dozens of garment factory workers gathered near the Naga bridge on Norodom Boulevard, district security guards surrounded Yaing Sophorn, president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, one of the groups that organized the forum at Freedom Park. Ms. Sophorn told the security guards that they were breaking the law by denying citizens their constitutional right to assemble. … A group of land rights activists, including monks, members of the former Boeng Kak lake community and Borei Keila residents, were also prevented from marching to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to deliver a petition calling for the government to stop using violence against women and increase its efforts to protect women from abuse. … In the evening, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs sponsored a star-studded music concert at Olympic Stadium, where on Thursday hundreds of police held training exercises in anticipation of a violent suppression of Saturday’s union forum, which ultimately did not proceed. …
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protest-ban-firmly-in-place-on-womens-day-53745/
