Penunjuk perasaan Kemboja bertembung dengan polis tentera (tidak kelihatan) dalam pakaian pekerja membantah untuk menuntut gaji yang lebih tinggi di hadapan sebuah kilang di Phnom Penh pada 3 Januari 2014. (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
SitiWanMahani - Sekurang-kurangnya 3 orang terbunuh di ibu negara Kemboja, Phnom Penh, selepas pasukan keselamatan melepaskan tembakan ke atas pekerja pakaian rali untuk gaji yang lebih tinggi, menurut saksi kejadian.
2 pekerja hak asasi manusia, yang menyaksikan peristiwa-peristiwa, dilaporkan mangsa kepada Reuters. Mereka berkata pasukan keselamatan bersenjatakan senapang serangan dan pistol ditembak di penunjuk perasaan yang membaling batu, botol dan bom petrol di bandar di luar sebuah kilang.
Selepas menembak tembakan amaran ke udara, polis mula menembak penunjuk perasaan, jurugambar AFP di tempat kejadian yang dilaporkan.
Pasukan keselamatan Kemboja telah mengakui bahawa seorang telah mati dan beberapa yang cedera akibat tindakan keras, yang menurut agensi-agensi penguatkuasaan undang-undang, telah didorong oleh penunjuk perasaan yang cedera 9 pegawai dengan batu dan lastik.
“Kami takut mengenai keselamatan, jadi kami terpaksa mengambil tindakan keras ke atas mereka,” AFP melaporkan Kheng Tito sebagai berkata. “Jika kami membenarkan mereka untuk terus menyerang, ia akan menjadi anarki.” Aktivis hak asasi manusia telah dipanggil untuk berjaga 3 hari bagi memperingati mangsa-mangsa keganasan polis.
Dianggarkan kira-kira 350,000 pekerja di lebih daripada 500 kilang-kilang pakaian kini mogok di Kemboja, menuntut gaji minimum 2 kali ganda $ 160 sebulan. Kerajaan telah hanya menawarkan kenaikan gaji 20 % daripada $ 100 sebulan, dan menegaskan ia tidak akan berkompromi mana-mana lagi.
“Tidak akan ada lagi rundingan, kerana kementerian telah memutuskan untuk mening-katkan gaji minimum untuk $ 100 sebulan,” kata jurucakap Kementerian Buruh Heng Masam berkata, Wall Street Journal melaporkan.
Pada hari Khamis, tentera Kemboja bersenjatakan cota dan senapang telah dikerahkan di Phnom Penh untuk menyuraikan tunjuk perasaan. “Askar memukul semua orang. Mereka mempunyai kayu, cota elektrik, lastik dan batu,” kata aktivis hak buruh Chhorn Sokha Komuniti Perundangan Pendidikan Pusat, kepada Reuters, yang jurugambar di antara mereka dilanda cota.
Aktivis itu berkata sekurang-kurangnya 10 penunjuk perasaan ditahan. Terdapat juga laporan sami-sami Buddha yang dipukul.
Cambodian
protesters killed as police crack down
on garment workers' rally . . .
At least three people have been killed in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, after security forces opened fire on garment workers rallying for higher wages, according to eyewitnesses.
Two human rights workers, who witnessed the events, reported the casualties to Reuters. They said security forces armed with assault rifles and pistols shot at demonstrators who hurled rocks, bottles and petrol bombs outside a factory in the city.
After firing warning shots in the air, police began firing at the protesters, AFP’s photographer at the scene reported.
The Cambodian security forces have acknowledged that one person has died and several are wounded as a result of the crackdown, which, according to law enforcement agencies, was provoked by the demonstrators who injured nine officers with stones and slingshots.
"We were afraid about security, so we had to crack down on them," AFP reported Kheng Tito as saying. "If we allow them to continue the strike, it will become anarchy." Human rights activists have called for a three-day vigil in memory of the victims of the police violence.
It’s estimated that around 350,000 workers of more than 500 garment factories are currently on strike in Cambodia, demanding the minimum wage be doubled to $160 a month. The government has only offered a 20% pay rise of $100 a month, and has insisted it will not compromise any further.
"There will be no more negotiation, as the ministry has already decided to increase minimum wages to $100 a month," Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said, The Wall Street Journal reported.
On Thursday, Cambodian troops armed with batons and rifles were deployed in Phnom Penh to break up the protest. "Soldiers beat up everyone. They had sticks, electric batons, slingshots and stones," labor rights activist Chhorn Sokha, of the Community Legal Education Center, told Reuters, whose photographer was among those hit by batons.
The activist said at least 10 protesters were detained. There were also reports of Buddhist monks being beaten up.
Para pekerja membaling batu selepas pertempuran tercetus ketika protes di Phnom Penh 3 Jan 2014. (A worker throws a stone after clashes broke out during a protest in Phnom Penh January 3, 2014. (Reuters/Samrang Pring – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
Penyebaran ganas pekerja pakaian dengan bantuan tentera telah dikutuk oleh aktivis hak asasi. “Penggunaan [tentera] Unit Perintah Khas 911 untuk menyekat demonstrasi ber-hampiran kilang Yak Jin di daerah Pursenchey Phnom Penh pernah berlaku sebelum ini dan isyarat taktik baru membimbangkan oleh pihak berkuasa untuk membatalkan apa yang telah protes sebahagian aman,” kumpulan hak asasi manusia tempatan LICADHO adalah dipetik sebagai berkata oleh AP. “Sebahagian daripada mereka yang ditahan diper-cayai telah dipukul dengan teruk kerana mereka telah ditangkap.”
Pakaian dan kasut industri pengeluaran adalah perniagaan eksport terbesar Kemboja, setiap tahun pendapatan negara ini kira-kira $ 5 bilion. Amerika Syarikat dan Eropah peruncit telah tertarik kepada rantau ini dengan kos upah yang rendah, punca utama rasa tidak puas hati pekerja yang semakin meningkat. Tahun lepas menyaksikan 131 serangan berasingan di antara Januari dan November, meningkat daripada 121 untuk semua tahun 2012, menurut perangkaan persatuan pengeluar pakaian ini.
The violent dispersal of garment workers with the help of the army was condemned by rights activists. “The use of [military] Special Command Unit 911 to suppress demonstrations near Yak Jin factory in Phnom Penh's Pursenchey district is unprecedented and signals a disturbing new tactic by authorities to quash what have been largely peaceful protests,'' local human rights group LICADHO was cited as saying by AP. “Some of those held are believed to have been severely beaten as they were arrested.''
The garment and footwear production industry is Cambodia's biggest export business, annually earning the country around $5 billion. US and European retailers have been attracted to the region by the low wage costs, the major cause of the workers’ growing discontent. Last year saw 131 separate strikes in between January and November, up from 121 for all of 2012, according to the garment manufacturers' association’s figures.
Seorang pekerja membawa batang logam bertindak balas selepas pertempuran tercetus ketika protes di Phnom Penh 3 Januari 2014. (Reuters/Samrang Pring – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
Seorang pekerja pakaian cedera dibantu oleh rakan-rakannya selepas pertempuran tercetus ketika protes di Phnom Penh 3 Jan 2014. (Reuters/Samrang Pring – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
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