Phnom Penh bans Labour Day march once again

The Phnom Penh Post
Daphne Chen

A man walks past Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park in 2014 where razor wire and other barricades were placed to prevent an International Labour Day march. The city on Friday again rejected union requests to allow a march through the city. Vireak Mai

Phnom Penh City Hall on Friday once again denied union requests to march through the city in honor of International Labour Day.

Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said city officials cited traffic and public safety concerns in rejecting the unions' plans to march from the Council for the Development of Cambodia near Wat Phnom to the National Assembly,

According to Thorn, city officials also said they would not allow an event in front of the National Assembly, recommending instead that the group hold the event at Freedom Park, far from city center.

"It's a little bit of restriction of freedom of expression," Thorn said. "They allow us Freedom Park, but we don't agree because it's too far from the city."

Permission from government officials is not required under the Law on Peaceful Demonstrations – just advance notice. However, the city's ban has become somewhat of an annual ritual.

Met Measpheakdey, spokesman for City Hall, could not be reached Friday.

In years past, unions have defied the ban and marched anyway, but this year they struck a compromise with city officials to hold the event in front of the CDC offices, Thorn said.

"Because of the political situation and [being] close to the election, we don't want to challenge with the government," he said. "So we just accept to do the event at the gardens of the CDC office."

Naly Pilorge of rights group Licadho described the city's decisionas "really unfortunate."

"I hope the organizers for International Labour Day will inquire to [the] municipality and Ministry of Interior as to how a non-violent march of workers could ever affect "national security" or cause traffic," Pilorge said.

International Labour Day, also known as International Workers' Day, takes place annually on May 1.