Mon, Jan 26, 2004 page3

• Cambodians march for slain activist Chea Vichea

  • AP
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  Tens of thousands of supporters of a Cambodian union leader gunned down last week marched through the capital's center yesterday, carrying wreaths and wearing black and white headbands to bid farewell to their "hero worker."

  Chea Vichea, president of Cambodia's Free Trade Union of Workers and a supporter of the country's main opposition party, was fatally shot Thursday morning at a roadside newsstand.

  He became the latest victim of a series of suspected political killings involving critics of the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

  

  Buddhist monks walk in advance of the funeral car carrying the body of slain Cambodian union leader Chea Vichea during funeral services yesterday in Phnom Penh.

  PHOTO: AP

  With police lining the streets, Chea Vichea's body was moved early Sunday from the union's office to a cremation site near Cambodia's National Assembly and the Royal Palace.

  Several people carried wreaths adorned with white and yellow flowers, some with Chea Vichea's picture inside, and most wore white shirts with cloth or paper headbands reading "Chea Vichea, the hero worker" and "Chea Vichea, the founder of workers' freedom."

  Rong Chhun, leader of a teachers' union, said Chea Vichea "undoubtedly commanded respect among his peer groups."

  "While we are mourning his death, let's remember to honor and be proud of his life achievements," he said in prepared remarks to be read at the cremation site.

  "The government must end the culture of impunity and the killing anarchy in Cambodia," Men Nath, a representative of the Cambodian Watchdog Council, said in a statement to be read at the cremation.

  The procession, which included teary-eyed young women and dozens of monks wearing burgundy or orange robes, attracted many onlookers.

  Lak Sina, 58, watched the procession file by as she stood near the corner where Chea Vichea was slain.

  "I never knew this person but I heard that he's a good man who fought for the freedom of the workers. I pity him very much," she said.

  The recent string of killings of people linked to the political opposition following inconclusive general elections in July has created an atmosphere of fear, human rights advocates said. Several opposition legislators joined the procession.

  King Norodom Sihanouk, who said Friday that the murders were multiplying and they were "undeniably" linked to politics, gave Chea Vichea a posthumous royal order, recognizing some of his achievements.

  A founding member of the opposition Sam Rainsy party, Chea Vichea left the group to found the union several years ago but maintained close links with the party, which stridently criticizes the Hun Sen government.

  Police have not arrested any suspects in the slaying, but are looking for a man who allegedly sent Chea Vichea a death threat in a message to the labor leader's cell phone before July's general elections, said Heng Pov, a deputy police commissioner.

  A number of activists with the FUNCINPEC and Sam Rainsy parties were killed in what the parties allege were politically motivated attacks before and after the inconclusive ballot.

  The Cambodian Center for Human Rights said in a report that arrests were made in about half the cases over a yearlong period ending last November, but that they were concerned some suspects were not the real killers.
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