My vote for world's most dangerous job…Labor Leader in Cambodia

There are 800 garment unions in Cambodia and only 300 factories. When I was there in 2007 a union leader had recently been murdered. No one was for sure who did it. It might have been a factory, an opposing union, or even, some speculate, the government.

More than one union office has memorials like this one…

Human Rights Watch is calling for the release of two fellas imprisoned for a murder of a union lead in 2004. Apparently, there’s little evidence against them, and a witness claims that they didn’t do it.

The ILO report’s findings, which could affect the future of Cambodia’s important garment industry, noted that during the ILO mission in April, the government “demonstrated an unwillingness to engage in fully frank discussions” and “provided no concrete indications” that it would act upon any of the ILO’s recommendations.

A union leader getting shot and killed is bad. A union leader getting shot and killed and two innocent men being jailed for the crime is worse.

This is Cambodia in a nutshell: Innocent men are jailed for crimes they didn’t commit while leaders of the Khmer Rouge who are responsible for the deaths of thousands run free.