THEY SHOOT UNION ORGANISERS, DON'T THEY?


Vindication of my posting from a few days ago, accusing journalist Nicholas D. Kristof of monumental wrong-headedness in his article about Cambodian sweatshops.

As Kristof praises the sweatshop owners for making lives better for millions of people in poor countries, Cambodia's most prominent trade union activist -- Chea Vichea -- is murdered in broad daylight.

The Cambodian government's statement that there is "no reason to conclude his death was for political reasons" is laughable. Human rights campaigners say Chea Vichea had received death threats and his killing was linked to his work organising unions in the garment industry, which is the nation's biggest foreign exchange earner.

AP's report on the murder can be read here.