ASICS and MUJI Fail to Remedy Human Rights Abuses at Cambodian Supplier

Japanese Brands Refuse to Hold Supplier Accountable for Wrongful Imprisonment of Worker Leader

ASICS and MUJI continue to turn their backs on egregious human rights violations at their Cambodian supplier, Wing Star Shoes. The factory wrongfully imprisoned union leader Chea Chan for more than six months on baseless, retaliatory charges—an outrageous breach of Cambodian labor law and international standards.

Even after a Cambodian appeals court ruled in August 2024 that Chan was falsely accused and acquitted him, both brands have failed to ensure that Wing Star Shoes provides adequate compensation or reinstates him to his original position. The Worker Rights Consortium’s analysis of the court’s ruling makes clear: the case was entirely fabricated by Wing Star Shoes, the supplier of ASICS and MUJI.

Today, Chan remains segregated from his colleagues, forced to work in an outbuilding in solitary confinement while his family endures devastating financial hardship.

After More than a Year of Negotiation, ASICS Pleads Ignorance while Workers Suffer

For over 12 months, ASICS has been presented with clear, indisputable evidence that Wing Star Shoes invented the false charges used to jail Chan. Yet instead of securing remedy, ASICS has stalled—claiming it “does not understand” the situation. This excuse collapses under the weight of the facts.

Chan’s demands for compensation for his false imprisonment and return to his prior duties at the factory have been confirmed repeatedly: directly to MUJI auditors dispatched by ASICS, by his union CATU, by the Worker Rights Consortium, and once again in August 2025 by CATU and the WRC in joint communications. There is no ambiguity. ASICS’s claim of uncertainty is a calculated attempt to avoid action.

By hiding behind false claims of “fact-finding”, ASICS is not merely negligent; it is complicit. Its inaction shields Wing Star Shoes’ ongoing retaliation, undermines Cambodian law, and violates international human rights standards.

A Clear Violation of Cambodian Labor Law and International Standards

Chan was elected president of an independent union at Wing Star Shoes in January 2024. Within weeks, the factory retaliated by filing a false criminal complaint. He was arrested and imprisoned under inhumane conditions: extreme overcrowding, inadequate food, and denial of medical care for his diabetes.

For 187 days, Chan suffered these abuses until an appeals court overturned his conviction, ruling there was no credible evidence against him and confirming that his prosecution was retaliation for union activity.

Cambodian labor law guarantees workers the right to freely associate without retaliation. By having Chan imprisoned on fabricated charges, Wing Star Shoes trampled these protections. ASICS and MUJI, which claim to uphold human rights in their supply chains, have an obligation to ensure remedy. Their failure to act not only betrays their stated commitments but misleads consumers who expect ethical production.

Failure to Provide Remedy: Ongoing Retaliation and Inadequate Compensation

Despite the court’s ruling, ASICS and MUJI have not required Wing Star Shoes to return Chan to his prior duties at the factory. Instead, he has been banished to isolation in a storage shed—an act of psychological abuse designed to intimidate other workers from organizing.

Wing Star Shoes has paid him just $3,000 in compensation—less than $17 per day for his wrongful imprisonment. This token payment is grossly inadequate compared to the nearly $70,000 in losses his family has suffered, including harm to his health, legal fees, lost wages, debts incurred to buy food in prison, forced sale of their ancestral land, and emotional suffering.

By treating this meager sum as sufficient, ASICS and MUJI demonstrate contempt for the real costs of their supplier’s abuse and for their own public commitments to human rights.

Severe Health and Economic Consequences

The conditions of Chan’s imprisonment have left lasting scars. Denied his diabetes medication, his health deteriorated severely. Medical examinations following his release revealed worsened diabetes, liver disease, a lung infection, and a skin infection. His medical care is estimated to cost $10,000–$20,000—far beyond his family’s means.

The economic toll has been devastating. Chan’s wife was forced to leave her job to care for him during his imprisonment, further straining the family’s finances. To cover daily survival and legal fees, they took out high-interest loans and were ultimately forced to sell their ancestral land. Despite these well-documented damages, ASICS and MUJI have refused to ensure adequate compensation.

ASICS’s and MUJI’s Failure to Meet Their Own Human Rights Commitments

Both ASICS and MUJI publicly claim to uphold labor rights and the rule of law. Yet their inaction tells another story. By refusing to demand remedy from their business partner, Wing Star Shoes, for having a worker leader wrongly imprisoned, ASICS and MUJI undermine their own stated commitments and expose the hollowness of their human rights policies.

Allowing their supplier to imprison a union leader on false charges, then to continue retaliating against him with impunity, makes ASICS and MUJI complicit in clear violations of international labor rights standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Both companies were notified repeatedly of these violations and chose not to act. Their continued silence misleads consumers who expect companies to protect the rights of the workers making their products. Instead, ASICS and MUJI have shown that their commitments are empty promises.

What ASICS and MUJI Must Do

ASICS and MUJI must act immediately to remedy this grave injustice by requiring Wing Star Shoes to:

• Return Chea Chan to his original job duties within the factory without delay;
• Provide full financial compensation covering lost wages, legal fees, medical expenses, and the economic harm suffered by his family; and
• Commit publicly to respect labor rights by ensuring Wing Star Shoes pledges to end retaliation and to honor freedom of association.

ASICS and MUJI have already failed to prevent this abuse. The question now is whether they will continue to endorse it by permitting their supplier’s impunity—or finally take responsibility for the workers making their products.

Links:

• Phnom Penh Court of Appeals, Criminal Chamber Case File No. 1255 (unofficial Khmer-English translation)
• WRC Commentary on Appeals Court Verdict