Missing Somchai: Angkhana at UN-AHRC

FOURTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Missing Lawyer Somchai
[FACT petition signer] Angkhana Neelaphaichit delivers a statement at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of her husband, Somchai, on Wednesday
Asian Human Rights Commission: March 12, 2008

Angkhana urges UN on missing husband, torture
Asian Human Rights Commission:  March 12, 2008

(Hong Kong, March 12, 2008) The wife of abducted Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on Tuesday spoke to the United Nations about his continued disappearance, and presented a report on torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and other serious abuses in southern Thailand.

Angkhana Neelaphaijit, who is the chairperson of the Working Group on Justice for Peace, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that although four years had passed since police abducted her husband, the authorities had still been unable to deliver justice.

“I would like to ask … to call Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, to give testimony as a witness in this case,” Angkhana urged, pointing out that there were clues linking someone close to him to the crime and also noting that he had earlier said that he had information about it.

She also called on the government of Thailand to join a new international treaty to prohibit forced disappearances.

According to a statement issued by the Bangkok-based WGJP, the ambassador of Thailand to the rights council said that his government continues to take the case of Somchai very seriously and also is doing “whatever necessary” to ban disappearances and sign up to the new international law.

The full text of Angkhana’s statement follows.

Basil Fernando, executive director of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), said that the case remained a top priority for his organisation.

“Four years on, not only does the question ‘Where is Somchai?’ remain unanswered, but the persons who know the answers to that question but have kept them secret are all back in top posts in the very agencies that are supposed to deliver justice,” Fernando said.

“In 2006 we gave our second Asian Human Rights Defender Award to Somchai posthumously for the very reason that he and his wife together have come to represent the struggle for human rights and against gross wrongdoing in Thailand,” he said.

“Unfortunately, his case too continues to be indicative of the deep institutional problems that pervade the entire criminal justice system in Thailand, which we have seen coming to the surface in so many other cases recently,” Fernando added.

In recent months a number of cases of serial and systemic abuse by police officers have been widely reported in Thailand.

Meanwhile, the WGJP has also presented a study on torture and other grave abuses in southern Thailand at the Human Rights Council session.

The 22-page report, “Human Rights under Attack”, describes incidents of torture and arbitrary detention in secret facilities in the south of Thailand under emergency regulations that have been in force there since 2005.

“People reported having been beaten, held naked in refrigerated rooms, being forced to eat spoilt food, having received electric shocks to their genitals, and most victims suffer from punctured ear drums,” the WGJP said in a statement on the release of the report.

“Although torture has been a well-known practice in Southern Thailand and has been raised in public on numerous occasions, the government fails to acknowledge the fact that state agents are abusing their power but rather threatens those who speak out,” it said.

“Government agencies… have failed to carry out investigations and no steps have been taken by the Royal Thai Police and Army to prosecute personnel responsible for human rights violations,” the rights group added.

The AHRC has placed the full report on its website: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/docs/HRunderAttack.pdf

Statement of Angkhana Neelaphaijit on the fourth anniversary of her husband’s forced disappearance in Bangkok, Thailand

While this statement is read, I am at the United Nations’ Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Switzerland, to present a report on the human rights situation in Thailand and also to report on the latest developments and obstacles in the investigation of the disappearance of Mr Somchai Neelapaichit, which was taken up by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGED) four years ago.

“The first trial implicating five police officers in the disappearance of Somchai Neelapaichit, who were charged with coercion and robbery, ended two years ago and the First Court’s verdict stated that there was a police officer together with another three to five persons who forced Somchai into a car before he disappeared on March 12, 2004.

“This court case is now under the consideration of the Court of Appeal. The Department of Special Investigations has been in charge of investigating the case and pressing further charges. In addition, the DSI has requested that the Office of the National Counter Corruption Commission investigate police officers who were allegedly torturing Somchai’s clients in January 2004.

“It is believed that Somchai was abducted because of his complaint against the torture allegations.

“The present government of Samak Sundaravej sacked Mr Sunai Manomai-udom and appointed Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong as acting director of the Department of Special Investigations, and Police General Sombat Amornwiwat as an advisor to the Ministry of Justice. Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong stated in an interview to the media that he will give priority to the Somchai Neelapaichit case.

“In commemoration of Somchai’s disappearance four years ago, I would like to make the following appeal to the Thai government and the DSI:

“1. To request that the Thai government and the DSI be sincere in bringing justice to this case and prosecuting the wrongdoers, including high-ranking police officers, as it is my belief that his enforced disappearance is a heinous crime against humanity.

“2. To request that the DSI be courageous and to call Police Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra, former prime minister of Thailand, to give testimony as a witness in this case. Information has been received that a close colleague of Police Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra went to search for information and a picture of Mr Somchai Neelapaichit at the Government Identification Information Centre. In addition, Police Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin, himself, stated in an interview to all media on January 13, 2006, the day after the verdict of the First Court, that he knows “that Somchai has passed away because evidence suggests so…”

“As Thaksin was prime minister at that time, this interview must be credible and he must have had enough evidence before saying this.

“3. Contained in the verdict of the First Court, the testimony of a plaintiff witness reveals that “…Police Major General Krisada Phankongchuen received information from Police Lieutenant Colonel Wannaphong Kotcharath that Police Lieutenant Colonel Charnchai Likhitkhanthasorn had met with a known group of people in front of the Crime Suppression Unit, who informed him that they were going to abduct a corrupt lawyer. Later, Police Lieutenant Colonel Charnchai informed Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong about this information…”

“Therefore, Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong, who is now the acting director of the DSI, has the responsibility to clarify whether he knew of Somchai Neelapaichit’s disappearance.

“4. To request that the DSI be very careful in this case and to try to compile strong evidence so that the wrongdoers will be prosecuted. The DSI should not hurry to pursue the case in court without relevant and strong evidence. A lack of strong evidence means that the real culprits will not be prosecuted, or that innocent people will be punished for crimes they did not commit.

“5. To request that the Thai government ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, in order to guarantee the safety and protection of everyone from enforced disappearance.

“I strongly believe that the success of the Somchai Neelapaichit case will be determined by the sincerity of the government and the effectiveness of the DSI. Of particular concern is the fact that Police General Sombat Amornwiwat, who was the former supervisor of the five accused persons standing trial in the case before, is now an advisor to the Ministry of Justice. “At the same time, I would like to give my support to every officer who works under the rule of law and tries to bring to justice those people who have either committed crimes or give shelter to human rights violators.

“Lastly, I would like to thank my Thai sisters and brothers who continue to give warm support while facing these obstacles to justice.

“I and my family are constantly receiving friendship from various people in society. This gives me the strength to keep fighting for justice.

Thank you.