Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2004 - Thailand

Enforced disappearance of Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit⁹⁸

On 12 March 2004, Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit, chairman of the Muslim Lawyers Group and vice chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of Thailand, was taken from his car, which was found abandoned on Ramkhamhaeng road in Mor Chit, after having been hit from behind. Mr. Somchai was last seen in the Bang Kapi district. He had told close friends that he was receiving threatening anonymous phone calls and that he feared for his safety. He was informed in the last call he received that his name had been placed by security forces on a list of members of terrorists groups.

Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit had collected 50,000 signatures to support the end of the martial law in that region, and worked for the promotion of the rule of law and justice for Muslims suspected of terrorist activities and treason. His disappearance followed public statements he made about the excessive use of force against five of his clients accused of taking part in the 4 January 2004 raid on an army camp in Narathiwat. Mr. Somchai also requested permission from the court to have his clients undergo a medical examination and be transferred from police hands. The court agreed to this request and had the five suspects transferred from the Special Branch jail, where they were allegedly beaten, to Bang Khen central prison. These various activities created tension between Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit and the security forces in the southern Thai provinces and have probably led to his enforced disappearance.

Mr. Somchai might have been abducted by State authorities, and deputy national police chief Pol Gen Charnchit Bhiraleus did not rule out the possibility that the abduction could have been carried out by "low-ranking officers". On 23 March 2004, the Senate voted to form a special committee to study Mr. Somchai's disappearance. His case, they said, could have serious implications for the country's judicial system.

Five police officers were identified as the alleged culprits who had removed Mr. Somchai from his car. They were charged with "coercion by threatening bodily harm or death", "assault" and "gang robbery", but not with kidnapping.

On 9 June 2004, the criminal court released the following four suspects: Major Ngern Thongsuk, Lieutenant Colonel Sinchai Nimpunyakhamphong and Corporal Randorn Sithikhet of the Crime Suppression Division and Sergeant Chaiyaweng Phaduang of the Tourist Police Department, for a bail of 1,7 million Thai baht. At the same time, the special Senate committee, headed by Senator Sak Kosangruang, complained that the committee did not feel that the police were being cooperative in efforts to solve the case.

In September 2004, Mr. Somchai's wife, Mrs. Angkana Neelaphaijit, submitted the case of her husband's disappearance to the Special Investigation Department (SID), but a SID official refused to register it.

In October 2004, the Thai Minister of Justice, Mr. Pongthep Thepkanchana, declared that although the SID had not agreed to investigate Mr. Somchai's disappearance, SID intervention would be considered if there was no further progress. Earlier, the Minister had stated that the SID was already investigating the matter, but this obviously was not the case. As of December 2004, no light had been shed on the whereabouts of Mr. Somchai, and the authors of his disappearance remained unpunished. Moreover, Mr. Somchai's family was still being intimidated.

Assassination of Mr. Charoen Wat-aksorn⁹⁹

Mr. Charoen Wat-aksorn, an environmentalist and president of the Love Bo Nok group, was murdered near his home in the province of Prachuap Khiri Khan on the night of 21 June 2004. The Love Bo Nok group, a local environmental protection organisation, became well known for its successful campaign against the opening of a coal-fired power plant on public lands. The lands that were to be the site of the new plant were initially leased to Gulf Electric until opponents of the project were elected to the local administrative organisation which subsequently refused to renew the lease. Following the cancellation of the lease, there were allegations that local officials were accepting bribes for issuing deeds to the public land.

On the day of his murder, Mr. Wat-aksorn met with the House Committee on Corruption Investigation, encouraging them to investigate these allegations. Mr. Wat-aksorn had also filed complaints with the Minister of the Interior, the National Counter Corruption Commission and various House and Senate committees concerning the alleged bribes. Upon his return from Bangkok on 21 June, he was shot dead, just after arriving in Bo Nok.

Mr. Wat-aksorn's widow, along with other human rights activists, requested that the investigation of Mr. Wat-aksorn's death be handled by the Ministry of Justice's SID rather than local police, to ensure transparency. However, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra refused this request and instead instructed the Bangkok police to aid the local Prachuap Khiri Khan authorities in the investigation.

As of December 2004, no investigation had been carried out into this crime.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

98. See Open Letter to the Thai authorities, 18 March 2004, and Letter to Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Commissioner Patten, EU High Representative for CFSP, 31 March 2004.

99. See Urgent Appeal THA 001/0604/OBS 050.