Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2009 - Thailand

Political context

Whilst the People Power Party (PPP) won the national elections on December 23, 2007, this outcome did not mark the start of a political stability in Thailand, nor the immediate end of military control and martial law. 2008 was indeed a year of political turmoil.

Following the December 2007 elections, Mr. Samak Sundaravej, an ally of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, took office as Prime Minister. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), led by opponents of former Prime Minister Thaksin, challenged Mr. Samak's Government, arguing that it was simply a proxy for Mr. Thaksin. On May 25, 2008, PAD began street protests against the Government, demanding Mr. Samak's resignation. Throughout the summer, clashes between the PAD and pro-Government supporters as well as police continued. On August 26, 2008, PAD protesters took over the Government House, including the Prime Minister's office. This resulted in further violence at the end of August/beginning of September and, in response to the escalating violence, the Government declared a state of emergency on September 2. Whilst PAD failed to force Mr. Samak to resign, he was ordered to step down on September 9 after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated constitutional conflict-of-interest rules by being paid for appearing on a television programme. The state of emergency was then lifted and Mr. Somchai Wongsawat, Mr. Thaksin's brother-in-law, won a majority parliamentary vote to become Prime Minister in mid-September.

In October 2008, political tension increased when the police arrested two PAD leaders. As a result, on October 7, more violence erupted when 2,000 anti-Government protesters gathered outside Parliament in an attempt to stop Mr. Somchai convening the Parliament to make a policy statement. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, and PAD protesters responded violently with various weapons including guns, metals poles, and slingshots. In October, leaders of the anti-Government protests surrendered to the police. Meanwhile, protesters continued to occupy the grounds of Government House and, on November 24, tens of thousands of protesters led by PAD surrounded the Parliament in the hope of forcing out the Government. On November 26, the protests took a more dramatic turn when PAD protesters stormed and took over Bangkok's Survarnabhumi airport and stated that they would not move until Mr. Somchai resigned. They later took over a second Bangkok airport. On December 2, 2008, the Constitutional Court found the PPP, as well as two coalition partners, the "Machima Thipatai" and the Chart Thai parties, guilty of vote-buying, and ordered them to be disbanded. Dozens of PPP executive members, including Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, were also found guilty of personal involvement and banned from politics for five years. However, this may not resolve the country's national crisis.

Despite this political turmoil, martial law, which had been imposed by the military Government that took power in 2006 following a coup, was lifted in April 2008 in all areas except the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, where violence continued between Muslim separatists and the authorities, as well as in four districts in Songkhla province. In addition, on February 27, 2008, the King signed the Internal Security Act, which had been adopted on December 21, 2007 by the National Legislative Assembly. It confers emergency powers to respond to threats to national security, even in the absence of a declaration of a state of emergency, to the Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC), a military entity known for the serious crimes it committed in the 1970s, under the control of the Prime Minister.¹ However, it was not specifically invoked in 2008.

Finally, the Government, together with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), continued in 2008 to silence "cyber-dissidents" and restrict freedom of expression and opinion, increasingly using the law on lèse majesté as a pretext. Thailand's lèse majesté law, one of the harshest in the world, provides for penalties ranging from three to fifteen years' imprisonment and has frequently been used for political motives. In May 2008, the MICT was asked by the Democrat Party to shut down 29 websites because they contained material content that was considered to be insulting towards the monarchy. On May 27, the Interior Minister stated that all websites had been contacted to "adjust" their content.² At the beginning of November 2008, the MICT decided to create an Internet firewall to filter and block all sites that insult the monarchy and are therefore violating the lèse majesté law. There are considerable concerns that this will further control Internet access and content and thus increase censorship of the online media.³

Silencing of critical voices

In 2008, those who exposed or made allegations of corruption against politicians and local Government officials were often the victims of attacks, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. This affected both human rights defenders fighting against corruption and journalists reporting on such cases. For example, on February 7, 2008, Mr. Komol Lausopaphan disappeared from a police station in the north-eastern province of Khon Kaen. Mr. Komol had been investigating corrupt practices in a construction work located on land belonging to the Railway Authority of Thailand. This had brought him into conflict with the police and, after suffering an assault at the hands of local police, he requested witness protection on January 20, 2008. He followed this up with a formal complaint in early February. Mr. Komol had then visited the police station early on February 7. His family called the police station in the evening and was informed that Mr. Komol was still at the station. At around 11 p.m., Mr. Komol called his family, but his call was disconnected. He did not return home. His family reported his disappearance on February 9, and were informed that Mr. Komol had left the station at 11:40 p.m. Mr. Komol's car was found three weeks later, parked about 800 metres from the police station. He has not been seen since February 7, and his family fears that he has been killed. As of the end of 2008, there had been no investigation into Mr. Komol's disappearance and the perpetrators were therefore not identified or punished. Since his disappearance, Mr. Komol's family is frightened to leave the house for fear of also being targeted.⁴

Furthermore, the second half of 2008 saw a spike in the killings of journalists. For instance, two provincial correspondents for the Bangkok daily newspaper Matichon were fatally shot – Mr. Ahiwat Chanurat in the southern city of Nakhon Si Thammarat on August 1, 2008 and Mr. Jaruek Rangcharoen, in the central province of Suphan Buri on September 27, 2008. Both men had reported on local Government corruption, and in the absence of any other motive, this was believed to be the reason for the assassinations. Suspects in both cases were arrested.⁵ Only a few weeks later, on October 5, 2008, Mr. Wallop Bounsampop was shot by two men at a restaurant in Chonburi province. Mr. Bounsampop was the Editor of Den Siam, a newspaper in Chonburi province, southern Thailand, and had written controversial articles on local politics, criticising political opponents. In particular, he had investigated into corruption within local organs of administration.⁶

Activists and religious leaders in the south targeted as Muslim insurgents

With the backdrop of the continuing martial law in the south of the country, the army continued to engage in counter-insurgency operations, resulting in arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings being to engage in with impunity.

In particular, arbitrary detention and torture were used against human rights activists whom the authorities suspected of involvement in Muslim insurgent activities. For example, on January 27, 2008, two student activists from Yala Rajabhat University, Mr. Ismael Tae and Mr. Amisi Manak, were arrested and detained in the Special Task Force Unit 11 with five other students, where they were subjected to torture. The authorities stated that the reason for their arrest was suspected involvement in insurgent activities. However, it is believed that they were targeted in reprisal for their involvement in human rights training two days earlier in a village in Yala province. The two students were released without charge on February 4, after a complaint had been filed at Yala court. On August 15, 2008, Mr. Tae and Mr. Manak disappeared from their university dormitory, along with Mr. Ruslan Tuyong, Mr. Waerosalee Latae and Mr. Romlee Latae, all students at Yala Rajabhat University. They were all actively involved with the Student Federation of Yala, a body that organises human rights activities, and had been involved in providing training on legal aid and in organising discussion on human rights in the community. Friends of the five reported their disappearance later that day and requested assistance from the Muslim Attorney Centre (MAC) in Yala. MAC made enquiries with the Special Taskforce Unit 11 and discovered that the students were being held there. There were concerns that they could be at risk of torture. The five students were subsequently released without charge.⁷

Urgent Intervention issued by The Observatory in 2008⁸

1 ISOC has now the authority to restrict fundamental freedoms, as Article 17 authorises indefinite restrictions placed on the freedoms of expression, assembly, association and movement: ISOC is authorised to monitor, prevent, suppress or take corrective measures against any action seen as a threat to society. According to Article 19, any person who is recognised as representing a threat to the security of the country is likely to be sentenced to a term of up to six months' detention in re-education camps, and it is feared that this provision could be abused in order to silence all dissenting voices. The Act also provides that ISOC shall not be responsible before the Parliament or any court (Article 22). In addition, officials who commit human rights abuses on the basis of this law shall be immune from any prosecution (Article 23).

2 This included the sites: Prachathai.com, Arayachon.org, Truthaksin.com and Thansincomeback.org.

3 See Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Release, November 18, 2008.

4 See Union for Civil Liberty (UCL).

5 See UCL and RSF Press Releases, September 30 and November 7, 2008.

6 See UCL and RSF Press Release, October 7, 2008.

7 See UCL.

8 See the compilation of cases in the CD-Rom attached to this report.