Somchai Neelaphaijit

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the Justice for Peace Foundation, Thailand, concerning a criminal case that police have brought against a victim of alleged torture who was represented by human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, whom police abducted and killed in 2004. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from the Justice for Peace Foundation (JPF). The press release is for observers at the reading of the verdict in the Somchai Neelapaijit disappearance case reached by the Appeal Court on Friday 24 September 2010, 9.30 am, at […]

(Hong Kong, July 23, 2010) The Asian Human Rights Commission announces the presentation of the Asian Human Rights Award for Creative Media to Ms. Josefina Bergsten as the producer and the director of the documentary UNJUST. The Presentation of the award will take place at Foreign Correspondents Club, Hong Kong, on the 27th July, 2010.  […]

On behalf of the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), we would like to invite you to attend an “Art Exhibition on The Disappeared and Their Families” to mark the 6th anniversary disappearance of prominent Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit. The one-day exhibition commencing at 09:30 a.m. […]

23 December 2009 His Excellency the Prime Minister CC: H.E. Minister of Justice Director General of Department of Special Investigation Since your ascension to the premiership, you have fervently declared to public your intention to set up a special committee to restore inquiries into important cases that have gained much attention from society. Previous governments […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP) for the International Day on Enforced Disappearances. They urge Thai government comprehensive action taken against enforced disappearances to the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP) that two cars are belonging to the family of Angkhana Neelaphaijit, a prominent human rights defender, were broken into this month. The break-ins followed her urging a special investigation unit under the justice ministry to […]

To mark the fifth anniversary of the police abduction and forced disappearance in Bangkok of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on 12 March 2004, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is distributing a series of three extracts from the newly-released English translation of a book by his wife, Angkhana, first published in Thai to mark […]

On the fifth year of the enforced disappearance of Mr. Somchai Neelapaijit, I and my family truly appreciate the attention the Abhisit Vejjejiva government gives to the case and that they promise to give priority to the case to search for truths, to uphold fairness and to bring to justice those responsible for the disappearance. […]

To mark the fifth anniversary of the police abduction and forced disappearance in Bangkok of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on 12 March 2004, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is distributing a series of three extracts from the newly-released English translation of a book by his wife, Angkhana, first published in Thai to mark […]

Geneva, 10 March 2009 — The Working Group on Justice for Peace met with the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) today to deliver a statement by Angkhana Neelapaijit on the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of her husband and human rights lawyer Somchai. In the statement, Angkhana welcomed the attention given […]

To mark the fifth anniversary of the police abduction and forced disappearance in Bangkok of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on 12 March 2004, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is distributing a series of three extracts from the newly-released English translation of a book by his wife, Angkhana, first published in Thai to mark […]

Somchai Neelapaijit has been missing since 12 March 2004, when he was last seen in Bangkok being forced into a car with a group of men. At the time of his disappearance, he was Chairman of the Muslim Lawyers Association and Vice-Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of Thailand, and was […]

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on Indonesia. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-012-2008-Indonesia_AHRR2008.pdf. How proud can Indonesia be of its reform process? While the country has established a national human rights commission (Komnas HAM) and has also undergone wide-reaching institutional reforms since the end of Suharto’s […]

(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 […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned that despite calls from human rights defenders and organisations across Asia and around the world, still the justice ministry in Thailand has not reversed its decision to transfer responsibility for protection of witnesses in human rights cases under its control back to the police. […]

(Hong Kong, February 22, 2008) The wife of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit and three victims of police torture on Friday told investigators that they have “no confidence” to pursue cases against the police without continued protection.  The four have been informed that from the end of this month the Department of Special Investigation […]

Dear friends, The hearings in the trial of five police officers in connection with the disappearance of prominent Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit at the Criminal Court in Bangkok are drawing to a close: the second-last confirmed dates, for the hearing of defence witnesses, will run from tomorrow, November 15, to Friday, November 18. In […]

(Hong Kong, August 30, 2007) The families of “disappeared” persons, human rights defenders and others are on Thursday gathering in Bangkok to plant a tree in remembrance of the missing. The “Tree of Life” event is being held in front of the Grand Auditorium at Thammasat University to mark the international day of the disappeared. […]

Dear friends, The Administrative Court in Thailand has turned down a petition challenging the decision of the Royal Thai Police and its commissioner general to reappoint the five policemen who are allegedly involved in the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit (UP-044-2007). The petition was filed by Somchai’s wife, Angkhana Neelaphaijit, who was also a joint-plaintiff […]