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UPDATE (Thailand): Release Sombat Boonngamanong and all detainees under Emergency Decree

July 6, 2010

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-029-2010



6 July 2010

[RE: AHRC-UAC-089-2010: THAILAND: Hundreds detained under emergency regulations]
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THAILAND: Release Sombat Boonngamanong and all detainees under Emergency Decree

ISSUES: Emergency decree; rule of law; freedom of assembly
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Dear friends,

The authorities in Thailand continue to detain persons without charge under emergency regulations imposed in response to anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok during April and May. In this appeal we bring you the case of one person, Sombat Boonngamanong, who was detained for holding a memorial for victims of the violence on 26 June 2010. We are calling for his immediate release along with the release of all other persons held under the emergency regulations, and for the non-renewal of the regulations today, on 6 July 2010.

CASE NARRATIVE:

On 26 June 2010, Sombat Boonngamanong (pictured) held a peaceful memorial at the site of killings that took place during the crackdown on anti-government protestors in Bangkok in May. It involved the tying of ribbons to a signpost in remembrance. Photographs and details of his act are on the website of independent news group Prachatai: http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1910.

In response to the act, a court issued an order for his immediate detention under the Emergency Decree currently in force in Bangkok and 23 other provinces of central, north and northeastern Thailand. Because he cannot be detained at an ordinary detention facility under the decree, he was taken to the Border Patrol Police 1st Region Command Office in Pathumthani province.

The AHRC has previously issued an appeal on hundreds of other persons detained under the decree (UAC-089-2010).

On 29 June 2010 human rights lawyers helped Sombat to file a motion against his detention, requesting his release on the grounds that his detention was in violation of his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful gathering, as provided for in the constitution and international law. Although the court allowed the motion, on July 2 it ordered that Sombat be kept in custody for another week, stating that he had violated the terms of the decree -- which are so ambiguous that virtually anything can be construed as constituting a violation -- and that he may do so again.

Under the decree the court can order detention in seven-day increments for up to 30 days before charges need to be brought. Therefore Sombat is due to come before the court again on 9 July.

Please see the sample letter below to call for Sombat's release and for the lifting of emergency regulations in Thailand.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Sombat Boonngamanong is the founder and former chairperson of the Mirror Foundation, based in Chiang Rai, which works with ethnic minority groups in northern Thailand to help people improve their lives while retaining their cultural identities. For this and other work to support local communities and protect human rights, Sombat was nominated and selected to join the international Ashoka Fellowship of social entrepreneurs.

Since the 19 September 2006 coup Sombat has been an outspoken critic of successive military-backed governments, advocating non-violent dissent. He has led the Red Sunday Group to engage in symbolic actions against the constriction of political space in Thailand. The group's activities include mobile political performance art and, as its name suggests, wearing red on Sundays.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

From the moment that the Emergency Decree was introduced in Thailand the AHRC has strongly opposed it as a law that would inevitably result in gross abuses of human rights. For many years it has been applied in the far south of the country, with disastrous results. In recent days and weeks the AHRC has also issued a series of statements and open letters calling for it to be lifted from the other parts of the country where it is now in effect. See among them: STM-143-2010; STM-139-2010; OLT-007-2010; OLT-005-2010.

For further information on Thailand visit the AHRC Thailand website or go to the AHRC homepage and type Thailand into the search box on the top left hand side. See also the End Emergency Decree page: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/edecree

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the persons listed below to call for the release of Sombat and other detainees, and for the non-renewal of the Emergency Decree.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia concerning the case of Sombat and other detainees in Thailand.

To support this appeal please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

THAILAND: Release Sombat Boonngamanong and all persons detained under Emergency Decree

I am writing to call for the immediate release of Sombat Boonngamanong from custody, for the release of all other persons detained under the terms of the Emergency Decree on Government Administration in States of Emergency B.E. 2548 (2005), and for the non-renewal of the decree.

I know that on 26 June 2010 the Criminal Court in Bangkok issued an emergency arrest and detention warrant for social entrepreneur Sombat Boonngamanong because of a peaceful political protest against state repression of demonstrators in Bangkok. Upon his arrest, Sombat was taken for detention at the Border Patrol Police 1st Region Command Office in Pathumthani province.

On 29 June 2010, with assistance from lawyers from the Human Rights and Legal Assistance Center for Those Affected from Political Turmoil, Sombat filed a motion against his detention and requesting his release, on the grounds that it is an illegal detention which is in violation of his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful gathering as provided for in the constitution and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

On 2 July 2010 the Criminal Court heard and denied the motion to release Sombat, on the grounds that he had on 21 May 2010 participated in a political gathering in violation of the Emergency Decree, and on 26 June 2010 had again engaged in a political act. It was concluded that he could commit further violations if released and that state officers must be given more time for their interrogation. His detention was extended for an additional seven days.

I am aware that hundreds of other persons are currently being detained in a similar fashion and are subject only to cursory judicial inquiries on spurious pretexts for their continued detention. I believe that the case of Sombat--whose "offence" was to peacefully tie some ribbons to a sign at the site of killings during the crackdown on protests in Bangkok--vividly illustrates the extent to which the Emergency Decree is being misused by the authorities in Thailand in violation of international human rights standards.

I call for the immediate release of Sombat Boonngamanong and all persons in custody under the Emergency Decree, and for the non-renewal of the decree, which is in breach of Thailand's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

I also urge the government to arrange for the International Committee of the Red Cross to have access to all places of detention and all detainees--whether under the Emergency Decree or among those already charged with offences--in accordance with its globally recognized mandate.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva
Prime Minister
c/o Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 288 4000 ext. 4025
Tel: +66 2 288 4000
E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th or abhisit@abhisit.org

2. Mr. Chaowarat Chanweerakul
Minister of Interior
Office of the Ministry of Interior
Atsadang Road, Ratchabophit
Pranakorn, Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 226 4371/ 222 8866
Tel: +66 2 224 6320/ 6341
E-mail: om@moi.go.th

3. Mr. Peeraphan Saleeratwipak
Minister of Justice
Office of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building
22nd Floor Software Park Building,
Chaeng Wattana Road
Pakkred, Nonthaburi 11120
THAILAND
Fax: +662 502 6734 / 6884
Tel: +662 502 6776/ 8223
E-mail: om@moj.go.th

4. Mr. Kasit Piromya
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affair
443 Sri Ayudhya Road
Bangkok 10400
THAILAND
Fax: +662 643 5318
Tel: +662 643 5333
E-mail: om@mof.go.th 

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (ua@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
AHRC-UAU-029-2010
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.