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THAILAND: Police lodge defamation charges against forensic scientist over "5 bullet suicide" case

June 23, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEAL PROGRAMME

24 June 2005

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UA-107-2005: THAILAND: Police lodge defamation charges against forensic scientist over "5 bullet suicide" case

THAILAND: Extrajudicial killing; Impunity; Criminal defamation; Challenges to the integrity of forensic science
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is outraged that five Thai police officers have filed defamation complaints against a senior forensic scientist and government bureaucrat following the latter’s comments over an apparent extrajudicial killing which the police have maintained was a suicide. Although all evidence points to the fact that the police killed the victim, they have lodged the defamation complaints in order to 'protect their reputations'.

We ask that you please write to the Minister of Interior expressing your anger at the absurdity of these complaints and the need to withdraw them immediately. Please also voice your strong concern regarding the shameless excesses of power enjoyed by the Thai police, as evident in this case. If such abuses of power by the police are accepted now, then little hope can be held for the future integrity of the forensic profession and its collating of evidence in torture and murder cases.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

On 21June 2005, five officers from the Bang Khunthien police station, in Bangkok, Thailand, filed defamation complaints against Justice Ministry deputy permanent secretary Mr Manit Suthaporn and the Central Institute of Forensic Science’s deputy director, Dr Porntip Rojanasun. The police officers have accused Dr Porntip and Mr Manit of making false statements regarding the police officers’ involvement in the death of Sunthorn Wongdao, during an interview on the iTV programme “Todrahat” on June 18.

Mr Sunthorn Wongdao was found dead in Bang Yai district, Nonthaburi province on May 21, after being surrounded by officers of the Bang Kunthien station, who claimed he had committed suicide before being apprehended. However, the CIFS concluded that neither the condition of the victim's body nor the crime scene suggested a suicide. In fact, the victim had four bullets through his lung and one through his head. The nature of the gunshot wounds suggests that another person fired the bullets at close range. Furthermore, the crime scene had allegedly been tampered with. The body of the victim appeared to have been turned over, and evidence organised to suggest a suicide.

Despite these facts, the Bang Kunthien police reportedly continue to maintain that the killing was a suicide. When Dr Porntip and Mr Manit appeared on iTV on June 18 to comment on the case, they simply countered this assertion by pointing to the facts. The Minister of Justice reportedly backed their shared opinion: he, it has been pointed out, has not been sued.

It is in response to the comments made Dr Porntip and Mr Manit that the five officers, including the superintendent of Bang Kunthien District Police Station, Police Colonel Thirisak Suriwong, have taken the step of filing defamation complaints. The other four officers are reported as being Pol. Capt. Pittaya Singjanusong, Pol. Capt. Pramote Chanbunkaew, Pol. Sgt-Maj. Bunyang Muangkrachang and Pol. Sgt. Sutham Thepraksapan. Pol. Col. Thirisak was reported to have said that the police had a right to protect their reputations.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Thailand's antiquated defamation laws are commonly used by powerful persons and officials to silence dissent and intimidate human rights defenders. The AHRC has previously raised concerns over the case of Supinya Klangnarong, who is being sued by a corporation owned by the family of the prime minister (most recent update: UP-31-2005; see also: AS-38-2005).

In this case, the defamation case is a blatant attempt to intimidate a forensic scientist, and through her, others in her profession, who know a great deal more about investigation of a crime scene than the police. They speak to the resentment that the police have over the small number of independent agencies now operating in Thailand that are able to cast some light on the uncounted numbers of human rights violations they had been free to commit in earlier years. For further comments, see: AS-64-2005 and AS-65-2005.


SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Interior expressing your anger at the absurdity of these defamation complaints and the need to withdraw them immediately. Please also urge that a proper inquiry into the killing be conducted by the Department of Special Investigation under the Ministry of Justice.

Sample letter:

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Dear Pol. Gen. Chidchai

Re: Defamation case lodged against Dr Porntip Rojanasunan and Mr Manit Suthaporn by officers of Bang Kunthien police

I write to express my anger over the defamation complaints lodged against Dr Porntip Rojanasunan, deputy director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFA) and Mr Manit Suthaporn, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice by officers from the Bang Kunthien District Police Station, Metropolitan Police Region 9.

The five officers in question are the superintendent of Bang Kunthien District Police Station, Police Colonel Thirisak Suriwong, and Pol. Capt. Pittaya Singjanusong, Pol. Capt. Pramote Chanbunkaew, Pol. Sgt-Maj. Bunyang Muangkrachang and Pol. Sgt. Sutham Thepraksapan.

You will be aware that the officers have accused Dr Porntip and Mr Manit of making false statements regarding the police officers’ involvement in the death of Sunthorn Wongdao, during an interview on the iTV programme “Todrahat” on June 18. After Dr Porntip and Mr Manit implied during the interview that the victim might have been extrajudicially killed the five police decided to lodge the complaints.

The defamation complaints are absurd and are a blatant attempt at intimidation. They demonstrate the excesses of power that the Royal Thai Police continue to wield and the level of impunity that they enjoy. If officers of the Royal Thai Police are permitted to contest or ignore the opinions of qualified forensic professionals, then what purpose do thorough forensic and criminal investigations serve? The actions by the police in this case must not be tolerated by the government. To do so would be to set a dangerous precedent for future investigations and police involvement in criminal cases.

I call on you to intervene immediately in this case. I ask that you ensure that the five officers withdraw their charges without delay and are subsequently reprimanded for their actions. Their superiors should also be held to account for tacitly approving of the complaints. This case gives your government a clear opportunity to declare its intolerance to such behaviour by the police and to other abuses of power that the police continue to display.

I also urge you to take the necessary steps that the killing of Mr Sunthorn be investigated properly by the Department of Special Investigation rather than the local or regional police.

I look to your intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

Pol. Gen. Chidchai Wanasatidya
Minister of Interior
Office of the Ministry of Interior
Atsadang Road
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Fax: + 662 226 4371/ 222 8866


PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. Dr Thaksin Shinawatra
Prime Minister
Government House,
Pissanulok Road, Dusit District,
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 280 1404/ 3000
Fax: +662 282 8631/ 280 1589/ 629 8213
Email: thaksin@thaigov.go.th, govspkman@mozart.inet.co.th

2. Mr Suwat Liptapanlop
Minister of Justice
Office of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building
22nd Floor
Chaeng Wattana Road
Pakkred, Nonthaburi
Bangkok 11120
THAILAND
Tel: +662 2 502 6776/ 8223
Fax: +662 502 6699/ 6734 / 6884

3. Professor Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
422 Phya Thai Road
Pathurn Wan District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 219 2940
Email: commission@nhrc.or.th

4. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)

5. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Ben Majekodunmi
Room 1-040
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-107-2005
Countries :
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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.