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THAILAND: Express support for embattled BBC-Thai service

November 1, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

1 November 2005

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UA-195-2005: THAILAND: Express support for embattled BBC-Thai service

THAILAND: Declining freedom of speech; Media concentration
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Dear friends,

The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office and British Broadcasting Commission (BBC) have announced that in early 2006 the Thai-language service of the BBC World Service radio will be taken off the air. The closure of the service has been justified as part of restructuring, because according to the BBC it has "low market impact".

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) believes that the decision to close the BBC Thai service at this time is a grave error of judgment. It comes at completely the wrong time for Thailand, where threats to emerging independent media have increased dramatically.

We support calls for a review of the decision to cut the BBC Thai service. Please voice your concerns about the announced closure by writing to the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the BBC. This can be done in a number of ways:

1. Sign the Online Petition, which was initiated by a Thai media reform activist. At time of writing this appeal already had over 1700 signatories and their comments

2. Send a letter of support to the BBC Thai service direct, via their contact page

3. Send a letter to the Foreign Office, either via the nearest British diplomatic mission in your territory or region, or direct. A sample letter and addresses are below.

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

The AHRC has been among many other groups and individuals to warn about growing threats to freedom of expression and independent media in Thailand during recent times. For instance, it has pointed to the criminal case against Supinya Klangnarong and the editors of the Thai Post newspaper for allegedly defaming the corporation belonging to the family of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (UP-111-2005). Its sister organization, the Asian Legal Resource Centre, has expressed its concerns regarding growing restrictions on freedom of expression--in particular, actions against the burgeoning community radio movement in Thailand--to the UN Human Rights Committee (see the section on Freedom of Expression in the "Institutionalized torture, extrajudicial killings & uneven application of law in Thailand" report, March 2005). In its concluding observations after its examination of Thailand's human rights record in July 2005, the Committee expressed concern at "reports of intimidation and harassment against local and foreign journalists and media personnel as well as of defamation suits against them, originating at the highest political level" [CCPR/CO/84/THA, 28 July 2005, para. 18].  

More recently, the prime minister has initiated new defamation suits against media owners and professionals (see related news article), while the bulk of Thailand's electronic media has remained in the hands of the national leadership, armed forces and civilian administration. Legal action is also commencing against some persons who set up community radio stations in accordance with a new provision under the 1997 Constitution of Thailand. The government of Thailand has failed in its obligation to establish proper regulations in accordance with that provision and used it as a pretext to treat new radio stations as illegal, where and when convenient for its purposes. International media group Reporters without Borders has also said that media conditions in Thailand are worsening, and ranked the country as 107 out of 167 countries assessed for their media freedom in 2005.

Against this background, the decision by the UK Foreign Office to shut the BBC Thai service suggests that it is out of touch with the reality in Thailand and that the decision was very ill-advised.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please add your name to the Online Petition or send a letter of support to the BBC Thai service. Please also write directly to the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the director of the BBC World Service. A sample letter follows.

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Dear Sir

Re: Keep BBC Thai service on the air

I have received the news that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office has decided to close the Thai-language service of BBC World Service radio in 2006, on the grounds that the Thai service has "low market impact".  

I believe that this decision and assessment is wrong. At a time of growing concern about media freedoms in Thailand, the Thai service of the BBC is constantly sought after for reliable and independent information. In this year alone, there have been numerous legal and verbal attacks on media professionals in Thailand by the authorities. Criminal defamation suits are being used to silence government critics. The once burgeoning community radio movement is now facing severe threats. International media watchdog Reporters without Borders has downgraded Thailand's freedom rating to 107 out of 167 countries surveyed in 2005. The UN Human Rights Committee in July expressed concern at "reports of intimidation and harassment against local and foreign journalists and media personnel [in Thailand] as well as of defamation suits against them, originating at the highest political level". These are some of the many reasons that the BBC World Service should continue broadcasting in Thai.

You have seriously underestimated the popularity, impact and importance of the BBC Thai service. The decision should be reviewed: it is ill-advised and gravely erroneous. Please reconsider, and keep BBC on the air in Thai.

Yours sincerely

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Jack Straw
Secretary of State
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles St
London SW1 2AH
UK
Tel: +44 20 7008 1500
Fax: +44 20 7008 2144 (ATTENTION: FOREIGN SECRETARY)
Or use the contact page form

2. Mr. David Fall
Ambassador
British Embassy
14 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330
THAILAND
Tel: +66 2 305 8333
Fax: +66 2 253 7121 (ATTENTION: THE AMBASSADOR)
E-mail: david.fall@fco.gov.uk
           
3. Mr. Nigel Chapman
Director
BBC World Service
Bush House
Strand
London WC2B 4PH
UK
Tel: +44 20 7240 3456
Fax: +44 20 7557 1258 (ATTENTION: DIRECTOR, WORLD SERVICE)
E-mail: worldservice@bbc.co.uk (copy to thai@bbc.co.uk)
Or use the contact page form


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-195-2005
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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.