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THAILAND: A prominent environmentalist Charoen Wat-aksorn murdered and an independent investigation required

June 24, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

24 June 2004
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UA-76-2004: THAILAND: A prominent environmentalist Charoen Wat-aksorn murdered and an independent investigation required

Thailand: Murder of human rights defenders
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by the murder of Charoen Wat-aksorn (37) in Prachuap Khiri Khan provincial town on 21 June 2004. The two perpetrators have not yet been arrested. Charoen led a high-profile protest against the Bo Nok coal-fired power plant project in Prachuap Khiri Khan for a decade. On the day he was killed, Charoen had been to Bangkok to ask the House Committee on Corruption Investigation to investigate the alleged attempts by influential locals to grab public land. Charoen's family and human rights groups believe influential figures are behind his murder. Local police are currently conducting an investigation in this case.

The victim's wife and human rights groups are strongly calling for the Thai government to have the Justice Ministery's Special Investigation Department (SID) handle Charoen's case, as local police may be influenced by the wealthy powerful residents. However, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra refused the request, merely instructing the Bangkok police to assist the local town police.

During the last three years under the Thaksin administration, 16 environmentalists and human rights defenders were killed or went missing. Prior to Charoen was the disappearance of human-rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, who was last seen on March 12 with his whereabouts still unknown.

We call for your urgent intervention into this matter. Please send a letter to the government of Thailand and urge them to ensure transparency in the investigation by requiring an independent investigation agency (SID) to handle this case. Please also demand that the perpetrators and the masterminds of the murder be brought to justice without delay.

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

On the night of 21 June 2004, Charoen Wat-aksorn (37), a prominent environmentalist in Prachuap Khiri Khan provincial town, was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle near his home after stepping off a bus returning from Bangkok. The gunmen remain at large. The autopsy found he was shot by seven bullets, three of which penetrated through his head and face.

Charoen led a high-profile protest against the Bo Nok coal-fired power plant project in Prachuap Khiri Khan for a decade. On the day he was killed, Charoen had been to Bangkok to ask the House Committee on Corruption Investigation to investigate in the allegation that the local officials illegally issued land title deeds on a public land plot in Prachuap Khiri Khan. Charoen's family and human rights groups believe influential figures are behind his murder.

A 900-rai plot of public land in Moo Jed Village of Tambon Bo Nok in the town of Prachuap Khiri Khan is under management of the local tambon administrative organisation (TAO). Initially, Gulf Electric planned to build a coal-fired power plant on the plot and leased the plot from the Bo Nok TAO. Once villagers came to know this fact, they came out to oppose it and ran for posts in the TAO in elections and won. The new TAO refused to renew the leasing contract with the firm, effectively preventing it from building the plant. However, according to the villagers, during the past few months, some wealthy people had bribed local officials to issue land deeds covering 53 rai of land on the plot. Charoen was taking action against this and filed complaints with the interior minister, the National Counter Corruption Commission and various House and Senate committees.

Charoen's wife and human rights groups demanded Charoen's case be handled by the Justice Ministry's Special Investigation Department (SID), not by local police. "We want the department to lead the investigation because we want transparency in the probe. Local police could be influenced by local influential people." Suwit Wadnu, a Campaign for Popular Democracy adviser, said.

On June 22, about 300 Bo Nok villagers rallied from the province to Bangkok together with the coffin of Charoen to protest against his murder and to call for justice. Korn-uma said the body would be kept for 100 days, which is time for the government to arrest those who killed her husband. She added that if it failed to arrest the murderers, she would carry her husband's body for cremation in front of the government House. "His death would not be wasteful. The only thing I want is justice for my husband who was shot dead dreadfully," she said.

However, on June 23 Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra refused the request of Charoen's wife and human rights groups to have SID take over a probe into his murder, which is currently being conduct by local police. Instead, he merely instructed the Bangkok police to assist the local police in the investigation, adding that he would also personally monitor police probes into the killing. "I don't think there's a need to send in Special Investigation Department officials. The task now is to investigate and make an arrest," he said.

According to the information received, today (June 24) 17 human rights and development NGOs will submit a letter to Prime Minister Thaksin, urging the Prime Minister as the chairman of the executive committee of the Special Investigation Department (SID) to handle the case. The NGOs said they will also urge the Thai government to arrest the gunmen and masterminds of Charoen's murder and to establish an independent mechanism to protect human rights defenders.

During the last three years under the Thaksin administration, 16 environmentalists and human-rights defenders were killed or went missing. Prior to Charoen was the disappearance of human-rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, who was last seen on March 12 with his whereabouts still unknown. (Refer to our previous appeals: FA-06-2004, UP-14-2004 and UA-26-2004). In addition, 3,000 people were killed during the Thai government's war on drugs in 2003, and about 200 people were killed in the deep South earlier this year.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or an email to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and demand that the SID handle this case and speed up the investigation. Please also request him to provide protection to Charoen's family and bring the perpetrators and the masterminds of the murder to justice without delay.

Sample letter:

Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra
Prime Minister
Government house,
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District,
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND

Dear Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,

Re: THAILAND: A prominent environmentalist Charoen Wat-aksorn murdered and an independent investigation required

I am writing to request that you ensure a transparent investigation in the murder of Charoen Wat-aksorn, a prominent environmentalist in Prachuap Khiri Khan, who was shot dead near his home on 21 June 2004. The two perpetrators have not yet been arrested.

It seems obvious that Charoen was killed because he obstructed local influential figures who tried to issue land title deeds over public land. Charoen led a high-profile protest against the Bo Nok coal-fired power plant project in Prachuap Khiri Khan for a decade. In fact, on the day he was killed, Charoen had been to Bangkok to ask the House Committee on Corruption Investigation to investigate in the alleged attempts by influential locals to grab public land.

Based on this understanding, Charoen's family and several human rights groups call for the Thai government to have the Justice Ministery's Special Investigation Department (SID) to handle Charoen's case as they think that local police can be influenced by local influential people. However, I have received the very disappointing news that you denied this request of ensuring justice and transparency, and merely instructed the Bangkok police to assist the local police who are currently conducting the investigation.

The current situation is a great challenge to human rights defenders in Thailand because defending human rights defenders is the only way to ensure the protect and promote human rights. If the Thai government fails to deliver justice in this case, I am afraid that fewer people will dare to work against injustice for fear that they will be killed and ordinary people will suffer even more.

Therefore, I strongly urge you to ensure transparency in the investigation by ordering the SID to handle this case instead of local or provincial police. I also urge the Thai government to speed up the investigation and bring the two perpetrators and masterminds to justice without delay. I further request you to provide protection to Charoen's family and his fellow activists in Prachuap Khiri Khan. Lastly, I urge the Thai government to take all possible efforts to establish an effective mechanism to protect human rights defenders.

Sincerely yours,



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Send a letter to:

Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra
Prime Minister
Government house,
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District,
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 282 8631 or 02-629-8213
Email: thaksin@thaigov.go.th, govspkman@mozart.inet.co.th

Send a copy to:

1. Mr Pongthep Thepkanjana
Minister of Justice
Office of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building 22nd Floor
Jangwatana Road, Parkket
Nonthaburi 11120
THAILAND
Tel: +662 502 6775
Fax: +662 502 6734

2. Charnchao Chaiyanukij
Chief of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department (RLPD)
Tel: +662 502 8186
Fax +662 502 8195

3. Prof. Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
422 Phya Thai Road
Pathurn Wan District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Fax: +662 219 2940
Email: commission@nhrc.or.th

4. Acting Regional Representative for Asia Pacific
Officer of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Building
Rajdamnern Avenue, Bangkok 10120
THAILAND
Tel. 662-288-1235
Fax. 662-288-3009
email: ohchr.bangkok@un.org

5. Ms. Hina Jilani
UN Sepcial Representative on Human Rights Defenders
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006

6. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: 92 42 5763 234
Fax: 41 22 917 9006 / 92 42 5763 236
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / asmalaw@brain.net.pk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-76-2004
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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.