Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UPDATE (Thailand): Update on libel suit against media-reform activist Ms Supinya
 

UPDATE (Thailand): Update on libel suit against media-reform activist Ms Supinya

October 20, 2004

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal 21 October 2004

(UA-73-2004: THAILAND: Human rights defender faces preliminary decision in libel case on 21 June 2004 and UP-31 2004: THAILAND: Criminal Court decides to let libel suit against Ms Supinya Klangnarong proceed on 29 June 2004)
------------------------------------------------------
UP-62-2004: THAILAND: Update on libel suit against media-reform activist Ms Supinya

THAILAND: Freedom of speech; Human rights defenders; Democratization of media
------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission provides you the updated information below regarding the libel case filed by media conglomerate Shin Corp against a media-reform activist Ms Supinya Klangnarong and the Thai Post. Ms Supinya, Secretary General of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform (CPMR), was sued by Shin Corp after she observed that Shin Corp's profits have skyrocketed since Mr Thaksin Shinawatra became Prime Minister in her article published in Thai Post on 16 July 2003. (See further: UA-73-2004)

1. On 6 September 2004, the Criminal Court scheduled the first hearing into this libel suit for 19 July 2005 which indicates that the case will start after the next general election scheduled in early 2005. On 22 June 2004, the Criminal Court had previously decided to let the suit against Ms Supinya. (See further: UP-31-2004)

A delay would politically benefit Prime Minster Thaksin, as the anticipated hearings could strew potentially damaging information and explode side issues such as the defendant's call for him to take the stand.

2. Meantime, Shin Corp has also filed a Bt 400 million libel suit in Civil Court against Ms Supinya and the Thai Post on 24 August 2004, after winning Criminal Court approval. Shin Corp has claimed financial institutions downgraded its creditworthiness and that its credibility in the stock market was affected as a result of her comments in the article.

After learning the news, the CPMR said, "If society allows powerful political and business groups to take legal action against social watchdogs over acts in the interest of the public, no one else will dare to express his opinion, speak the truth or criticize anything."

On 11 October 2004, the Civil Court decided that the trial of this case would begin after the Criminal Court decides its case. The Civil Court said that after the ruling on the criminal case is made, both parties would report the judgment to the court within 45 days and the court would then schedule the start of a hearing.

The AHRC welcomes the sensible decision of the Civil Court regarding Ms Supinya's case. However, the charges against her and the Thai Post still remain. The AHRC urges everyone to continue to work for these cases to be dropped. Sample letter and contact addresses of Thai authorities can be seen in our previous urgent appeal on this matter (UA-73-2004). We kindly ask you to amend the sample letter demanding that all charges in both criminal and civil suits against Ms Supinya and the Thai Post must be dropped.

The AHRC also notices with grave concern that criminal defamation and civil defamation have been increasingly used by the government authorities in several Asian countries in order to repress basic rights of free expression and publication. Under the circumstances, this case is very important for the people of Thailand at a time that many of their basic human rights are under threat.

When you write a letter to the Thai authorities, please also urge them to take active steps to abolish these offensive legal provisions without delay. (See detailed information:?AS-32-2004: Thailand's obsolete criminal defamation law must be scrapped)

The CPMR has opened a bank account to raise fund for Ms Supinya's legal costs. People interested in joining their fight to defend the right of expression in Thailand can wire money to:

Account name: Supinya Klangnarong and/or Bhibhop Thongchai and/or Pittaya Wongkul
Savings account number: 075-232433-6
Bank: Siam Commercial Bank, Ratchadaphisek Road II branch.


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-62-2004
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.