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UPDATE (Thailand): Department of Special Investigation fails to bring justice to Charoen Wat-aksorn case

June 30, 2005

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal
29 June 2005

[Re: UA-76-2004: THAILAND: A prominent environmentalist Charoen Wat-aksorn murdered and an independent investigation required; UP-40-2004: THAILAND: Arrest warrant issued against a local politician for the murder of Charoen Wat-aksorn]
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UP-77-2005: THAILAND: Department of Special Investigation fails to bring justice to Charoen Wat-asksorn case

THAILAND: Investigation inefficiency and inaction

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in Thailand has yet to bring justice to the case of environmental activist Charoen Wat-aksorn, who was murdered on 21 June 2004.

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 believed then and now that influential figures are behind his murder.

A year later, the DSI, which is under the Ministry of Justice, has yet to bring justice to the perpetrators of this crime. Despite this, it is reportedly intending to conclude its investigations believing that the murder may have been the result of a personal conflict. Yet the wife of Charoen, Korn-uma Pongnoi, insists that this is incorrect and strongly believes that he was killed because of his campaign against the encroachment of land. Such a belief is further fueled by the murders of many prominent environmentalists and human rights defenders in Thailand in recent years (for further details please refer to the article written by Tyrell Haberkorn in the Asian Legal Resource Centre’s Volume 4, No. 2 April 2005 edition of article 2: http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0402/188/).

Korn-uma is frustrated that only two persons are facing charges, despite evidence to suggest that many more people were involved. “There is much evidence that the DSI has excluded from its investigation,” Korn-uma told the media recently. She questions why all the leads that would have implicated the alleged masterminds, influential people in Prachuap Khiri Khan, had been dropped. Though three suspected masterminds had been apprehended, they were quickly released after denying involvement. Such conduct by the DSI was inappropriate and perhaps the direct cause of why justice has not come to this case.

The Justice Minister, Mr Suwat Liptapanlop and DSI director-general Mr Sombat Amornwiwat met with Korn-uma and addressed a group of people who protested in front of government offices on June 21 regarding this case. Suwat said he would reassign the DSI to investigate Charoen’s case and he will release any new findings if and when they become available. However, his comments were met with much skepticism given the inefficiency of the DSI thus far.

Such inefficiency has been evident in the handling of the disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Nilapaichit. Somchai’s family members have complained that the DSI has failed to conduct its investigations properly, and as a result, the perpetrators remain at large.

In light of this, we ask that you write to the Minister of Justice voicing your concern at the lack of progress in Charoen’s case.

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Suggested letter:

Dear Mr Suwat,

THAILAND: Department of Special Investigation must do more to bring justice to the murder of Charoen Wat-asksorn

I write to voice my concern at the Department of Special Investigation’s (DSI) failure to bring justice to the case of environmental activist Charoen Wat-aksorn who, as you are aware, was murdered on 21 June 2004.

Despite a year having passed to fully investigate and thoroughly examine this case, the DSI has yet to bring the perpetrators of this crime before a court of law. Yet I believe the DSI is reportedly intending to conclude its investigations believing that the murder may have been the result of a personal conflict. The wife of Charoen, Korn-uma Pongnoi, however, insists that this is incorrect and strongly believes that he was killed because of his campaign against the encroachment of land. Given the numerous murders of prominent environmentalists and human rights defenders in Thailand in recent years, such a belief holds considerable merit.

I am aware that only two persons are facing charges, despite evidence to suggest that many more people were involved. I am also aware that three suspected masterminds who had been apprehended were immediately released after denying involvement. I question why the DSI was so quick to release these people and not to pursue credible leads that may have led to their arrest. If the DSI had have done this, perhaps we would have witnessed justice in this case by now. Instead, not one person has been punished for this heinous crime and murders against those defending the national interests of Thailand continue unabated.

As the Minister for Justice I call on you to remedy this situation. The DSI must reopen its investigation into Charoen’s murder, which should include the re-interviewing of all persons suspected of involvement. If evidence is found against persons and their possible link to this death, then they must be brought before a court of law to face questioning on this. If found guilty, adequate sentencing must be served and compensation must be provided by the perpetrators to the victim’s family. At the conclusion of this, the DSI should also fully assess its own investigative procedure in this case, so as to ensure that its inefficiency and incompetence is not repeated in future cases.

I look to your intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

_______________


PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:

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

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. Pol. Gen. Chidchai Wanasatidya
Minister of Interior
Office of the Ministry of Interior
Thanon Atsadang
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +662 224-6320/ 6341
Fax: +662 226-4371/ 222 8866
Email: webteam@moi.go.th

3. Pol. Gen. Kowit Wattana
Commissioner-General
Royal Thai Police
1st Bldg, 7th Floor
Rama I , Patumwan,
Bangkok 10330
THAILAND
Tel. +662 205-1313/ 205-220/ 205-1840-9
Fax: +662 251-5956/ 205 3738/ 255 1975-8

4. 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

5. 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)
Email: urgent-action@ohchr.org

6. 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
Email: bmajekodunmi@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-77-2005
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.