Disappearance Mystery in Thailand: After Five Years, a Fresh Start or Business as Usual?

March 16, 2009

Friendships and support from fellow human beings . . . helps me and other aggrieved persons in the world to continue our struggle for justice patiently, determinedly and with hope.

-Angkhana Neelaphaijit on the fifth anniversary of her husband's disappearance

Somchai Neelaphaijit has now been missing for five years. He was last seen being forced into a car in the Ramkamhaeng area of Bangkok on March 12, 2004. Just days before, the human rights lawyer and Chairman of the Muslim Lawyers Association had filed a complaint accusing the police of torture in the conflict-torn Southern provinces.

In January 2006 Police Major Ngern Thonsuk was convicted of coercion and assault in connection with the disappearance. Four other police officers were acquitted-and no one has ever been charged with the more serious crimes of enforced disappearance, kidnapping, or murder. (You can read Human Rights First's 2006 trial monitoring report here). In September 2008 Ngern Thonsuk, out on bail, was reported missing after a mudslide. 

Senior officials in three successive governments have indicated high-level involvement in the crime or the cover up:

• In June 2006, then Prime Minister Thaksin told Somchai's wife that he had been taken to Ratchaburi province. Efforts to locate his body in an alleged police dumping ground there, as recently as March 2009, have not been successful.
• In August 2007, coup-leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin told the press, "I have received information from investigators that some individuals close to former Prime Minister Thaksin were behind the disappearance of Somchai."
• In January 2009, a senior police official acknowledged that police had obstructed the investigation.

In January 2009 the new Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, met personally with Angkhana and ordered police and the Ministry of Justice to intensify their investigation into the case.

However, these cryptic comments and promises have not led to new evidence or arrests, or to a commitment to end the practice of disappearances. Please call on the Thai authorities to:

1. Produce tangible results in the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit by requiring testimony from all relevant sources, including senior police officers and politicians.
2. Sign the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and ensure necessary domestic legislation, including a provision in the criminal code for enforced disappearances. 
3. End application of the Emergency Law and martial law provisions, which allow extended detention without charge and without access to a lawyer or family members. Such detention conditions are known to encourage torture and disappearances.

Background

Read Angkhana Neelaphaijit's account of her search for the truth about her husband's disappearance here.

Sample Letter

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva

Your Excellency:

On the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit, I am extremely concerned at the continuing failure to determine his whereabouts or to convict anyone for his disappearance.

The January 2006 conviction of Ngern Thonsuk was a small but inadequate step forward. Four of the five defendants were acquitted, and none were charged with offenses sufficiently serious to fit the crimes of enforced disappearance, kidnapping, or even murder. That case has been under appeal since April 2006 with no action, and the one person convicted allegedly disappeared in September 2008 landslide while out on bail.

The case has become a symbol of impunity in Thailand and continues to capture international attention, most recently by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances during its interactive dialogue with member states.

There are indications of high-level involvement in the crime or the cover up, and that not all relevant information has been made public. In 2006 then-Prime Minister Thaksin told Angkhana Neelaphaijit that her husband had been taken to Ratchaburi province. In August 2007, coup-leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin told the press he had received information from investigators that individuals close to Thaksin were behind the disappearance. And in January 2009, a senior police official acknowledged that police had obstructed the investigation.

The case remains under investigation by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). However, the DSI contains many former members of the Royal Thai Police and appears unable or unwilling to resolve the case.

I am glad to hear that you have ordered the Royal Thai Police and the Ministry of Justice to intensify the investigation in Somchai's disappearance, among a number of other unsolved crimes. We hope that this effort includes new and concrete steps, such as the interview of additional witnesses, including senor officials.

In order to resolve the crime, and to prevent future disappearances, I call on you to:

1. Ensure that the investigation by the DSI is carried out vigorously and free from interference by police. Investigators should be willing to call any relevant witnesses, including current and former senior police officers and political leaders.
2. Sign the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and ensure appropriate domestic legislation, including a provision in the criminal code for enforced disappearances.
3. Promptly lift the application of the Emergency Law and of martial law provisions, which allow detention without charge and without access to lawyers or family members. Such detention conditions are known to encourage torture and disappearances.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.