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  Somchai Neelaphaijit   NEW! Losing Ground: Human Rights Defenders and Counterterrorism in Thailand (07/18/06)
 HRF Statement: Thailand Should Charge or Release Suspected Insurgents (10/28/07) Thai version For more information, please contact Elizabeth Jordan, Tel: 212 845 5298 |
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 Update From the Field: Observing the Trial for Justice for Somchai Neelaphaijit
By Matt Easton, Senior Research Associate Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 16 – In March 2004 Thai lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit disappeared. A member of the Muslim minority, he represented Muslim Thais charged with crimes associated with an increasingly bitter insurgency in the South. Just before he disappeared, Somchai accused the police of torturing his clients. According to prosecutors, that act may have led to his disappearance and, most likely, his death. I went to Bangkok to observe the trial of five policemen charged in connection with his disappearance. The trial started in a small courtroom under the watchful gaze of a portrait of the King of Thailand. Somchai’s wife, Anghkana, a small, determined woman in a lavender head-covering, took the stand. Since her husband disappeared she has become used to answering questions in the media and even at the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva. Asked if she and her husband had fought the day he disappeared, she answered "We've been quarrelling for 30 years, but we didn’t fight." The defense tried to imply he had run off or been targeted by someone else with a grudge; they pointed to everyone from the family members of soldiers killed in the insurgency to the Israeli embassy. While the trial is still ongoing (Human Rights First will issue a full report on its conclusion), it is already clear that the real problem is not predictable defense strategies. The major concern is that the charges simply don't fit the crime. Amazingly, the five policemen are charged with stealing Somchai’s watch and cell phone, and with coercion. While there are some limitations in the Thai criminal code regarding forced disappearances, the root of the problem is the absence of evidence due to a weak investigation. The police, including members of the same unit as the defendants, were entrusted to investigate the crime. Parallel efforts by the senate were stymied by lack of government cooperation. After numerous promises, the government has recently given the green light to the Department of Special Investigations to look into the case. Will this lead to justice for Somchai Neelaphaijit and his family? |
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