Petition Calls for Progress in Thai Disappearance Case

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Over 1,000 People Demand Action on the Somchai Neelaphaijit Case and an End to Disappearances

NEW YORK—A leading human rights organization sent a petition this week with 1,169 names to the Prime Minister of Thailand, calling for action in the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit. Human Rights First collected the signatures from around the world on the fifth anniversary of the lawyer's disappearance.

Neelaphaijit was last seen being forced into a car in the Ramkamhaeng area of Bangkok on March 12, 2004. Just days before, the prominent human rights lawyer had filed a complaint accusing the police of torturing his clients in the southern provinces.

The new petition calls on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to act on his recent pledge to accelerate the investigation. Copies were also sent to the head of the Department of Special Investigations (DSI), the Chief of Police, and the Minister of Justice.

The petition calls on the Prime Minister to "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." The DSI must use all the tools at its disposal, including searches and subpoenas, to obtain evidence and testimony.

"After five years, this case refuses to go away," said Matt Easton, Director of the Human Rights Defenders Program at Human Rights First. "The case has been raised by the United Nations, foreign embassies, Thai organizations, and now over a thousand people from around the world."

The petition also calls on the Royal Thai Government to prevent future disappearances by signing the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and enacting domestic legislation.  Finally, it calls for a prompt end to the application of the Emergency Decree and martial law. These emergency provisions allow for extended detention without charge and without access to legal assistance, conditions that are known to encourage torture and disappearances.

In January 2006 a court convicted one police officer, Maj. Ngern Thonsuk, of coercion in connection with the lawyer's disappearance. Four other defendants were acquitted, and no one was charged with the more serious crimes of enforced disappearance, kidnapping, or murder. Human Rights First observed several sessions of that trial and produced a report. Although Neelaphaijit's family lodged an appeal in April 2006, there has been no action by the courts. While out on bail Maj. Thonsuk was reported missing following a September 2008 mudslide.

The case remains under investigation by the Department of Special Investigations. However, the DSI contains many former members of the Royal Thai Police and appears unable or unwilling to solve the case. In January 2009, a senior police official acknowledged that police had obstructed the investigation. And a March 12 editorial in The Nation, Thailand's leading English language daily, concluded that it was "obvious the police are trying to block further progress that will implicate their own colleagues."

"The Prime Minister's stated commitment to solve the case is a welcome step," said Easton. "The world is now waiting to see if his government will deliver concrete progress."

Read the full petition

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