PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-051-2006

THAILAND: Ministry reviewing role of DSI chief in Somchai case

(Hong Kong, July 10, 2006) The justice ministry in Thailand says that it is reviewing the role of the head of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in the case of missing human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit.

In a letter of June 26 the justice minister's secretary, Pakorn Buranupakorn, informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that it was considering requests that the DSI chief, Pol. Gen. Sombat Amornvivat, be removed from the case.

"[The] Minister of Justice has ordered the Permanent Secretary [of] Justice to consider this matter," Pakorn said.

Pakorn acknowledged complaints made by the victim's wife, Angkhana Neelaphaijit, and the AHRC that Sombat had created obstacles and failed to deal with the case properly.

Somchai was abducted by police officers on 12 March 2004 and is presumed dead, but his remains have never been recovered and only one officer found guilty of any offence in connection with the disappearance.

The DSI, which is under the justice ministry, has been assigned the case since mid-2005 but has made no progress.

The AHRC, Angkhana and other concerned persons and groups have charged Sombat with negligence, and possibly deliberately obstructing inquiries.

"We are pleased that the justice ministry is taking these concerns seriously, but the longer it takes to get Sombat out of the investigation the longer any prospects for justice will be denied," Basil Fernando, executive director of the AHRC, said.

"In fact, we need Sombat not only out of Somchai's investigation but out of every investigation," Fernando said.

"Until there is a credible person who is not a police officer in charge of the DSI we have no expectation that it will deal properly with a single human rights case," he said.

"We reiterate our call for Sombat to get out and for the DSI to be reformed for human rights in Thailand," Fernando concluded.

The AHRC has joined with others in an online petition calling for reform of the DSI and removal of its director: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/dsi_petition

On Friday staff of the AHRC presented a 75-page dossier on failed human rights investigations by the DSI to the Royal Thai Consul General in Hong Kong and urged him to raise the matter with the foreign ministry for the sake of Thailand's international reputation.

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About AHRC The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.