PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-065-2006
THAILAND: Angkhana refuses cash; demands justice
(Hong Kong, August 7, 2006) The wife of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on Monday refused to take money for her husband's disappearance, saying that only justice could compensate.
In a letter submitted to caretaker deputy prime minister Jaturong Chaisaeng, Angkhana Neelaphaijit said that 100,000 Thai baht (USD 2500) offered for the loss of her husband by a government committee was unacceptable.
"The acceptable compensation is to review the truth and to bring the responsible person(s) to justice according to the law," Angkhana said.
"The state should provide and facilitate a transparent, fair and just judicial process for all families [of disappeared persons] to access justice," she added.
Angkhana again criticised the government of Thailand, and especially the work of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), saying that it had been slow to start and that "there were a lot of errors, delays and unwillingness" in its handling of the case.
She pointed out that the DSI had failed to protect vital evidence of the abduction, and said that this was just one among "many stories of injustice" that she had faced.
In July Angkhana joined with the family of another slain rights defender and other concerned persons to submit a letter to the DSI asking what progress it had made.
Although the director-general of the DSI, Pol. Gen. Sombat Amornwiwat, has handled the case personally he did not attend the meeting.
Angkhana and other families of victims and rights defenders have joined together to call for reform of the DSI and removal of its director.
An online petition hosted by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has so far attracted around 600 signatories and comments from persons in Thailand and around the world: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/dsi_petition.
Angkhana said that she doubted the Thai government's sincerity.
"Somchai’s disappearance case has never been the subject of interest from the government, which has never been mindful to review the truth, and never been sincere to facilitate a fair and just investigation and trial so that Somchai Neelaphaijit and his family can find justice," Angkhana said.
Money "cannot recompense for what has happened; only justice can do that", she added.
The AHRC has said that it shares her doubts.
"The Thai government has been in a state of permanent denial about this and an as yet unaccounted number of other forced disappearances that are the direct consequence of its policies," Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based regional rights group, said.
"The longer it fails to give due recognition to these families, the worse it will make things in the long run," Fernando said.
"Where police, soldiers and their agents are abducting and killing people, it ultimately threatens a complete breakdown in confidence of the state and its organs," he warned.
"The only way back from that is through a deliberate decision to stop the policy of allowing disappearances, and through providing proper redress to the victims in accordance with international standards," Fernando added.
"As Angkhana has rightly noted, compensation means criminal justice through courts of law, not a few handfuls of cash from government authorities," he observed.
"We back her calls for justice one hundred per cent," he concluded.
A translation of the full text of the letter submitted by Angkhana Neelaphaijit to the deputy prime minister follows.
LETTER OF ANGKHANA NEELAPHAIJIT TO THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
7 August 2006
Your Excellency, Mr. Jaturon Chaysaeng, Minister for the Office of the Prime Minister
According to the State Committee on Compensation for Victims of Violence in the Three Provinces of Thailand (Kor Yor Tor)'s decision to compensate the family of Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit, who was forcibly disappeared for more than 2 years, the amount of 100,000 baht compensation is also the same as that given to those families of victims of killings related to violence in the south, in order to heal the wounds of victims of violence.
My family and I appreciate your kindness and would like to thank you; however; we would like to share some of our concerns over this compensation as follows.
My family and I believe and have faith that the acceptable compensation is to review the truth and to bring the responsible person(s) to justice according to the law. That means families of disappearances deserve justice as per the rule of law. The state should provide and facilitate a transparent, fair and just judicial process for all families to access justice. In our case, even though there is now some investigation process, referring to the work of the Department of Special Investigation; however, our family has not yet obtained justice since there were a lot of errors, delays and unwillingness in finding the truth and in investigating of the case. The Department of Special Investigation stated recently that it had accepted the case one year after the abduction of Somchai Neelaphaijit; however, the truth is that I personally appealed to the Board of Special Cases to take up the case from the beginning but Board of Special Cases refused to do so. One of the most important pieces of evidence of the abduction--the telephone records of at least 5 suspects--has already been deleted from the records of the telephone companies. That shows the lack of willingness to protect evidence. The responsible special investigation officer(s) should have ordered not to delete those records as a criminal case can remain open for 20 years. Who is responsible for this error?
That is only one of many stories of injustice that I have faced. Somchai’s disappearance case has never been the subject of interest from the government, which has never been mindful to review the truth, and never been sincere to facilitate a fair and just investigation and trial so that Somchai Neelaphaijit and his family can find justice. For all these reasons, therefore, I cannot accept 100,000 baht as compensation, which cannot recompense for what has happened; only justice can do that.
My family and I would like to allocate the 100,000 baht to the work of Working Group on Justice for Peace in order to facilitate and coordinate families of victims of violence of both state officers and militants in the three southern provinces to access justice. Through justice [we will] make peace and reconciliation in our society.
Referring to the scholarship scheme for young students and youth of victims' families, I will gratefully accept the scholarship scheme the same scheme as is provided to other young students and youth of those victims whom the breadwinners of the family were killed. I hope that all young students and youths shall have equal opportunities to education and to be better off in their lives.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your time and the opportunity for me to meet and to explain our concerns. I hope that you will be one among many who are like-minded towards a just society and to call for justice for those vulnerable people in our society till the end.
Sincerely Yours,
Angkhana Neelaphaijit
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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.
