FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-069-2006

THAILAND: Argentine FM urged to take up abductions with Thai Deputy PM on visit

(Hong Kong, August 10, 2006) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Wednesday urged the foreign minister of Argentina to discuss forced disappearances in Thailand with that country's deputy prime minister when he visits during this month.

In an open letter to Jorge Taiana, the Hong Kong-based regional rights group called for the Argentine government to seek commitments from Surakiart Sathriathai that Thailand would end abductions and killings by its police and soldiers, particularly in the south of the country.

"We ask that you raise questions about why [the Thai government] established a commission to reconcile the parties to the conflict in the south and then ignored its findings, and why it has given no support to the establishing of a much-needed missing persons centre," Basil Fernando, executive director of the AHRC, said in the letter. 

The AHRC also informed the Argentine minister of the case of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, and asked that he obtain a promise from Surakiart that Thailand would join a new treaty to prohibit disappearances globally.

It said that it felt "confident" that Taiana shared its concerns, in view of Argentina's history of forced disappearances during the 1970s and 80s and recent moves to convict police and other officials responsible.

On August 4 a landmark case saw the conviction of a police officer for his role in the abduction of a couple at the start of 1979.

Taiana was himself imprisoned for seven years by Argentina's military dictatorship. He went on to become the executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and human rights secretary of Argentina.

"The Argentine foreign minister has a strong human rights background, and although his country is still moving slowly towards redressing the disappearances cases that occurred under the army, it is far ahead of anywhere in Asia," Fernando commented with regards to the letter.

"Sri Lanka had as many as 60,000 disappeared in the late 1980s and early 90s, yet in not a single case has justice prevailed," he said.

"In Thailand disappearances are going on at an unprecedented rate but the government is in a state of denial, both about the practice and the fact that its policies are responsible," Fernando said.

"The Argentine minister is the right man to wake up the Thai government to its obligations and international concerns about what is going on there," he concluded.

Surakiart is travelling to Argentina, which is currently a member of the UN Security Council, to drum up support for his bid to become UN secretary general.

The AHRC has opposed his candidacy on the grounds that his government has failed to cooperate and comply with UN human rights bodies.

It has also said that as foreign minister he did nothing to improve conditions in neighbouring Burma.

The AHRC has warned that the deputy prime minister would be a "danger" to the global human rights movement.

In an appeal issued on August 4 it called for people to write to the Security Council members, who have a key role in the selection process, to request that they reject the Thai candidate.

The current secretary general, Kofi Annan, is due to step down in December.

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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.