FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-097-2006

THAILAND: Defects in system cause disappearances, AHRC says

(Hong Kong, November 1, 2006) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Wednesday made public the full collection of notes from observers sent to the trial of five police accused in connection with the abduction of Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit.

"At a time that the persistent questions over Somchai's abduction by the police in Thailand are again being asked in public, we are releasing this compilation of court observations to show just how many serious and systemic questions remain unanswered," Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based regional rights group, said.

"Ultimately, these are questions not only for the investigators of Somchai's case, but for the entire criminal justice system in Thailand," Fernando said.

The 141-page compilation, "The disappearance of a person and the defects of a system", consists of trial observation notes taken by observers of the AHRC throughout the trial, from March to December, 2005.

The document also contains commentary on the trial and the problematic use of mobile phone evidence, which connected the five accused to the crime but was dismissed by the judge in his January 2006 verdict, which found that police had abducted Somchai in March 2004, but sentenced only one to three years' jail. 

It is available online at: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/docs/AHRC_Somchai_trial_notes.pdf

The Department of Special Investigation, which is responsible for the ongoing investigation, was in October ordered by the interim government of Thailand to give evidence of progress. It has reportedly said that it lacks sufficient evidence to lay further charges.

The AHRC has led calls for the resignation of the department's director, Pol. Gen. Sombat Amornvivat. His impending replacement has been rumoured but not confirmed in recent days.

Meanwhile, the head of the military junta overseeing the interim government, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, on Tuesday said that he had information that persons close to the former prime minister masterminded Somchai's disappearance. 

"In the short term it may look like this sudden forced change in government could lead to a breakthrough in this case," Fernando said.

"But in the long run, increased exertion of military authority over the judiciary and policing in Thailand will only guarantee more impunity for killings and abductions," he concluded.

In March the AHRC posthumously awarded Somchai its 2nd Asian Human Rights Defender Award.

In 2005 it set up a special webpage on his case: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/somchai.

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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.