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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

15 October 2007
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UA-297-2007: THAILAND: Husband of human rights defender shot dead in south

THAILAND: Extrajudicial killing; threats to human rights defenders; impunity; emergency regulations
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END EMERGENCY DECREE IN SOUTHERN THAILAND
http://thailand.ahrchk.net/edecree

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the husband of a human rights defender in the south of Thailand has been shot dead. Ma-usoh Malong's wife has been organising and supporting the victims and families of the Tak Bai incident. Other human rights defenders in Thailand believe that the killing is intended as a warning to all of them. 

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information obtained by the AHRC, at around 12:30pm on 10 October 2007, Ma-usoh Malong was shot dead near a tea shop close to his house in Praiwan subdistrict of Tak Bai, Narathiwat, in southern Thailand. Witnesses report that the men who shot him came in a green pick-up truck and used an M-16 submachine gun. According to further information, there were two further incidents also involving a green pick up truck in Jao-i-rong and Sapom subdistricts in the same day.

Ma-usoh was the husband of Yaena Solaemae, with whom he had eight children, and who is well known for her work with victims and families of the Tak Bai incident, in which police and army personnel opened fire on a crowd of protestors in October 2004, killing seven, and arresting over a thousand, 78 of who died in custody (see http://thailand.ahrchk.net/takbai/). Yaena was herself present at the time of the shooting and her son was among 59 of the protestors charged; the charges were later dropped (AHRC-OL-060-2006).

So far no government officer has been prosecuted over the Tak Bai case, although three senior officers have been identified as responsible, and a post mortem inquest is continuing into the 78 deaths in custody (see AHRC-OL-008-2007; UP-113-2007). However, there have been continued calls for justice thanks to the work of Yaena and others.

Some human rights defenders heard reports in September 2007 that there may be an operation to intimidate the people involved in the Tak Bai case. Military personnel raided the home of one of the former defendants twice and accused him of being an insurgent, and also visited others.

The killing appears to be intended to intimidate all of these persons and also others working on human rights in the south, as Ma-usoh was not himself involved in anything that would make him a target.

Yaena, who is a tailor by trade, received an award from the National Human Rights Commission in 2005 for her work.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the concerned authorities to call for a proper criminal investigation into the killing of Ma-usoh Malong, adequate compensation for his family, and protection for his wife and others who are at risk. Please also demand that the government of Thailand take action to stop extrajudicial killings in the country.

To support this appeal, please click here:

Sample letter:

Dear _______________,

THAILAND: Urgent investigation and protection measures needed after killing of human rights defender's husband

Name of victim: Ma-usoh Malong, 55, husband of Yaena Solaemae, 50
Date of incident: 10 October 2007, around 12:30pm
Place of incident: Near house of victim in Praiwan Subdistrict, Tak Bai District, Narathiwat Province

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the killing of Ma-Usoh Malong in Tak Bai, southern Thailand, which appears to have been aimed at threatening his wife, a human rights defender, and the persons with whom she is working there.

According to the information that I have received, men in a green pick-up truck shot Ma-usoh with an M-16 submachine gun near a teashop close to his house in Praiwan subdistrict in the early afternoon of 10 October 2007. There are reports that incidents involving a similarly described vehicle also occurred during the same day at Jao-i-rong and Sapom subdistricts.

Ma-usoh was a retiring man who had no activities that would make him a target of this attack; however, his wife has worked actively on the 25 October 2004 shooting of protestors at the Tak Bai District Police Station and subsequent deaths in army custody of 78 persons. Therefore, it appears that his killing is intended as a warning to his wife and the persons with whom she is actively involved in trying to obtain justice. 

I urge the concerned authorities to ensure that

1. A full and impartial investigation into this incident is conducted at once to identify and punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law;

2. The family of the victim and other concerned persons be protected in accordance with the provisions of the Witness Protection Act BE 2546 (2003); and,

3. The family of victim be compensated properly in accordance with the provisions of the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act BE 2544 (2001) and also be afforded necessary psychological assistance.

I also take this opportunity to remind you that to date not one single government official has been held to account for the killing of 85 persons and other gross injustices arising out of the Tak Bai incident, despite three senior officers--Lietenant General Pisarn Wattanawongkiri; Major General Sinchai Nutsathit, and Major General Chalermchai Wirunpeth--having been identified as responsible by a government-appointed special inquiry.

Finally, I also call for the revocation of the Emergency Decree BE 2548 (2005) over the southern provinces, which has done nothing to reduce the conflict there but rather has further inflamed it by, in the words of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, making it possible "for soldiers and police officers to get away with murder" of exactly this sort.

Sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. General Surayud Chulanont
Interim Prime Minister
c/o Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 280 1404/ 3000
Fax: +662 282 8631/ 280 1589/ 629 8213
E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th

2. General Sonthi Boonyaratglin
Interim Deputy Prime Minister
c/o Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 280 1404/ 3000
Fax: +662 282 8631/ 280 1589/ 629 8213
E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th

3. General Anupong Paochinda
Commander-in-Chief
c/o Royal Thai Army HQ
Ratchadamnoen Nok Road
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +662 280 2432-5
Fax: +662 280 2436

4. Mr. Charnchai Likitjitta
Interim Minister of Justice
Office of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building
22nd Floor Software Park Building,
Chaeng Wattana Road
Pakkred, Nonthaburi
Bangkok 11120
THAILAND
Tel: +662 502 6776/ 8223
Fax: +662 502 6699/ 6734 / 6884
Email: om@moj.go.th 

5. Mr. Aree Wongaraya
Interim Minister of Interior
Office of the Ministry of Interior
Atsadang Road
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +662 224-6320/ 6341
Fax: +662 226 4371/ 222 8866
Email: om@moi.go.th 

6. Pol. Gen. Seripisuth Themiyavet
Commissioner-General
Royal Thai Police
1st Bldg, 7th Floor
Rama I, Patumwan
Bkk 10330
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 251 5956/ 205 3738/ 255 1975-8
E-mail: feedback@police.go.th

7. Mr. Pranai Suwanarat
Director
Southern Border Province Administrative Center (SBPAC)
Yala Provincial Office
Muang District, Yala 95000
THAILAND
Tel/Fax: +66 073 203 802

8. Mr. Pachara Yutidhammadamrong
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Lukmuang Building
Nahuppei Road
Prabraromrachawang, Pranakorn
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +662 224 1563/ 222 8121-30
Fax: +662 224 0162/ 1448/ 221 0858
E-mail: ag@ago.go.th or oag@ago.go.th

9. Professor Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
422 Phya Thai Road
Pathum Wan District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 219 2980
Fax: +662 219 2940
E-mail: commission@nhrc.or.th 

10. Mr. Homayoun Alizadeh
Regional Representative for Asia-Pacific of OHCHR
UNESCAP
UN Secretariat Building, 6th Fl., Room A-601
Rajdamnern Nok Ave.
Bangkok 10200,
THAILAND
Phone: +662 288 1496
Fax: +662 288 3009

11. Professor Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXECUTIONS)

12. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights defenders
C/o Room 1-040
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)