Little progress in case of missing Thai rights lawyer
Updated
It's almost six years, since Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit disappeared. Khun Somchai is now believed to have been murdered but investigations continue with little progress despite early arrests of several police officers. The Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has also been unable to fulfill promises he made soon after coming to office to see justice done in this case.
Presenter: Ron Corben
Speakers: Angkhana Neelapaichit, wife of disappeared human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit; Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Prime Minister; Somchai Homla-or, human rights lawyer; Sunai Pasuk, Human Rights Watch
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CORBEN: A year ago in January 2009, Angkhana Neelapaichit, wife of human rights lawyer, Somchai Neelapichit, faced Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, during an address to foreign correspondents making a plea for progress in the case of her missing husband.
ANGKHANA: I have a question - I have been waiting for justice for five years and my question is how you expect to hope to move the investigation into Somchai Neelapaichit's disappearance to go forward and bring the perpetrators to justice. Thank you Prime Minister.
ABHISIT: Yes, I'll do my very best. I believe that there's a good chance that there will be progress in term of the investigations.
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CORBEN: Mr Abhisit had just come to power in December 2008 and had met with human rights groups promising a commitment to advancing rights that had stalled or suffered during years of elected governments or one year of a military-backed administration. But a year after Mr Abhisit's address to journalists, Mrs Neelapaichit says she is still waiting to see the case clearly move forward.
ANGKHANA: Last year when Abhisit became prime minister and I went to have a meeting with him and I asked him about Somchai case because I know he always talk about the many cases of human rights abuses in Thailand and Somchai is one of the cases. But one year has already passed and I didn't see anything progress.
CORBEN: Somchai Neelapaichit, a Muslim human rights lawyer disappeared in March 2004 just a few weeks after he had claimed police had tortured five suspects in the theft of guns from an army base in Narathiwat in January 2004. On March 12 Mr Neelapaichit disappeared, last seen being bundled into a car by several men. While five police officers were later detained they have so far faced only minor charges. Somchai Homla-or, another human rights lawyer and close friend of Mr Neelapaichit, says the suspected killing was directly linked to charges he had raised of police use of torture.
HOMLA-OR: We believe that Somchai was enforced disappeared because he raised, one reason is because, he raised this issue about the torturing of his clients. He raised this issue in the court room and we believe some policemen who participated in that torturing might be afraid of being investigated and being prosecuted, accused of torturing those clients of Somchai. I believe that this one of the reasons why some policemen committed the crimes against Mr Somchai.
CORBEN: Four Thai prime ministers going back to Thaksin Shinawatra have all acknowledged that police and government officials were involved in Mr Neelapaichit's abduction. His body has never been recovered. Mr Neelapaichit's case has also become a bell weather for Thailand's human rights record. Sunai Pasuk, representative for Human Rights Watch, says while Prime Minister Abhisit has good intentions the Thai Police Force remain powerful, thwarting progress in the investigation.
SUNAI: I believe Abhisit was genuine and sincere when he first raised his intention to address issues about state-sponsored abuses and impunity. But the reality in Thailand is that he [Prime Minister Abhisit] couldn't translate his intention into policy. The investigation on the war on drugs, the investigation on the disappearance of Somchai Neelapaichit and the other Muslims from Southern Thailand have received no cooperation whatsoever from the Royal Thai Police.
CORBEN: For Connect Asia, this is Ron Corben in Bangkok.
