Bangkok--8 Jan--UN High Commissioner
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ZeidRa'ad Al Hussein on Wednesday urged the Thai Government to take decisiveand sustained efforts to investigate the whereabouts of at least 82 peoplelisted as disappeared, including respected lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit whowent missing nearly 12 years ago.
Zeid also called on the Thai Government to criminalize enforceddisappearance in its legislation, in line with international standards.
"All of the families of those who have disappeared have the right to knowthe truth regarding the disappearance of their kin, as well as any progressand the results of investigations," the High Commissioner said.
On 29 December 2015, Thailand's Supreme Court upheld a decision by theAppeals Court to acquit five police officers accused of involvement in theabduction and disappearance of Somchai, a Muslim lawyer who went missing on12 March 2004 while defending people arrested under martial law in therestive south. The suspects had accused the authorities of torturing themwhile in custody.
Witnesses reported seeing Somchai being forced into a car on the night hedisappeared. Two sitting prime ministers have publicly called on lawenforcement agencies to throw their full weight behind investigations intoresolving the Somchai case.
Because there is no crime of enforced disappearance in Thailand, the fivepolice officers stood trial on counts of robbery and coercion. One policeofficer was convicted, but the others were found not guilty by the BangkokCriminal Court in January 2006.
In 2011, the Appeals Court overturned the conviction against the policeofficer, found there was insufficient evidence to convict the remainingfour accused and ruled that Somchai's family could not stand as jointplaintiffs. In the latest ruling, the Supreme Court upheld these decisions.Under international law, family members of a victim of an enforceddisappearance are also victims.
The High Commissioner said he was deeply disappointed that the judiciaryhad failed to take into account that the Civil Court had declared Somchaimissing, and that important evidence was not taken into consideration inthe case.
"The judiciary's role is not only to interpret laws and procedures but alsoto protect and defend their citizens' rights. The Supreme Court of Thailandmissed an opportunity to protect the rights of the victims to truth,justice and redress in cases of involuntary and enforced disappearance,"Zeid said.
The UN High Commissioner also called on the Thai Government to introducelegislation making enforced or involuntary disappearance a criminaloffence. "There is a lack of adequate legal and institutional framework forthe victims and their families to seek justice in enforced disappearancecases in Thailand," Zeid said. "I urge the Thai authorities to immediatelyratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons fromEnforced Disappearance." *
Since 1980, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or InvoluntaryDisappearances has recorded 82 cases of enforced disappearances inThailand.
Zeid said that despite pledges by Thai authorities to address human rightsviolations, the issue of enforced disappearances in which state officialshave been implicated remains a serious concern.
The High Commissioner also expressed his concern about another more recentcase, involving Pholachi Rakchongcharoen, a Karen human rights activistalso known as "Billy", who disappeared in April 2014. "The Thai authoritieshave a responsibility to ensure victims get all the help they need infinding their loved ones, to ensure the fair prosecution and punishment ofperpetrators, and to commit to stamping out the deplorable act of enforceddisappearances," Zeid said.