It should come as no surprise to anyone that has followed the saga of missing Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit to hear that his wife Angkhana has now taken his case directly to the U.N. Human Rights Committee in Geneva. The Committee is considering Thailand’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights this week.
As Somchai’s case is at the nexus of forced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial killing and nasty policing in Thailand, it is of the utmost importance not only for his family but also for the entire society. It is also of utmost importance to the international community. In June, the U.N. Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearance took up the case, and many governments and international bodies, including the Organisation of Islamic Conference, have taken a special interest in its outcome.
Since Somchai was abducted in March 2004, the authorities’ responses have been characterised by deceit and disharmony. Despite the fact that two deputy prime ministers were assigned to the case, and commitments were made that the Department of Special Investigation would wrap up its inquiries by June this year, there is no evidence to suggest any progress or genuine interest coming from the government. Angkhana has alleged that there has been a cover-up and that behind the five relatively junior police officers on trial in connection with her husband’s disappearance there are powerful people who are beyond prosecution. The government has made no attempt to deny this allegation. However, the prime minister has said that the government has done all it can to find the culprits and has nothing more to do with the case. No one in his or her right mind seriously believes this. Senior people in the government clearly do know what happened to Somchai, and who was responsible for his abduction and presumed death. But these people are beyond the limits of the rule of law to the extent that it exists in Thailand.
The failure of state agencies in Thailand to get to the bottom of Somchai’s disappearance, even under intense domestic and international pressure, indicates the extent of impunity that prevails in Thailand. It is the same impunity that has allowed for a pattern of killings of environmentalists and human rights defenders to go on undisturbed there, without any strong reaction or public commitment to stop such murders from the administration. That some police officers are facing comparatively minor criminal proceedings in connection with Mr Somchai¡¦s disappearance seems to be considered a satisfactory conclusion for the government. It is not.
Had the government of Thailand established effective functioning institutions to protect rights, as it has committed to do under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it would not have been necessary for Angkhana Neelaphaijit to go to Geneva. But these institutions do not exist, and she has run out of alternatives. For over a year she has striven to have agencies in Thailand work on her husband’s disappearance with earnestness. They have not. It is not with a light heart that she has now gone to Geneva to tell the U.N. of what has happened: it is as a last resort.
What should have happened? The Department of Special Investigation should have dealt promptly and transparently with Somchai’s case, instead of demoralising his wife and her supporters. An independent agency should have existed to handle grave complaints against the police of this nature. It would have investigated quickly and prosecuted the perpetrators whoever they may be. A law should have existed to punish persons who forcibly remove others, in accordance with the standards laid out in the draft International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Forced Disappearance.
All of these steps were missing from Somchai’s case. As a result, he too remains missing. His wife, however, is not. She will be present at discussions in Geneva this week and the world will be taking notice of what she has to say. Instead of attempting to prolong the charade and refute her the government of Thailand should at last come clean on Somchai, and learn from her and others present as to how it can work better to protect and uphold human rights in Thailand.
