The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is shocked at the news of the suspected attempt to abduct Vasant Panich, the chairperson of the Subcommittee on Legislation and Administration of Justice of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. Vasant is a senior lawyer who has for years worked to advance human rights in Thailand, including at the time of the 2003 “war on drugs” that left at least 2500 people dead, and more recently during the violence in the south of Thailand.
According to Vasant, he received a series of strange phone calls on June 27 and 28, on both his mobile phones, his house phone and his wife’s phone, which caused him to not take his own car to work. He sent his driver ahead, who told him that the vehicle was being followed. He then took a taxi from outside his house, but became suspicious of the driver’s behaviour. He changed to another taxi and observed that it was being followed by a minivan with tinted windows. He changed to a third taxi to reach his office. When he arrived there, he was surprised to see the minivan already parked outside.
Vasant worked in detail on the case of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, who was forcibly disappeared from his car by police officers on 12 March 2004. He could identify the use of phones and vehicles to track a suspect and believes that the operation this week was a planned attempt to abduct him also.
The suspected attempt of the life of Vasant can be taken to be a direct consequence of the failure of the government of Thailand to answer the question, “Where is Somchai?” The failure of the state to resolve that case has left open the possibility for repeat incidents now and into the future. The failure of the government to live up to both its international and domestic obligations to protect human rights defenders means that most persons engaged in work on human rights in Thailand live in a constant state of watchfulness and fear. Vasant’s own survival can be attributed to the fact that he took heed of the warning signs and took steps to avoid the consequences: someone less attuned may already have disappeared by now.
That there are blatant attempts to intimidate and perhaps carry off members of the National Human Rights Commission, which is a statutory body established in accordance with international standards, speaks to the scale of impunity that perpetrators of gross human rights abuses in Thailand continue to enjoy. There can be little doubt that the persons responsible for this incident were state agents, and it is quite likely that they were acting because of Vasant’s recent work to get at least 389 unidentified bodies in the south of Thailand exhumed and investigated. Other persons who have joined in this work have been ridiculed or attacked by members of the cabinet. It is clear that these hundreds of bodies have stories to tell, and that if they are dug up, many ugly secrets may come to the surface with them. It comes as little surprise that there is strong resistance to such moves, and attacks on persons pushing for exhumation. But this latest incident is a new low.
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand has never enjoyed the support of the current administration, and its members have been exposed to attacks and threats in the past. Although it has worked responsibly and properly, in accordance with its mandate, it has faced hostility and resistance from the government. The UN Human Rights Committee, in monitoring the country’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has criticised the lack of support extended to the commission by the government and urged that this situation be changed. Indeed, if the government of Thailand ever expects to obtain a seat on the UN Human Rights Council then this situation must change.
The Asian Human Rights Commission calls for the government of Thailand to instigate a credible inquiry immediately in order to uncover all those who have participated directly or indirectly in planning and executing this attempted abduction. The government must be able to provide the public with full details of the attempt within the shortest possible time. All caretaker members of parliament and other concerned persons in Thailand must ensure that such an inquiry is undertaken and that any plans for abductions of other persons also are exposed. The government of Thailand must also give unequivocal public support for the work of Vasant Panich and all members of the National Human Rights Commission now and into the future.
