THAILAND: Grenade thrown at car of human rights defender 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the latest attempt at intimidation of a human rights defender in Thailand. According to the information we have received, a grenade was thrown at the parked car of Wiwat Thamee, the coordinator of a group working with non-ethnic Thai people in the north of the country, on the night of August 18.

Although no one was in the vehicle at the time, the attack is clearly intended to send a message to Wiwat and his staff that they should stop their work, which is challenging the corrupt practices of local government officials in the north. Wiwat had also recently returned from speaking before the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, where he was critical of Thai government practices towards minority people in the north.

In other cases where human rights defenders and social activists in Thailand have been killed or forcibly disappeared in Thailand during recent times, the victims have usually been given similar warnings.

Although the threat to Wiwat and his staff is serious, to date the authorities have not taken any action to investigate the incident or give assurances of protection. Therefore, we urge you to write to the Minister of Justice of Thailand calling for immediate action to be taken on this case to avert further more serious attacks, and for public commitments by the government that it will take serious steps to address the worsening situation for human rights defenders in Thailand.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

On August 17, three staff of the Ethnic and Indigenous People’s Network of Thailand drove a Toyota D40 pick-up vehicle (reg. no. Phor Khor 4676, Chiang Mai) belonging to the network coordinator, Wiwat Thamee, to Baan Pong Hai, in Mae Salong Nai subdistrict, Mae Fah Luang district, and parked it roughly ten metres from Border Patrol Police Post No. 211.

At around 0020 hours on August 18 the three were watching a football match on television in a nearby house together with the assistant village head, a teacher of the daycare centre and two village youth when they heard an explosion outside. About ten minutes after, the Border Patrol Police officers went to investigate and the persons from the house followed.

At the scene, they saw the pin from a grenade on the ground near to the car with registration tag FUZEN 213 ECY 91B 821-006X-R, and a dent in the roof of the car, indicating that the grenade had been thrown on to the vehicle but had apparently bounced off and exploded in mid-air n the other side. The Border Patrol Police officers looked at the scene but did nothing. The assistant village chief called on the short wave radio to various authorities about the incident, including the local Royal Thai Police and the office of the district head, but received no response.

On August 18 the Border Patrol Police officers advised the witnesses not to file a complaint, saying that it would not lead to anything. However, on August 20 a complaint was lodged at the district police station.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Wiwat believes that this grenade attack is a direct attempt to intimidate him and undermine the confidence of his staff and associates in order to stop them doing their work, educating non-ethnic Thai about their rights as citizens of Thailand, assisting them in obtaining documents and securing their formal rights through a variety of avenues, among other things. This work has brought them into direct conflict with corrupt local administration officials, who are reported to charge exorbitant amounts of money for services to local villagers that should be provided for free, as well as police and other influential persons in the locality.

The AHRC has obtained copies of documents that indicate there is a campaign by the local authorities to undermine through various means the legitimate work of Wiwat and his colleagues. In a letter (ref no. Chor Ror 1517.3/1792) marked “urgent” of 22 June 2005 to the district police chief, commander of army cavalry unit 138, and subdistrict and village heads, the district head Somchai Rungsakorn states that he

“Has received reports that at present there is a movement of non-Thai people and people with a negative attitude towards the nation who persuade ethnic minorities from outside the country to come and commit corruption to get citizenship, so they have sought benefits in return which are illegal and threaten national security.”

In addition, Wiwat was among the delegation of human rights defenders to the UN Human Rights Committee when it considered Thailand’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in July, where he spoke strongly on issues of concern for non-ethnic Thai in Thailand.

It is the first time that either he or his staff members have been physically threatened apparently as a result of their work, and he is concerned that the attack has also come after his return from Geneva and is directly connected to his informing the UN about what is happening in his area.

ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN THAILAND

The situation of human rights defenders, environmentalists and social activists has worsened considerably in recent times. The AHRC has issued a number of urgent appeals on cases of special concern, including those of missing rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit (latest update UP-89-2005), and murdered environmentalists Charoen Wat-aksorn (latest update UP-77-2005) and Phra Supoj Suwagano (UA-112-2005). None of these cases have been addressed satisfactorily by the authorities and in each case it is believed that influential persons have been involved.

The sister organization of the AHRC, the Asian Legal Resource Centre, also reported on these cases in two recent reports to the UN Human Rights Committee (Institutionalised torture, extrajudicial killings & uneven application of law in Thailand and its Supplement), which have been published in two editions of article 2, (April 2005, June 2005).

In each of the cases also the victims obtained warnings that they would be in physical danger if they did not stop their work, which is why the attack on Wiwat’s vehicle must be treated seriously and be fully investigated by the concerned authorities.

This was stressed by the UN Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations on the situation of human rights in Thailand in July, where it expressed concern at “at the number of incidents against human rights defenders and community leaders, including intimidation and verbal and physical attacks” and stated that:

“[Thailand] must take measures to immediately halt and protect against the harassment and attacks against human rights defenders and community leaders [and] systematically investigate all reported instances of intimidation, harassment and attacks and guarantee effective remedies to victims and their families.” [CCPR/CO/84/THA, 28 July 2005, para. 19, emphasis added]

Unfortunately, the government of Thailand has shown little if any interest to address the pattern of attacks on human rights defenders, and to the knowledge of the AHRC has not even acknowledged it publicly as an issue.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Justice calling for a full investigation of this attack and reassurances that the necessary steps will be taken to protect Wiwat and his staff from further threats.

 

 

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