March 12, 2004 – March 12, 2015

Today, 12th March, marks the 11th anniversary of the disappearance of Khun Somchai Neelapaijit, but, his fate and whereabouts remain unknown. His family’s anguish and the intense pain of waiting in uncertainty has been and continues to be a torment. Being uncertain on his fate has been devastatingly difficult for his family, friends and the Justice for Peace Foundation, who, despite the many grave threats received, have been unwavering in their search for truth and justice for Khun Somchai and other victims of enforced disappearances in Thailand.

Khun Somchai, a prominent human rights lawyer and defender, was representing his clients in Thailand’s Deep South who allegedly were tortured while in the custody of police officers. Before his disappearance, he was the chairperson of the Muslim Lawyers’ Group and vice-chairperson of the Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of Thailand.

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearance (AFAD) is, once again, appealing to the Government of Thailand to continue investigating his case, exhaust every possible means to establish his fate and whereabouts, and ensure that all perpetrators are held criminally responsible after a fair and impartial process.

We feel profoundly sad that lawyers, human rights defenders, victims’ relatives, and witnesses have been targets of enforced disappearance. This situation generates an atmosphere of fear and insecurity not only to the families of victims and the witnesses, but also the public as a whole.

Every disappearance violates a range of a person’s human rights: the right to security and dignity; the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the right to legal personality; the right to life, among others. In most cases, disappeared persons are at high risk of torture, especially when they are detained outside of formal detention facilities such as police jails and prisons, and their whereabouts denied by state authorities and agents.

Under international law, a state commits an enforced disappearance when government officials take a person into custody and then deny holding the person, or conceal or fail to disclose the person’s whereabouts. Family members and lawyers are not informed of the person’s whereabouts, well-being, or legal status.

A signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearances (CED or Convention on Enforced Disappearances) on 9th January 2012, Thailand’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is reminded of its moral obligation to stop the practice of impunity and to abide by Article 6.2 of the Convention that states: “No order or instruction from any public authority, civilian, military or others, may be invoked to justify an offence of enforced disappearance.” A number of reported cases of enforced disappearance remain unresolved in Thailand up to the present. Since then, there has been no progress in the Thai parliament to ratify this important human rights treaty to protect its citizens from enforced disappearance. We however, laud the on-going process of drafting an anti-enforced disappearance law in Thailand and we look forward to Thailand as the second country next to the Philippines to have enacted a law that criminalizes enforced disappearance.

Related to this, Thailand, on 2nd October 2007, signed the Convention Against Torture and Other cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Eleven years of waiting in anguish as to the fate of a spouse is too long a torment. A human life and dignity should be valued with sanctity.

AFAD reiterates its appeal to the Government of Thailand to continue investigating the disappearance of Khun Somchai Neelapaijit and prosecute all those responsible in a fair trial. In the spirit of human rights promotion and protection, AFAD is urging Thailand to ratify the CED and legislate it into a national law, implement it and accept the competency of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and live up to its obligations under international law.

Very sincerely yours,

MARY AILEEN DIEZ-BACALSO
Secretary-General

KHURRAM PARVEZ
Chairperson