Jul 9, 2015 | News
In a letter sent today, the ICJ and seven other human rights organizations urge the Thai Government to drop criminal charges against two journalists from the online news outlet Phuketwan who are about to go on trial for writing about the trafficking of the Rohingya.
The letter was sent to the General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Prime Minister of Thailand.
The trial, which is set to start on 14 July, revolves around criminal charges brought by the Royal Thai Navy against Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian for reproducing one paragraph from a Pulitzer Prize-winning article written by Reuters news agency implicating the Navy in the smuggling of the Rohingya off the coast of Thailand.
“Thailand must drop these charges immediately and unconditionally,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
“Criminal prosecution of speech is a violation of international law, and the Thai Navy’s relentless pursuit of this case seems even more misguided as it comes at a time when journalists have played a vital role in uncovering mass graves on the Thailand-Malaysia border and thousands of migrants and refugees, including Rohingya, left stranded on boats in the Andaman Sea,” he added.
On 16 December 2013, the Royal Thai Navy lodged complaints of criminal defamation and offences against Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act (CCA) against the journalists.
On 17 April 2014, the journalists were charged with criminal defamation under articles 326 and 328 of the Thai Criminal Code, which carry a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment and a fine of up to 200,000 Baht (USD $6,000); and violation of article 14(1) of the CCA, which carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000 Baht (USD $3,000).
“The absurdity of these prosecutions was emphasized when the Office of Thailand’s Prime Minister recently asked one of the two journalists, Chutima Sidasathian, who is working towards a Ph.D. on the Rohingya, to suggest a solution to the ‘boat people’ crisis,” Zarifi further said.
“It is not too late to follow that request with an unconditional withdrawal of all charges as an official recognition of the important work by Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian in raising these issues and as a concrete gesture of Thailand’s purported commitment to addressing them,” he added.
Contact:
Sam Zarifi, ICJ Asia Pacific Regional Director (Bangkok), t: +66 807819002; e: sam.zarifi(a)icj.org
Background:
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Thailand is a State Party, guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which includes the right to impart information. The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors State compliance with the ICCPR, has expressed its concern at the misuse of defamation laws to criminalize freedom of expression and has said that such laws should never be used when expression is made without malice and in the public interest.
The ICJ, an increasing number of governments, the Human Rights Committee and other international authorities, believe that criminal defamation laws should be abolished. Such laws are inherently incompatible with the ICCPR and other international laws and standards on freedom of expression. Criminal penalties are always a disproportionate means to protect against reputational harm and pose an impermissibly severe impediment to the exercise of free expression.
Thailand was criticized in May 2014 when the United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed its concern “at the numerous and consistent allegations of serious acts of reprisals and threats against human rights defenders, journalists, community leaders and their relatives, including verbal and physical attacks, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, as well as by the lack of information provided on any investigations into such allegations.”
The Committee recommended that Thailand “should take all the necessary measures to: (a) put an immediate halt to harassment and attacks against human rights defenders, journalists and community leaders; and (b) systematically investigate all reported instances of intimidation, harassment and attacks with a view to prosecuting and punishing perpetrators, and guarantee effective remedies to victims and their families.”
Thailand-Letter to PM Prayuth re Phuket Wan-Advocacy-open letters-2015-ENG (full text of the letter, in PDF)
Thailand-Phuketwan cases-News-Press release-2015-THA (full text of press release in PDF, Thai)
Thailand-Letter to PM Prayuth re Phuket Wan-Advocacy-open letters-2015-THA (full text of the letter, in PDF, Thai)
Jul 8, 2015 | News
The ICJ held a successful workshop with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on ‘Investment Law Challenges: Defending Public Policy in Investor State Arbitration’.
The event took place in Nay Pyi Taw from 6 to 8 July 2015 and was attended by 60 participants from the OAG and other Ministries.
The workshop was designed to raise awareness about Myanmar’s human rights obligations in relation to investment and to build the OAG’s capacity to draft law that carves out regulatory space for public policy making.
The workshop also prepared the OAG for challenges to public policy through arbitration with a moot court exercise.
The topic is timely as Myanmar rushes to draft new investment law and sign Bilateral Investment Treaties that give investors standing to challenge public policy promoting and protecting human rights.
In opening the workshop, Director General U Kyaw San spoke of the rapid increase of investment in Myanmar and the corresponding changes in its regulatory system.
Dr. Na Chi Oo, a speaker for the OAG, outlined the challenges this poses to the drafting of new public policy.
Participants heard from ICJ Commissioner Prof Andrew Clapham who discussed globalization, investment arbitration and public policy.
He examined the use of human rights law in investment arbitrations.
Guest speaker Prof. Anthony Daimsis introduced bilateral investment treaties and highlighted provisions that can restrict state regulatory space.
Prof. Errol Mendes gave examples of international cases in which public policy has been challenged.
Ms. Harpreet Kaur Dhillon, from the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore gave practical advice for drafting law that protects the regulatory role of the state.
Dr. Daniel Aguirre, ICJ Legal Adviser, added that “Myanmar needs to update its regulatory system to protect the environment and human rights. It must make sure it does not sign away its regulatory role through investment law and bilateral treaties.”
The event culminated with a moot arbitration exercise where OAG participants engaged in a mock consultation process and a simulated arbitration over a public health policy.
The ICJ was impressed by the interest and genuine commitment of the participants to promote the rule of law and public policy in Myanmar.
The ICJ staff enjoyed open and frank discussion with the Attorney General and is Director Generals on relevant legal developments and looks forward to further discourse.
The ICJ remains committed to provide support in this field in line with the promotion and protection of human rights.
Jul 2, 2015 | News
The Royal Thai Government must immediately end its harassment and intimidation of human rights lawyer, Sirikan Charoensiri, the ICJ said today.
Sirikan Charoensiri (photo), a lawyer with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), has been providing legal aid to 14 students who were arrested on 26 June 2015 after carrying out peaceful protests calling for democracy and an end to military rule.
Since then, the Royal Thai Police have threatened Sirikan Charoensiri with legal action, publically announced they are considering charging her with a crime, and visited her home and questioned her family.
“The government must immediately end its harassment and intimidation of human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri,” said Matt Pollard, Head of the ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers in Geneva. “The case against her clients clearly violates Thailand’s obligations under international law, and cannot be a valid basis for the police to take any action against her for defending their rights.”
On 30 June 2015, the ICJ met in Geneva with staff members of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, and on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, in order to bring Sirikan Charoensiri’s case to their attention.
“The ICJ has been repeatedly warning of Thailand’s steady slide away from open democracy and the rule of law,” added Pollard. “These actions of the police, targeting peacefully protesting students with prosecution in a military court, and then targeting the lawyer who comes to their defence, underscores the urgent need to restore respect for human rights in Thailand.”
Contact:
Matt Pollard, Senior Legal Adviser, ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, t: +41 22 979 38 12, e: matt.pollard(a)icj.org
Background
The 14 students were arrested during the evening of 26 June 2015 and were brought to a police station in Bangkok and then to the Bangkok Military Court for a hearing on pre-trial detention, which proceeded until midnight.
The students have been charged with violating order 3/2015 of the National Council for Peace and Order (which prohibits the public assembly of more than five people for political purposes) and a ‘sedition’-type offence under section 116 of Thai Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.
Upon hearing of the students’ arrest, Sirikan Charoensiri and three other lawyers drove in her car to the Bangkok Military Court in order to provide legal aid to the students.
Following the hearing and during the early morning of 27 June 2015, the police asked Sirikan Charoensiri for her permission to search her car for the student’s phones, without a warrant. She refused to consent to the warrantless search. As a result, the Police impounded her car, which contained the lawyers’ case files and personal computers, and five phones belonging to the students.
At 12:45pm, Sirikan Charoensiri went to the police station to file a complaint of malfeasance regarding the seizure of her car. The police refused to accept the complaint and in the meantime another police team searched her car with a warrant. Five phones belonging to the students were seized as evidence.
At 18:00pm, Sirikan Charoensiri again attempted to file a complaint at the police station for malfeasance. A senior investigator told her that the police had power to search her car and suggested that if she filed a complaint, it would not finish there and that the police would consider countering with some form of legal action against her. The police finally accepted the complaint at 11:00pm.
On 28 June 2015, a senior police officer told the media that they had found “important evidence” in Sirikan Charoensiri’s car and are considering whether to charge her with a crime.
On 29 June 2015, the police visited Sirikan Charoensiri’s family home and asked her parents to identify her in photos and questioned them about her background.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Thailand is a State Party, guarantees the right to peaceful assembly; the right to freedom of expression; the prohibition of arbitrary arrest or detention and the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law (including the right of prompt access to a lawyer and precluding jurisdiction of military courts over civilians in circumstances such as these); and the prohibition of arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, home and correspondence (which includes arbitrary searches or seizures).
The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders affirms the right of everyone peacefully to oppose human rights violations. It prohibits retaliation, threats and other harassment against anyone who takes peaceful action against human rights violations, both within and beyond the exercise of their professional duties. It protects the right of persons to file formal complaints about alleged violations of rights. The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provide that governments are to ensure that lawyers are able to perform their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference.
Sirikan Charoensiri formerly served as a National Legal Consultant with the ICJ.
Thailand-Sirikan case-News-press releases-2015-THA (full text in PDF, Thai version)
Jun 9, 2015 | News
The ICJ today organized a diplomatic dialogue, in advance of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), with ambassadors and high-level diplomatic representatives, to share the state of human rights in Myanmar.
Jun 1, 2015 | News
The ICJ conducted a two-day workshop on “Business and Human Rights” in Kyauk Phyu, Rakhine State on 30-31 May. The event was attended by 40 participants representing civil society organizations in Sittwe, Kyauk Phyu, Ann and Ponna Kyaunn.
It also included members from the township and district courts, township police force and members of parliament, focused on investment in Rakhine state in the absence of credible and transparent mechanisms to prevent human rights abuses.
The workshop occurred against the backdrop of myriad longstanding human rights issues in Rakhine State, including the humanitarian crisis confronting the state’s Rohingya population.
The State has also witnessed ongoing government repression of the State’s ethnic Rakhine population in response to demands for autonomy and their opposition to unregulated development of the State’s ample natural resources, including extensive gas deposits, at the expense of their livelihoods and rights.
The development of gas fields in the State has been fraught with human rights violations, including of forced labour and forced eviction of thousands of farmers from their lands.
As discussed during the workshop, since Myanmar’s relative opening up, the government has continued to invite and approve of foreign investors to develop resource extraction projects in Rakhine State, while locals resist the potential harmful effects of such projects on their livelihoods, properties and environment.
In 2013, hundreds of villagers protested against the adverse impacts of the Shwe gas pipeline construction – a large scale natural gas project developed by Daewoo International of South Korea in a joint venture with Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.
Daewoo has once again ventured into Rakhine State, proposing a coal power plant in Kyaukphyu township, that could have adverse effects on the economic and environmental landscapes in local communities.
During ICJ’s previous trips to Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, local civil society activists had asked for information on responsible investment and national and international standards relating to displacement, land confiscations, and environmental and social impact assessments.
In the first day of the workshop, U Kyaw Min San, ICJ’S National Legal Adviser, led the discussion on fundamental citizen rights guaranteed in Myanmar legislation as well as an analysis of the land laws in Myanmar.
Daniel Aguirre, ICJ’s International Legal Adviser, gave an overview of international human rights law and the role of States and business corporations in protecting and respecting economic, social and cultural rights.
Vani Sathisan, ICJ’s International Legal Adviser, provided a legal analysis of Myanmar’s law on Special Economic Zones (SEZ), highlighting how the law fails to guarantee the protection of human rights and the environment while providing tax reliefs and exemptions, as well as land leases, to win over investors and developers.
On the second day, Daw Tin Tin Wai, Private Sector Policy Officer from Oxfam GB and a Campaign Officer from EarthRights International shared their experiences from Dawei SEZ and Thilawa SEZ, respectively.
They shared that lack of consultations with local communities and large-scale land confiscations through intimidation and threats occurring in the two SEZs reflected flaws in the government and judiciary to protect human rights and provide for access to remedy.
The workshop included a group discussion among the participants focusing on the role of local and international non-governmental organizations in Kyauk Phyu, Ponna Kyunn and Sittwe, the current situation of Kyauk Phyu SEZ and Ponna Kyunn industry zone and land issues related to such development projects.
Hayman Oo, ICJ’s Legal Researcher, facilitated the discussion, which served to highlight the specific themes around which the CSOs were organizing their advocacy and research.
At the closing dinner, U Kyaw Min San extended the ICJ’s appreciation to all the local CSOs for their participation and active engagement, and reiterated the ICJ’s support to work with community-driven organizations to work on recommendations to the government and businesses on transparency, prior consent and consultation, and compensations, and to push for a more rights-compliant approach to investments in Kyaukphyu.
Jun 1, 2015 | News
The Cambodian government should withdraw a proposed law that would severely limit the rights of non governmental organizations (NGOs) in Cambodia, the ICJ and 10 other international human rights groups said in a letter to 44 foreign governments and the European Union.
The groups urged donors and others to press the government not to revive a 2011 draft law that was shelved under domestic and international pressure because it threatened freedom of association and expression.
Cambodia’s Council of Ministers discussed the draft NGO law on May 29 and is scheduled to discuss it again on June 5 before sending the measure to the National Assembly, dominated by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party.
A new law is unnecessary because existing legislation already addresses legitimate government concerns about the operations of NGOs, the international organizations said.
The letter was signed by the ICJ, Article 19, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia), Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, Protection International, and Southeast Asian Press Alliance.
Cambodia-Australia & Cambodia lango letter-Advocacy-Open letters-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
