Sep 10, 2019 | Events, News
The ICJ invites you to a discussion of new tools to assist investigation and accountability for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and other potentially unlawful deaths. The event takes place on Thursday, 12 September, 13:30, Room XVI, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
ICJ’s new Practitioners’ Guide No 14 on the Investigation and Prosecution of Unlawful Death helps legal practitioners ensure that investigation and accountability processes are implemented in accordance with international human rights law.
The Guide elaborates on the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), a set of practical standards and guidelines that was updated by former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, and published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2017.
The panel discussion will highlight key elements of the Protocol and Practitioners Guide, and their relevance to cases such as the 2016 killing of political commentator, Kem Ley, in Cambodia and the 2018 killing of Saudi Journalist, Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
Speakers
- Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (by video conference, TBC).
- Stuart Maslen, Honorary Professor, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.
- Kingsley Abbott, Senior Legal Adviser & Coordinator of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative.
Moderator
- Carolina Villadiego, ICJ Legal and Policy Adviser, Latin America
Printed copies of the ICJ’s Practitioners’ Guide No 14 on the Investigation and Prosecution of Unlawful Death will be available.
A flyer for the event is available here.
*** Room XVI is on the 5th floor of Building A, behind the Assembly Hall, accessible by the elevators at the Salle des Pas Perdus. Details here.
Sep 8, 2019 | News
At a training event for senior prosecutors hosted by the Union Attorney General’s Office (UAGO) on 7 September 2019 in Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw, the ICJ made presentations on the international standards and legal obligation on unlawful killings.
Representing each of Myanmar’s 14 states and regions, some 30 law officers attended the activity, which was a capacity-building training hosted by the UAGO. This is part of the ICJ’s ongoing engagement with authorities in Myanmar as well as in neighboring countries on the Minnesota Protocol on the investigation of potentially unlawful death (the Minnesota Protocol).
The Minnesota Protocol provides guidance on the State’s implementation of its duty under international law to investigate potentially unlawful killings, including when State actors may have been involved. It applies to deaths under custody, suspicious deaths, and enforced disappearances. Myanmar has experienced widespread incidents of such deaths, including in recent years those constituting serious crimes under international law.
ICJ Associate Legal Adviser, Jenny Domino, introduced salient points of the Minnesota Protocol and shared relevant examples from experience promoting and protecting human rights in the Philippines. She highlighted the significance of the State’s duty to investigate potentially unlawful killings in upholding the right to life under international human rights law.
ICJ Legal Researcher, Ja Seng Ing, shared the case of Laotian activist Sombath Somphone, who was subjected to enforced disappearance on 15 December 2012 with the apparent consent or acquiescence of State agents. To date, Laotian authorities have failed to conduct effective investigations with a view to revealing the fate or whereabouts of Somphone. ICJ has repeatedly called for accountability on the issue.
Participants discussed these cases in relation to the comparative remedies and practical challenges related to the conduct of investigations in Myanmar, where police and prosecutors both have roles to play in the conduct of investigations.
First published in 1991 and subsequently revised in 2016 under the auspices of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Minnesota Protocol includes guidelines on conducting investigations to ensure that they are prompt; effective and thorough; impartial and independent; and transparent.
Since December 2017, the ICJ has co-hosted several regional workshops in Asia focused on this topic, with lawyers, academics, and State authorities from Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, and Myanmar attending the events.
See also:
https://www.icj.org/thailand-launch-of-the-revised-minnesota-protocol/
https://www.icj.org/myanmar-reverse-laws-and-practices-that-perpetuate-military-impunity-new-icj-report/
Sep 4, 2019 | News
From 2 to 3 September 2019, the ICJ co-hosted a workshop in Bangkok for justice sector authorities from Thailand on ‘Human Rights Compliant Criminal Investigation and Investigative Interviewing’. The event focused on international law and standards regarding investigative interviewing of victims, witnesses and suspects in criminal cases.
The workshop was co-hosted with Thailand’s Ministry of Justice and the Norwegian Centre of Human Rights, University of Oslo.
The participants included 50 criminal investigators, public prosecutors, representatives of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI), the Internal Security Operations Command, Ministry of Defense’s Judge Advocate General’s Office, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Royal Police Cadet Academy.
A primary objective of the workshop was to promote and explain the principle that interviews which are conducted in compliance with human rights standards produce much more effective results without resort to torture, ill-treatment or coercion. The workshop also addressed the problem of a ‘confession culture’ and looked into how unlawful interrogations threatened the quality and legitimacy of justice sector officials and bodies in meting criminal justice. Participants also conducted discussions and participated in group activities on human memory, investigative management and the conducting of interviews grounded in fundamental principles of international human rights law.
Speakers at the Workshop included:
- Aim-orn Siangyai, Deputy Director General of Thailand’s Rights and Liberties Protection Department, Ministry of Justice;
- Frederick Rawski, Asia Pacific Regional Director, ICJ;
- Gisle Kvanvig, Programme Director for ASEAN/Vietnam, Norwegian Center for Human Rights;
- Asbjørn Rachlew and Dr. Ivar A. Fahsing, experienced investigators from the Norwegian Police Department;
- Lilian M. Stein, Professor at the Psychology Postgraduate Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul; and
- Mary Schollum, a criminologist and lead drafter of the Universal Guidelines on Investigative Interviewing.
Background
This workshop is part of the ICJ’s ongoing efforts to ensure the domestic implementation of international law and standards in crime investigation.
Previous ICJ workshops on the above topic have included:
Regional Workshops
National Workshops
Sep 4, 2019 | News
The announcement that the remains of Pholachi “Billy” Rakchongcharoen, a Karen rights activist, have been located, brings a sad end to years of uncertainty for his family, said the ICJ and Amnesty International today.
This development should lead to a renewed focus on identifying the perpetrator(s) of his apparent enforced disappearance and bringing them to justice.
On 3 September 2019, the Thai Ministry of Justice’s Department of Special Investigations (DSI) announced it had located bone fragments, which they had identified as likely belonging to Billy inside an oil tank submerged in water near a suspension bridge inside Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province.
“The DSI should redouble its efforts to identify the perpetrator(s) of Billy’s killing and bring them to justice,” said Frederick Rawski, Asia Regional Director of the ICJ. “If, based on an assessment of the evidence, it is found that Billy was the victim of enforced disappearance, then the perpetrators, including those with command responsibility, should be charged with the appropriate, serious offences in accordance with Thailand’s obligations under international law – not only with lesser crimes that do not reflect the gravity of the offense.”
Billy was last seen on 17 April 2014 in the custody of Kaeng Krachan National Park officials.
“This case highlights the serious risks activists and human rights defenders face in Thailand, including assaults, enforced disappearance and killings,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s interim Regional Director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “It underscores the long-overdue need for the Thai government to make enforced disappearance a crime under national law. A failure to do so results in the lack of an independent, impartial and effective mechanism to investigate the cases, exacerbating the current climate of impunity.”
The DSI stated that the recovered bones contain DNA inherited from Billy’s mother, which suggests they belong to a person who was related to her. However, the DSI declined to disclose the name of any suspect(s) and requested more time to investigate the case and examine the remains.
Background
Thailand is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Freedom from enforced disappearance is protected under both these treaties, as enforced disappearance will always constitute violations of some or more of the following rights: the right to life; freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; the right to liberty; and the right to recognition as a person under the law. These are in addition to violations of the rights of members of the disappeared person’s family through suffering deliberately inflicted on them through the imposition on them of uncertainty about their love one’s fate and whereabouts.
Thailand has also signed, but not yet ratified, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). The ICPPED affirms the absolute right not to be subject to enforced disappearance and places an obligation on states to investigate acts of enforced disappearance, to make it a criminal offence punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account its “extreme seriousness” and to take necessary measures to bring those responsible to justice.
The Government has stated it will not ratify the Convention until its provisions are incorporated in domestic law. However, efforts to pass the Draft Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act (draft Act) stalled after it was dropped by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) prior to the 2019 national election. The draft Act is currently pending the consideration of the President of the National Assembly. Under international law of treaties, as signatory to the ICPPED, still is bound to desist from any acts which would defeat its object and purpose.
Thailand has a binding obligation under international law to conduct prompt, effective and thorough, independent and impartial, and transparent investigations into all suspected cases of unlawful death and enforced disappearance.
According to the ICPPED and the revised Minnesota Protocol (2016), which contains the international standards on the conduct of investigations into unlawful death and enforced disappearance – and which Thailand launched in May 2017 – records that investigations “must seek to identify not only direct perpetrators but also all others who were responsible for the death, including, for example, officials in the chain of command who were complicit in the death.” (para 26)
Download
Thailand-Discovery of Billy remains-news-webstory-2019-THA (full story in PDF)
Further reading
Thailand: special investigation into apparent enforced disappearance of “Billy” welcome, but much more is needed
Thailand: ICJ submits recommendations on draft law on torture and enforced disappearance amendments
Justice for Billy: Time for Thailand to Account for Activist’s Disappearance
Contact
For ICJ: Frederick Rawski, ICJ Asia-Pacific Director, t: +66 64 478 1121; e: frederick.rawski(a)icj.org
Sep 2, 2019 | News
On 30 August 2019, on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, the ICJ co-hosted an art exhibition, a closed-door round table discussion and a public forum titled “Enforced Disappearance and the Absence of a Law” to commemorate individuals who were subject to apparent enforced disappearance and whose fates remains unknown.
The closed-door round table discussion provided an opportunity for victims’ voices to be heard on challenges faced in gaining access to justice and redress. Relatives spoke about the challenges they face, mostly about the poor progress of investigations into the allegations of enforced disappearance against their relatives.
Sanhawan Srisod, the ICJ’s Legal Adviser, during the closed-door round table discussion, gave a briefing about the latest developments on the Draft Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act. The legislation had been dropped by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) prior to the 2019 national elections, but is currently before the President of the National Assembly, pending his consideration to bring it before the House of Representative.
The public forum focused on the development and progress of the investigations into enforced disappearances and evaluated the progress in developing legislation in Thailand to address this critical issue.
During the public forum, Sanhawan Srisod highlighted that the Draft Act would, if adopted, fail to bring the law into full compliance with Thailand’s international human rights obligations. The key concerns include:
- Incomplete definitions of the crimes of enforced disappearance;
- The continuous nature of the crime of enforced disappearance that was not recognized in the Draft Act;
- Inadequacy of provisions on the command responsibility;
- Possibility that the military court may have power to try and adjudicate enforced disappearance cases; and
- Insufficient safeguards against enforced disappearances.
Background
Thailand has signed but has yet to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
According to their 2018 annual report, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has recorded 86 outstanding cases of alleged enforced disappearance in Thailand.
The Thai government, through the recently set up Committee Managing Complaints for Torture and Enforced Disappearance Cases, says it is currently conducting investigations in connection with this list.
Closed-door round table discussion session included the following speakers: Ms. Phinnapha Phrueksaphan, wife of Mr. Porlajee Billy Rakchongcharoen; Ms. Angkhana Neelapaijit, wife of Mr. Somchai Neelapaijit; Ms. Pranee Danwattananusorn, wife of Mr. Surachai Danwattananusorn; Mr. Adisorn Pho-Arn, son of Mr. Thanong Pho-Arn; Ms. Kanya Theerawut, mother of Mr. Siam Theerawut; Ms. Suphab Kamlae, wife of Mr. Den Kamlae; Mr. Prasert Laosophapan, brother of Mr. Kamon Laosophapan; Ms. Shui-Meng Ng, wife of Mr. Sombath Somphone from Lao PDR; Mr. Truong Son Nguyen, Regional Campaigner, Amnesty International Vietnam; Representatives, indigenous Lahu Community, Chiang Mai province; and Ms. Sanhawan Srisod, Legal Adviser, International Commission of Jurists
Public forum session included the following speakers: Ms. Shui-Meng Ng, representative of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances; Ms. Angkhana Neelapaijit, wife of Mr. Somchai Neelapaijit; Ms. Phinnapha Phrueksaphan, wife of Mr. Porlajee Billy Rakchongcharoen; Mr. Angsukate Wisutwattanasak, Director of Security Cases Department 1, Department of Special Investigation (DSI); Ms. Nongporn Roongpetchwong, Human Rights Expert, Rights and Liberties Protection Department, Ministry of Justice; and Ms. Sanhawan Srisod, Legal Adviser, International Commission of Jurists. The opening session included remarks from Mr. Giuseppe Busini, Deputy Head of Mission of the Delegation of the European Union to Thailand, and Mr. Surapong Kongchantuk, President of the Cross-Cultural Foundation. The closing session included remarks from Mr. Badar Farrukh, Human Rights Officer, OHCHR Regional Representative for South East Asia.
See Also:
Summary of the ICJ analysis of the Draft Act (PDF)
Thailand: ICJ submits recommendations on draft law on torture and enforced disappearance amendments
