The ICJ, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L), wrote a joint-letter today to the Lawyers Council of Thailand (LCT) – the country’s representative body of lawyers – expressing concern over two cases of intimidation and harassment against human rights lawyers.
Lawyers, Sirikan Charoensiri (photo) and Benjarat Meethien, both face criminal proceedings – seemingly as a result of the legal representation they have provided in so-called ‘political’ cases.
The letter draws attention to the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers which specifically call on governments to ensure that lawyers are protected from ‘intimidation, harassment or improper interference’ (Principle 16).
It also reminds the LCT of their express mandate to ‘promote the unity and integrity of the Members; and promote and manage [their] welfare’.
The ICJ, LRWC and L4L urgently called on the LCT to take action and investigate the circumstances in these cases.
Thailand-Letter to LCT-Advocacy-Open letters-2016-ENG (full text in PDF, English)
Thailand-Letter to LCT-Advocacy-Open letters-2016-THA (full text in PDF, Thai)