On 11 and 12 March 2024, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) co-hosted a forum titled, “Enforced Justice Instead of Disappearances” to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the enforced disappearance of prominent lawyer and human rights defender Somchai Neelapaijit, on 12 March 2004.
Speakers included Angkhana Neelapaijit, Somchai Neelapaijit’s wife; Sayamol Kaiyoorawong, Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT); NHRCT’s former Commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara; Katia Chirizzi from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for South-East Asia; senior lawyer Rassada Manurassada; journalists Pravit Sojanaphruk and Sanitsuda Ekachai; Sunal Phasuk from Human Rights Watch; and the ICJ’s Associate International Legal Adviser, Sanhawan Srisod.
On 12 March 2004, Somchai was allegedly abducted by five police officers in central Bangkok. Eyewitnesses saw a group of men forcing him into a car on a busy street. His fate and whereabouts remain unknown, and no one has been held accountable for his enforced disappearance. To make matters worse, the investigation into his enforced disappearance was discontinued in 2016 due to an inability to identity the culprits, according to the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Investigation.
“The investigation into Somchai Neelapaijit’s enforced disappearance must be resumed and continue until it can shed light on his fate and whereabouts. Somchai’s family and Thai society at large have a right to know the truth about the circumstances of his enforced disappearance and those of others whose fate and whereabouts also remain unknown”, said Sanhawan Srisod, the ICJ’s Legal Advisor, during the panel discussion held at the above-mentioned forum on 12 March 2024.
“Under international human rights law and standards, including the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), and under domestic law as established in Thailand’s Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, Thailand has an obligation to conduct an investigation until it can shed light on the fate of the disappeared and gather other direct and circumstantial evidence that may suffice for identifying the perpetrators,” added Srisod.
Somchai’s case is one of several cases of enforced disappearances where the victims’ loved ones are still awaiting truth and justice. Between 1980 and August 2023, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances recorded and transmitted 93 cases of alleged enforced disappearance to Thailand. Currently, 77 of these cases remain unresolved.
According to the Ministry of Justice, before Thailand’s Anti-Enforced Disappearance Act came into force, there had been 96 complaints of enforced disappearances submitted to them, including from the UN Working Group. While investigations have ceased in 17 cases, in nine cases investigations are ongoing, and official announcements indicated that 70 other cases were forwarded to the relevant authorities. It remains unclear how these cases are being handled by the agencies to which they were forwarded. In addition, in the period between the entry into force of the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Act in February 2023 and November 2023, six allegations of enforced disappearance were submitted to the Ministry of Justice, all of which are still under investigation. There has been no public reporting regarding the nature of these cases or whether any prosecution under the Act has been initiated in connection with them.
In February 2023, the Committee on the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance was established under the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Act, and mandated to, among other things, inquire about information and facts pertaining to cases of enforced disappearances and to receive and carry out investigations upon receiving complaints. However, the Committee in the past year has played a limited role in handling such cases, and very little information has been provided to the public about its work.
“The Committee, which is predominantly composed of high-ranking governmental authorities at the executive level from various departments, has been unable to convene meetings to fulfill its duties. In addition, it has a limited capacity to regularly follow up on allegations of enforced disappearances submitted to it. This is partly due to members’ unavailability. Therefore, to fulfill the Committee’s investigative tasks effectively, and to provide regular updates to the families, a more flexible body is needed. One whose members are officials working for investigative and prosecuting agencies, independent experts and civil society representatives,” added Srisod.
In early April 2024, the ICJ received an update from the Committee that it had decided to establish a ‘Sub-Committee on Screening Cases of Torture and Enforced Disappearance.’ This sub-committee’s mandate is to screen complaints, follow up on complaints made, and examine facts relevant to cases of torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearances. It will comprise members of investigative and prosecuting agencies, independent experts and civil society representatives, in line with the recommendations.
Background
Before his enforced disappearance, Somchai Neelapaijit spent around 20 years practicing as a human rights lawyer, advocating mostly for the rights of Muslims of ethnically Malay descent, in Thailand’s restive deep South. He frequently represented those accused of acting against perceived government interests and regularly challenged government officials.
Shorty before his enforced disappearance, Somchai had met five suspects allegedly involved in a significant robbery of military weapons from an army camp and in arson attacks in Thailand’s deep South on 4 January 2004, who claimed that they had been subjected to torture while in police custody. Somchai Neelapaijit’s law office had submitted a petition alleging his clients abuse with several ministries and bodies on 11 March 2004. His enforced disappearance took place the following day.
On 11 March 2024, the forum took place at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand and, on 12 March 2024, it was held at Faculty of Political Science in Chulalongkorn University. A total of 156 participants, including family members of enforced disappearance victims, students, lecturers, lawyers, civil society organizations, diplomats, Thai officials and the media, attended the events.
The forum was co-organized with the Neelapaijit family, Chulalongkorn University’s Social Research Institute, Amnesty International Thailand, Protection International, Human Rights Watch, Forum-Asia, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
Further reading
ICJ’s report ‘Ten Years Without Truth: Somchai Neelapaijit and Enforced Disappearances in Thailand’ which is also available in Thai.
Factsheet titled ‘Two Decades in Seeking Truth and Justice,’ which is also available in Thai.
Contact
Sanhawan Srisod, Associate International Legal Adviser, ICJ, Asia Pacific Programme e: sanhawan.srisod@icj.org
Melissa Upreti, ICJ Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, e: melissa.upreti@icj.org