Arbitrary arrest of land rights activist Mr. Prom Jarana

Thailand

July 17, 2014

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the InternationalFederation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Thailand.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has beeninformed by reliable sources of the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Prom Jarana,a member of the Assembly of the Poor, a grassroots people’s movement that worksfor the protection and promotion of land rights.

According to the informationreceived, on July 17, 2014, at 10.30 am, Thai police and army personnelarrested Mr. Prom Jarana at his home in Baan Hoo Tam Nob Village, PhakamDistrict, Buriram Province. The arresting officers informed Mr. Prom that hewould be taken to the Somdet Chaopraya Mahakasatsuk military camp. Mr. Prom wasnot informed of the reason for his arrest.

The Observatory believesthat Mr. Prom was arrested in connection with his activities for the protectionand promotion of human rights. On July 15, 2014, Mr. Prom joined a delegationof the Assembly of the Poor to Bangkok. The delegation gathered at the ThaiArmy headquarters to demand that the ruling junta, the National Council forPeace and Order (NCPO), put an end to the ongoing forced evictions of villagersby soldiers from the Thai 2nd Army in six villages of Non Din Daeng District,Buriram Province. On July16, Mr. Prom visited Kao Baat, one of the villages affected by the forcedevictions.

At the time of the releaseof this Urgent Appeal, no charges had been formally framed against Mr. PromJarana and there is still no clear information on his current location.

The Observatory condemns the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Prom Jarana, which seems to merelyaim at sanctioning his peaceful human rights activities, and calls upon theauthorities of Thailand to release him immediately and unconditionally.

Backgroundinformation:

Between June 27 and July 2, 2014,soldiers from the Thai 2nd Army entered six villages, Kao Baat, Saeng Sawan,Talat Khwai, Pa Mamuang, Klong Hin Mai and Sam Salueng villages in Non DingDaeng District, Buriram Province, and ordered residents to demolish their own homesand leave the area. Soldiers spray-painted the relocation deadlines, rangingfrom July 7 to July 10, on the villagers’ homes. Soldiers also warned villagersthat they would be forcibly evicted from their homes if they failed to complywith their eviction orders.

There were about 300 householdswith a total of more than 1,000 people in the six villages affected by therelocation orders. In Saeng Sawan Village, more than 50 households refused torelocate. Similarly, about 40 people in Kao Baat Village, mostly women andchildren, refused to leave their homes.

The Thai Army did not provide anycompensation or assistance to those who agreed under duress to vacate theirhomes. The two relocation sites, located in the rubber plantation area of PaYaang Sabkhaning, about six kilometers north of the Pa Mamuang Village, and atthe Lam Nang Rong Buddhist temple grounds, about 15 kilometers south of TalatKhwai Village, lack adequate temporary shelters and have no access to water.

The forced evictions were precededby a string of arbitrary detentions. On June 28 and 29, soldiers from the Thai2nd Army detained a total of 10 village leaders from Seang Sawan Village. The10 were held incommunicado without being charged for seven days at the SomdetChaophraya Mahakasatsuk military camp and were not informed of the reason oftheir detention.

On July 4, 2014, about 20 soldiersfrom the Thai 2nd Army took a village leader from his home in Lam Nang RongVillage, Non Din Daeng District, Buriram Province, and detained him at theSomdet Chaophraya Mahakasatsuk military camp. He was released after being heldincommunicado for about 10 hours. The day before, he had approached localmilitary commanders to ask them whether the NCPO’s announcement that it wouldcrack down on forest encroachments would apply to the situation of villagers inNon Din Daeng District. On July 12, 2014, Thai Army soldiers in Saeng SawangVillage briefly detained local activist Mr. Paiboon Soisot andordered him to leave the community or face legal action.

It is believed that the ThaiArmy’s crackdown stemmed from Order Nos. 64 and 66, issued by the ruling junta,the NCPO, on June 14 and 17, 2014 respectively. The two orders empoweredgovernment agencies to take action to put an end to encroachment on forestreserves nationwide. However, villagers claim that the area they inhabited wasno longer classed as ‘forest reserve’ and should be redistributed among localcommunities in accordance with the 1964 National Forest Reserve Act.

The area has a long history offorced relocation of villagers as part of the Thai government’s militarycampaign against Thai Communist Party’s guerrilla operating in the area in the1970s and early 1980s. In the next two decades, successive Thai governmentsfailed to return the land to the communities who had originally inhabited it.

Actions requested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities of Thailand asking them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrityof Mr.Prom Jarana as well as all human rights defenders in Thailand;

ii. Release Mr. Prom Jarana immediatelyand unconditionally since his detention is arbitrary and only aims atsanctioning his human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level,against Mr.Prom Jarana as well as against all human rightsdefenders in Thailand;

iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9,1998, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for theprotection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels”, and Article 12.2, which provides that “theState shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by thecompetent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adversediscrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of hisor her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the presentDeclaration”;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by Thailand.

Addresses:

· Head of the NationalCouncil for Peace and Order, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Royal Thai ArmyCommander-in-Chief, Rachadamnoen Nok Road, Bang Khun Phrom, Phra Nakhon, 10200,Bangkok, THAILAND

· Deputy Leader of theNational Council for Peace and Order, General Thanasak Patimaprakorn, Chief ofthe Armed Forces, Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, 127 Chaeng WatthanaRoad, Laksi, 10210, Bangkok, THAILAND

· Deputy Leader of theNational Council for Peace and Order, Police General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit,Royal Thai Police Commissioner-General, Royal Thai Police, 1 Building, Floor 7,Rama 1 Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok, THAILAND 10330, Tel: +66 (0)-2251-6831 Fax:+66 (0)-2205-3738

· National Human RightsCommission of Thailand, 422 Phya Thai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10300, THAILAND,Fax: +622 219 2940

· Attorney General, Officeof the Attorney General, Lukmuang Building, Nahuppei Road, Prabraromrachawang,Pranakorn, Bangkok 10200, THAILAND, Fax: +662 224 0162 / 1448 / 221 0858, ag@ago.go.th; oag@ago.go.th

· Commissioner General,Royal Thai Police, 1st Building, 7th Floor, Rama I, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330,THAILAND, Fax: +662 251 5956 / 205 3738 / 255 1975-8

· Permanent Mission ofThailand to the United Nations in Geneva, rue Gustave Moynier 5, 1202 Geneva,Switzerland, Tel: + 41 22 715 10 10; Fax: + 41 22 715 10 00 / 10 02; Email: mission.thailand@ties.itu.int

· Embassy of Thailand inBrussels, 2 Sq. du Val de la Cambre, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2640.68.10; Fax: + 32 2 .648.30.66. Email: thaibxl@pophost.eunet.be

Pleasealso write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Thailand in your respectivecountry

***

Paris-Geneva,July 17, 2014

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

TheObservatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of human rightsdefenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. TheObservatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the FrenchRepublic.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
• Tel and fax FIDH: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
• Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29