Decision to withdraw all charges against Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Mr. Somchai Homlaor and Ms. Anchana Heemmina

THA 003 /0816 / OBS 066.1
Judicialharassment

Thailand
March 9, 2017

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of theWorld Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received newinformation and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation inThailand.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of the decision by theThai army’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC)[1]to withdraw all charges against Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Chair ofAmnesty International Thailand and Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation(CrCF)[2], Mr. SomchaiHomlaor, a prominent lawyer and senior legal advisor to CrCF, and Ms. Anchana Heemmina,founder and Director of the organization DuayJai Group (Hearty SupportGroup)[3],prosecuted for co-editing the report “Torture and Ill-treatment in the Deep South Documented in 2014-2015”, published by CrCF, DuayJai Group, and Patani Human Rights Organization Network (HAP) on February 10,2016[4].

According to the information received, on March 7,2017, Col. Pramote Promin, a spokesman for ISOC 4,announced during a press conference that the ISOC would drop a criminaldefamation lawsuit and charges under the Computer Crimes Act against the threedefenders over the 2016 torture report (See Background information). Thespokesman claimed that both parties agreed to: 1) set up a joint fact-findingcommittee to review allegations of human rights violations; 2) createappropriate preventive measures and remedial approaches to human rightsviolations; and 3) submit future human rights reports to the newly createdjoint committee for review.

TheObservatory welcomes the Thai army’s decision, which takes place a few daysbefore the United Nations Human Rights Committee (CCPR) is set to reviewThailand on March 13 and 14, 2017, but condemns the judicial harassment to which Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Mr. Somchai Homlaor and Ms. Anchana Heemmina were subjected, as it wasclearly aimed at hindering their peaceful human rights activities.The Observatory calls upon the Thai authorities to put an end to all acts of judicialharassment against them and all human rights defenders in Thailand.

Background information:

On June 26, 2016, Ms.Pornpen, Ms. Anchana, and Mr. Somchai were summoned by police at the PattaniPolice Station following a complaint filed against them on June 8 by the ISOC4. However, the police interrogation was postponed until July 26, 2016.

On July 26, 2016,officers from the Pattani Police Station charged Ms. Pornpen, Ms. Anchana, andMr. Somchai with “criminal defamation” under Articles 326[5] and 328[6] of the Criminal Code and“computer-related crimes” under Article 14.1[7] of the 2007 Computer CrimesAct for allegedly publishing and uploading false information to the Internet inconnection with the aforementioned report. The three human rights defendersdenied all charges and police allowed them to submit a written statement intheir defence within 60 days. The three faced up to five years in prison and afine of 200,000 baht (approximately 5,360 euros) if they had been convicted.

Before publishing thereport, the three human right defenders tried to engage with the authoritiesconcerning the alleged cases of torture and ill-treatment documented in thereport. They sent the report to Lt. Gen. Wiwat Pathompak, Commander of the 4thArmy Region, on January 8, 2016. However, the high-ranking military officerspublicly denied the accuracy of the report and questioned the reliability ofthe civil society organisations that produced it.

In addition, after therelease of the report, seven ISOC officers summoned Ms. Anchana to appear forquestioning in relation to its publication at the Sirinthon Army Camp in YalaProvince, for two and half hours. The officers conveyed their discontent with the report and requestedthat in the future she submit all of her publications to ISOC before they arereleased, which Ms. Anchana refused.

On February 19, 2016, atabout 5pm, a group of 10 uniformed men visited Ms. Anchana’s home, findingthere only her mother. They claimed to be border police officers, and withoutpresenting a warrant questioned Ms. Anchana’s mother about her daughter andreportedly took pictures of her and the house.

Thisis also not the first time Ms. Pornpen has faced charges for documentingtorture. In September 2014, Ms. Pornpen was charged with “criminal defamation”by Army Task Force 41 in connection with her documentation and advocacy workconcerning allegations of army torture in Thailand’s ‘Deep South’. The case waseventually dropped by the State Prosecutor in June 2015.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Thailand asking them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet,Ms. Anchana Heemmina, and Mr. Somchai Homlaor, as well as of all human rightsdefenders in Thailand;

ii. Put an end to all acts of judicial harassment against them and all humanrights defenders in Thailand;

iii. Put an end to all acts of torture and ill-treatment in the country,properly investigate them, and prosecute perpetrators, in compliance withThailand’s international human rights commitments.

iv. Conform to theprovisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially itsArticles 1 and 12.2;

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

Addresses:

· GenPrayuth Chan-ocha, Prime Minister of Thailand, Fax: +66 (0) 2 282 5131

· DonPramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax: +66 (0) 2 643 5320; Email: minister@mfa.go.th

· Mr.Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, Minister of Justice, Fax: +66 (0) 2 953 0503

· PolGen Chakthip Chaijinda, Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, Fax: +66(0) 2 251 5956 / +66 (0) 2 251 8702

· Mr.Wat Tingsamit, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand;Email: help@nhrc.or.th

· H.E. Mr. Thani Thongphakdi,Ambassador, Permanent Missionof Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: + 41 22 715 1000 / 10 02; Email: mission.thailand@ties.itu.int

· H.E.Ms. Busaya Mathelin, Ambassador, Embassy of Thailand inBrussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 648 30 66; Email: thaibxl@thaiembassy.be

Please also write to the diplomaticmission or embassy of Thailand in your respective country.

***

Geneva-Paris, March 9, 2017

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

The Observatory, an OMCT and FIDHpartnership, is dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders and aimsto offer them concrete support in their time of need. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European UnionHuman Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

[1] The Internal Security Operations Command(ISOC) is a unit of the Thai military devoted to national security. ISOC 4 isresponsible for security operations in the southern provinces.

[2] Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) is an organization thatmonitors and documents cases of torture and ill-treatment in Thailand.

[3] Duay Jai Group isan organization that provides rehabilitation services for victims of tortureand support for their families.

[4] The report concerns 54 allegations of torture andill-treatment committed by the Royal Thai police and Royal Thai army againstmembers of the Muslim Malay minority arrested for their alleged involvementwith insurgent groups in the conflictive southern region of the country,between 2014 and 2015.

[5] Article 326 of the Criminal Code states: “Whoever, imputesanything to the other person before a third person in a manner likelyto impair the reputation of such other person or to expose such otherperson to be hated or scorned, is said to commit defamation, and shall bepunished with imprisonment not exceeding one year or fined not exceedingtwenty thousand baht, or both.”

[6] Article 328 of theCriminal Code states: “If the offence ofdefamation be committed by means of publication of a document, drawing,painting, cinematography film, picture or letters made visible by any means,gramophone record or any other recording instruments, recording picture orletters, or by broadcasting or spreading picture, or by propagation by anyother means, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding twoyears and fined not exceeding two hundred thousand baht.”

[7] Article 14.1 of the Computer Crimes Act states: “Whoever commits thefollowing offences, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding fiveyears or a fine not exceeding on hundred thousand baht or both: (1) input, intocomputer system, forged computer data in whole or in part or false computerdata in a manner likely to cause injury to another person or the public.”