Detention under the Martial Law of Mr. Thammarat Aliartae

THA001 / 0912 / OBS 084

Arbitraryarrest and detention

Thailand

September21, 2012

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Thailand.

Description of the situation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources of the arrest and detentionunder the Martial Law of Mr. Thammarat Aliartae, a Malayu Thai humanrights defender in Yala province in southern Thailand.

Accordingto the information received, on September 20, 2012, at approximately 7.00pm,soldiers from Yala Task Force 11, a special unit of the Thai army, arrested Mr.Aliartae near his house at the Old Market in Yala town. At the time of writing,he was detained in a military base operated by Yala Task Force 11 in Muangdistrict in Yala and was denied access to his lawyer from his arrest untilapproximately 9.00am on September 21, when his lawyer finally gained access tohim. Task Force 11 reportedly did not inform Mr. Aliartae or his lawyer of thereason for his arrest.

Fivedays before his arrest, on September 15, 2012, Mr. Aliartae, along with currentand former defendants in security-related cases and their families, submittedcomplaint letters to and met with officials from the Southern Border ProvinceAdministrative Center (SBPAC). At this meeting, Mr. Aliartae requested Pol.Col. Tawee Sodsong, the Director General of SBPAC, to ensure people’s equalaccess to justice. He also asked SBPAC to provide protection to defendantsreleased on bail or those already acquitted by the court in security-relatedcases because these persons had been harassed, intimidated and sometimessubjected to physical violence by security forces and unidentified persons.After the SBPAC meeting, Mr. Aliartae gave interviews to Thai-language mediaand his comments were published online.

Themeeting followed three recent fatal shootings of current or former defendantsin security-related cases in the southern border provinces. The incidentoccurred on July 26, 2012, when Mr. Abduloh Jaetimae was shot dead byunidentified gunmen in Tambon Yaha, Yala province. Mr. Jaetimae had beenarrested and prosecuted in 2006 for his alleged involvement in planting a bombin a bank; after spending three years in detention pending the outcome of histrial, he was acquitted and released in 2010.

Mr.Aliartae is a schoolteacher in Yala town, Yala province. In 2007, Mr. Aliartae,then a university student, was arrested along with six others under the specialsecurity laws and accused of being involved in a bombing in Yala. He reportedhaving been ill treated while in detention. He was later released on bail in2010, but his trial has not been concluded and the charges against him stillstand. Mr. Aliartae has since been advocating for the rights of personsaffected by the implementation of special security laws (the Martial Law, theEmergency Decree, and the Internal Security Act), and by abuses perpetrated byState security forces in the southern border provinces.

Mr.Aliartae has also been active in supporting the families of those detainedunder the special security laws. In August 2012, Mr. Aliartae wrote a letter tothe United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)when it considered Thailand’s combined 1st to 3rdperiodic reports. The letter asked CERD to take actions to address the violenceand abuses affecting populations in the southern border provinces, especiallyMalayu Thais.

Inits Concluding Observations on August 31, 2012, CERD expressed its seriousconcern “at the discriminatory impact of the application of the special laws inforce in the Southern Border Provinces, including reports of identity checksand arrests carried out on the basis of racial profiling, as well as reports oftorture and enforced disappearance of Malayu Thais. The Committee is furtherconcerned at the risk of serious human rights violations in the enforcement ofthese laws as well as at the absence of a mechanism of oversight of theirapplication”[1].

Theformulation and application of Thailand’s broadly worded special security laws,including the Martial Law, Emergency Decree, and Internal Security Act (ISA),are not consistent with international human rights law and standards, includingthe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to whichThailand is a State party.

Underthe 1914 Martial Law Act, a person can be detained without a warrant forinterrogation purposes up to seven days, without recourse to judicial review.The Emergency Decree gives the Prime Minister the power to authorise a“competent official” to arrest and detain a person for seven days, extendableto up to 30 days in total on the condition that extensions are authorised bythe courts. However, the Emergency Decree does not explicitly guarantee theright of detainees to be brought promptly before a judge in order to determinethe legality and necessity of detention, as guaranteed under Article 9.3 of theICCPR. Both the Martial Law and the Emergence Decree are concurrently enforcedin Yala province, and a person can be held in custody up to 37 days withoutcharge. Prolonged detention without charge in unofficial detention facilitiessignificantly increases the risks of torture and ill-treatment.

Thesedraconian laws provide for exceptional and discretionary arrest and detentionpowers to State officials, especially the military, and allow them to wieldthese powers without adequate oversight by the judiciary or other independentbodies. The application of these laws has often failed to meet the strict testsof legality, necessity and proportionality. Their imposition in Narathiwat,Pattani, Yala and several districts in Songkla provinces has also failed tocontribute to building peace and security in those areas. Since July 2012, thesecurity situation in the Deep South has markedly deteriorated and there hasbeen a spate of violent incidents that resulted in a number of deaths andinjuries, including of civilians, security forces and suspected insurgents.

Actions requested:

Please write to the Thaiauthorities and ask them to:

i. Release Mr. Thammarat Aliartae immediatelyand unconditionally as his detention is arbitrary since it only aims atsanctioning his human rights activities and put an end to all acts ofharassment – including at the judicial level – against him;

ii. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Aliartaeand all human rightsdefenders and their organisations in Thailand;

iii. Conform with the provisions of theDeclaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by theUnited Nations General Assembly, and in particular :

- Article1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or in associationwith others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights andfundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”,

- and Article 12.2 which provides that “the Stateshall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competentauthorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, againstany violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination,pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or herlegitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”.

iv. Ensure in allcircumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordancewith international human rights standards and international instrumentsratified by Thailand.

Addresses:

· Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra,Prime Minister of Thailand, c/o Government House, Pitsanulok Road, DusitDistrict, Bangkok 10300, THAILAND, Fax: +66 2 280 0858 / +66 2 288 4016, Email:opm@opm.go.th

· Mr. Yongyuth Wichaidit,Minister of Interior, Office of the Ministry of Interior, Atsadang Road,Ratchabophit Pranakorn, Bangkok 10200, THAILAND, Fax: +66 2 226 4371/ 222 8866,Tel: +66 2 224 6320/ 6341, E-mail: om@moi.go.th

· Pol Gen Pracha Promnok,Minister of Justice, Office of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of JusticeBuilding, 22nd Floor Software Park Building, Chaeng Wattana Road, PakkredNonthaburi 11120, THAILAND, Fax: +662 502 6699/ 6734 / 6884, Tel: +662 5026776/8223, E-mail: om@moj.go.th

· Mr. SurapongTowijakchaikul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Minister of ForeignAffair, 443 Sri Ayudhya Road, Bangkok 10400, THAILAND, Fax: +662 643 5318, Tel:+662 643 5333, E-mail: om@mof.go.th,minister@mfa.go.th,permsec@mfa.go.th

· National Human RightsCommission of Thailand, 422 Phya Thai Road, Panthum Wan District, Bangkok10300, 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,Email: ag@ago.go.th,oag@ago.go.th

· 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 representations of Thailand in your respectivecountries.

***

Paris-Geneva,September 21, 2012

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 HumanRights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· Email: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH: +33(0) 1 43 55 25 18 / 01 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 80949 29

[1] CERD/C/THA/CO/ 1-3. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.THA.CO.1-3.pdf