GOOD NEWS! Release of land rights activist Mr. Prom Jarana

Release

Thailand

July 18, 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), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention inthe following situation in Thailand.

New information:

The Observatory has beeninformed by reliable sources about the release of Mr. Prom Jarana, amember of the Assembly of the Poor, a grass-roots people’s movement that worksfor the protection and promotion of land rights.

According to the informationreceived, on July 17, 2014 Mr. Prom was released at 8:00 pm. No charges werebrought against him and he is no longer under any ongoing investigation.

Mr. Prom Jarana was detainedfor about 10 hours at the Somdet Chaopraya Mahakasatsuk military camp and questioned by soldiers from the Thai 2nd Army abouthis involvement in the delegation of the “Assembly of the Poor to Bangkok”. Theinterrogation, which took place without the presence of counsel or any otherrepresentative, focused on allegations that he had come to Bangkok to join thedelegation of the Assembly of the Poor (see background information) and broughtback some documents issued by the Assembly of the Poor to the villagers of KaoBaat. Those documents criticized the military coup and the evictions ofvillagers in Non Din Daeng District as a result of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) orders Nos. 64 and66.

The Observatory welcomes therelease and the end of the judicial harassment against Mr. Prom Jarana, andthanks all the persons, institutions and organisations who intervened in theirfavour. However, the Observatory regrets that he was arbitrarily detained for 10hours.

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 ownhomes and leave the area. Soldiers spray-painted the relocation deadlines,ranging from July 7 to July 10, on the villagers’ homes. Soldiers also warnedvillagers that they would be forcibly evicted from their homes if they failedto comply with 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 kilometres south of TalatKhwai Village, lack adequate temporary shelters and have no access to water.

The forced evictions werepreceded by a string of arbitrary detentions. On June 28 and 29, soldiers fromthe Thai 2nd Army detained a total of 10 village leaders from Seang SawanVillage. The 10 were held incommunicado without being charged for seven days atthe Somdet Chaophraya Mahakasatsuk military camp and were not informed of thereason of their detention.

On July 4, 2014, about 20soldiers from the Thai 2nd Army took a village leader from his home in Lam NangRong Village, Non Din Daeng District, Buriram Province, and detained him at theSomdet Chaophraya Mahakasatsuk military camp. Mr. Sornram was releasedafter being held incommunicado for about 10 hours. The day before,Mr. Sornram had approached local military commanders to ask them whetherthe NCPO’s announcement that it would crack down on forest encroachments wouldapply to the situation of villagers in Non Din Daeng District. On July 12,2014, Thai Army soldiers in Saeng Sawang Village briefly detained localactivist Mr. Paiboon Soisot and ordered him to leave the communityor 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 empowered governmentagencies to take action to put an end to encroachment on forest reservesnationwide. However, villagers claim that the area they inhabited was no longerclassed as ‘forest reserve’ and should be redistributed among local communitiesin 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.

On July 15, 2014, Mr. Prom joined a delegation ofthe Assembly of the Poor to Bangkok. The delegation gathered at the Thai Army headquartersto demand that the ruling junta, the NCPO, put an end to the ongoing forcedevictions of villagers by soldiers from the Thai 2nd Army in six villages ofNon Din Daeng District, Buriram Province. OnJuly 16, Mr. Prom visited Kao Baat, one of the villages affected by the forcedevictions.

On July 17, 2014, at 10.30am, Thai police and army personnel arrested Mr. Prom Jarana at his home in BaanHoo Tam Nob Village, Phakam District, Buriram Province. The arresting officersinformed Mr. Prom that he would be taken to the Somdet Chaopraya Mahakasatsukmilitary camp. Mr. Prom was not informed of the reason for his arrest.

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 humanrights defenders in Thailand;

ii. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, againstall human rights defenders in Thailand;

iii. 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”;

iv. 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

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Paris-Geneva,July 18, 2014

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