Thai Human Rights

Committee to Protect Journalists

June 7, 2010

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
Office of the Prime Minister
Royal Thai Government
Pitsanolok Road
Dusit, Bangkok

Thailand

Via facsimile: +662 629 8213

Dear Prime Minister Abhisit:

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns recent violence against journalists in Thailand, including the shooting deaths of two foreign reporters killed while covering news events. We call on your government to launch independent probes into recent attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice.

On April 10, Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto was shot and killed in Bangkok while filming clashes between your government’s security forces and armed United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) antigovernment protesters. A diplomat who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity said that your government has in its possession, but has not publicly released, closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of the area where Muramoto was killed.

Our interviews with journalists also indicated that military and other government agencies have failed to fully cooperate with at least one independent investigation probing the circumstances surrounding Muramoto’s death, by not allowing interviews with soldiers who were near the journalist before he was shot. We call on you to make the CCTV footage and any other relevant information available to investigators, diplomats, and journalists.

We also urge you to launch an independent probe into the killing of Italian photojournalist Fabio Polenghi, who was fatally shot in the abdomen on May 19 while covering your government’s crackdown on protesters. Some of his colleagues told CPJ that they think he may have been deliberately targeted because he was killed while visibly carrying a camera in an open area with few protesters. After Polenghi’s shooting, some local reporters removed their green armbands that had identified them as journalists, fearing they might be targeted by shooters.

At least seven other foreign and local journalists were shot or injured by grenade shrapnel while covering armed exchanges between security forces and UDD protesters last month, according to news reports. Among those cases are:

· On May 14, France 24 television reporter Nelson Rand was shot three times while attempting to cross the front line between soldiers and protesters, according to news reports. His injuries required emergency surgery and extensive recuperation in the hospital. It is unclear whether he was shot by soldiers or protesters.

· On May 19, freelance Canadian reporter Chandler Vandergrift was seriously injured in a grenade attack while moving with a group of soldiers and journalists near the perimeter of the UDD’s protest site. He was hit by shrapnel in the head and back and required emergency brain surgery. According to a colleague, he is slowly regaining mobility in the right side of his body.

· Dutch journalist Michel Maas, a reporter with Dutch National TV and Radio Netherlands Worldwide, was shot in the shoulder on May 19 while taking cover during a security force offensive against protesters. He told Agence France-Presse from the hospital that he believed he was shot from behind by Thai soldiers because the bullet came from the direction where troops were stationed.

This is a short list of a much wider range of press freedom violations that occurred during the recent political unrest in Thailand. While the media was allowed unfettered access to security force operations aimed at suppressing the UDD, your government has also censored and shut down various Thai media outlets in the name of national security—using discretionary powers from a state of emergency declared on April 7. We are particularly concerned about the detention without charge of Red News editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, who, according to Thai news reports, is currently being held at a military installation in Saraburi province. He was detained on May 24, and journalists told CPJ they believe that he is being held on accusations of publishing anti-monarchy materials and violating the country’s lese majeste laws.

The government may be concerned about broadcasts aimed at inciting violence on certain radio stations aligned with the UDD, but we are concerned that your spreading censorship activities have been extended to other news outlets that present news and views that are merely in opposition to your government. In particular, we note your government’s orders to shut down independent news Web site Prachatai and censor state broadcast media coverage of the May 19 military crackdown.

We likewise condemn UDD protester attacks on local media, including the arson attacks on Channel 3’s headquarters in Bangkok that required scores of reporters and staff members to be evacuated from the building by helicopter. And we are carefully investigating reports we have received from journalists and rights groups that UDD gunmen may have deliberately targeted and shot foreign journalists in a bid to discredit your government internationally.

Prime Minister, you have maintained throughout these turbulent times in Thailand that your government is committed to upholding the rule of law and is endeavoring to achieve reconciliation through democratic processes. At a press conference with foreign reporters on May 29, you acknowledged that the media should not be targeted in the course of your country’s political conflict and expressed your belief that journalists are entitled to do their jobs without fear of reprisal.

One meaningful step toward affirming those statements would be to instruct parliament to establish a commission that would ensure an independent investigation into recent attacks on the press. The inquiry should be made public, and, where appropriate, cases should be referred for legal prosecution. Another step would be to better guarantee the security of journalists in any future street conflicts between troops and protesters. Until then, your government’s commitment to press freedom will be in doubt.

We thank you for your attention to these important issues and look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Joel Simon

Executive Director

CC:

Eric G. John, U.S. Ambassador, Kingdom of Thailand

Don Pramudwinai, Thai Ambassador to the US

Roby Alampay, Executive Director, SEAPA

Prasong Lertratanawisute, President, Thai Journalists Association

Marwaan Macan-Markar, President, Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand

Bob Dietz
Asia Program Coordinator
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Ave, 11th floor
New York, NY 10001
+1 212 465 1004 ext 140
www.cpj.org

The Committee to Protect Journalists is a
New York-based, non-profit, non-partisan
organization dedicated to defending
press freedom around the world.

BANGKOK, May 31, 2010: International war crimes expert Professor GJ Alexander Knoops has joined the international legal team investigating the Thai Government’s killing of 80 pro-democracy demonstrators and onlookers in Bangkok in May and April, the investigation’s leader, international lawyer Robert Amsterdam announced today.

Six of the bodies were found in a “safe haven” temple.

Professor Knoops, of Knoops & Partners, is a world authority on war crimes, state crimes against humanity and genocide. He is working on cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the Special Court for Sierra-Leone, established by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra-Leone to “try those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996″.

Amsterdam and Knoops have collaborated for many years and published a seminal article on Russia as a Dual State in 2006 in the Fordham International Law Journal. “Professor Knoops is a world authority on war crimes and international criminal law and critical to this investigation,” Mr Amsterdam said.

Former Thai Prime Minister Dr Thaksin Shinawatra has hired Mr Amsterdam to investigate the killings and government breaches of international human rights and laws.

Dr Shinawatra was elected Prime Minister in 2001, scoring a landslide victory. He became the first Prime Minister in Thai history to serve a full term and introduced policies to alleviate rural poverty, including universal health care. His re-election in 2005 had the highest voter turnout in Thai history. A military coup on September 19, 2006 – while Dr Shinawatra was overseas – took control of the country and banned Dr Shinawatra’s party and MPs. People in Thailand’s north and north east have been fighting for the restoration of democracy and inclusive elections ever since. They took their protest to central Bangkok in April this year.

On several occasions in April and May, the Thai Government opened fire with live ammunition on the pro-democracy demonstration, killing at least 80 people, including onlookers and at least one foreign journalist, and injuring more than 1,000. Since May 19, the government’s military has arrested at least 140 members and supporters of the pro-democracy Red Shirts and its United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) party. At least one Australian citizen, Conor Purcell, 30, and one British citizen, Jeff Savage, 48, have been arrested.

“The Thai junta’s crackdown against its own people has not stopped,” Mr Amsterdam said. “At least 140 people have been arrested. Most have been held for more than a week without charge and have been denied access to a lawyer, in breach of basic human rights and international law. The military-backed Abhisit regime is flagrantly breaching its obligations as a member of the international community and the United Nations Human Rights Council. It is thumbing its nose to the international community and trampling on the rights of its people.”

Mr Amsterdam and Professor Knoops are, in part, assisting the UDD and Red Shirts’ legal counsel in Bangkok and Thailand’s north. The Thai-based legal team has learned that:

* At least 140 members and supporters of the Red Shirts have been arrested and are being detained, most without charge.

* One of the UDD leaders is being held in a military base in Prachuabkeereekan, 200km south of Bangkok. A prominent supporter, an academic, is being held in a military base in Saraburi, 200km north east of Bangkok. (The legal team is not releasing their names for fear they may be singled out for harsher treatment.) It is believed that the remaining 140 are being held in police stations across Bangkok and the north and north east, but there exact location is not known.

* Many of the 140 detainees have been denied access to a lawyer, breaching international laws.

* A further 50 people arrested in the days leading up to the crackdown on May 19 have been denied due process of law. Many of them have been brought before the courts, faced a summary trial, without access to a lawyer, and were sentenced to 18 months’ jail. The Thai-based legal team will appeal.

Mr Amsterdam said the Thai military’s use of its weapons was a gross violation of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials of 1990. The principles were adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in September 1990.

The UN has demanded an independent inquiry into recent unrest in Thailand, when more than 80 people were killed in clashes between security forces and protesters.

UN rights chief Navi Pillay said the guilty must be held accountable.

Opposition MPs have accused Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of committing violations by ordering the army to crack down on the protesters.

Their nine-week protest paralysed parts of the capital, Bangkok.

Many of the dead were protesters killed when soldiers moved in to dismantle their fortified camp in the city.

The government has repeatedly blamed the violence on “terrorists” it says infiltrated the red-shirt protester ranks, attacking police and soldiers.
‘Deep regrets’

The “red-shirt” protesters arrived in Bangkok on 14 March and occupied key parts of the capital, demanding that the government step down.

Attempts to negotiate a political solution failed and on 19 May Thai troops entered the protesters’ sprawling camp to end their rally.

Ms Pillay said an inquiry was needed “to foster longer-term political reconciliation”.

“I urge the government to ensure that an independent investigation of recent events be conducted, and all those found responsible for human-rights violations are held to account,” she said in a speech in Switzerland.

In response, Thailand’s UN envoy Sihasak Phuangketkeow said an independent commission was “being set up”.

“The Thai government deeply regrets the loss of lives and injuries that occurred, and is committed to bringing those responsible to account,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Abhisit came under renewed pressure on Monday as the parliament debated a censure motion against him and several ministers.

The opposition Puea Thai Party, broadly seen as supporting the red-shirts, accused the prime minister of using excessive force.

Although the government has a big enough majority to see off any no-confidence motion, analysts say the televised debate has become a focal point in the battle for public opinion.

The Thai capital, Bangkok, has begun to return to normal with hectic traffic replacing last week’s burning fires and emptied streets after security forces routed thousands of protesters, putting an end to a two-month-long anti-government demonstration.

The stock exchange, major banks and schools reopened, although an overnight curfew remains in place in the city and several provinces.

Government officials estimated two months of protests in Bangkok, and last week’s military crackdown that ended them, cost the economy about $5-billion. They say it will lower economic growth by up to one and half percentage points, and cut tourism revenues by 10 percent.

At least 88 people died in a series of violent incidents since the protests began in March, including protesters, security forces and journalists. Almost 1,900 were wounded.

But human rights organizations say Thailand will only fully recover if it can bridge sharp social divisions by making significant political reforms.

On Monday, human-rights groups began investigating the protests and the government response. Led by the Law Society of Thailand, dozens of young lawyers are interviewing those affected by the protests.

Somchai Homla-or, a human-rights lawyer and member of the Law Society, says many people suffered rights violations. He called on the government to carry out its promise to independently probe abuses that took place during the crisis.

“An independent body to make an investigation about what happened during the past two to three months to get the truth,” Somachi said is necessary. “We believe that if we want to build the reconciliation process the truth is very important otherwise the conflicting parties will just blame each other.”

Even as rights groups begin their work, the Justice Ministry raided locations tied to the protesters, including the offices of anti-government magazines.

Somchai says the government must undertake political and constitutional reforms to ensure that reconciliation efforts succeed. Among other things, he urged the government to allow banned politicians to resume political activity.

“Our political structure should be more open for the political group,” said Somchai. “Without involving those politicians in the democratic process I do not believe that we can solve the conflict problem, they will use other means which maybe violent, or lead to violence or illegal,” he said.

Under Thai law, leaders of a political party are banned from government and elections for several years if the party is found to have violated campaign laws. The red-shirt wearing, anti-government protesters who took to the streets in Bangkok have complained the law has been unfairly used to ban candidates and officials they favor, while accusations of illegal activity against the ruling Democrat Party and its coalition partners have not been investigated.

The protesters largely support former Prime Minister Thaksin, ousted in a coup in 2006. They demanded the government resign and call new elections immediate, and rejected a compromise off of elections in November.

The government accuses Mr. Thaksin of masterminding the protests, and being responsible for the wave of arson and violence that some protesters launched as the military demolished their camp last week. Mr. Thaksin denies the accusation.