The ongoing political crisis in Thailand must not sideline the continued efforts to surface the truth regarding the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit nor it be made a scapegoat to end investigation on the case, now on its 10th year, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) said in a statement.
Somchai Neelaphaijit, a prominent Muslim lawyer, was filing a case of torture against the police in Southern Thailand on behalf of five men who were in their custody prior to his disappearance on 10 March 2004. The area was then under emergency regulation in 2005 after a year of Martial Law. The Department of Special Investigation Division, supposedly an elite unit under the Ministry of Justice tasked to handle the case has not made significant progress in its work to date. Five policemen who were charged for pulling Somchai away from his car were released and only one official, Police Major Ngern Thongsuk was convicted by the Court of First Instance in 2006. However, in 2011, the Appeals Court overturned the decision and all the accused were considered innocent. The decision is currently under review by the Supreme Court.
AFAD is concerned of disturbing pronouncements made by Niran Adulayasak, Director of DSI Special Criminal Case Office 1 in December 2013 regarding the “loss and recovery” of the case files of Somchai when members of the opposition People's Democratic Reform Council stormed their office building. He was also quoted in news reports, following his announcement of the “recovery” of the files, about his plans to ask the prosecutor of special litigation to drop the investigation on the case.
One legal impediment in the progress of his case is the absence under Thai laws of a crime of enforced disappearance which is stipulated under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. AFAD had high hopes then that Thailand would ratify the Convention after an official of the Ministry of Justice informed representatives of the federation in a public meeting in June 2013 that it would be ready to submit its recommendations to Parliament on or before the end of December 2014. The federation has been lobbying for the Thai government to ratify the Convention.
AFAD believes that the ongoing political crisis must not deter the campaign to put the government to task for its failure to deliver justice on the disappearance of Sombath and the unimaginable pain and suffering this has brought unto his family, especially to his wife, Angkhana Neelaphaijiit and his children.
In closing, AFAD calls on the Supreme Court, to maintain its independence from the current crisis and speed up the review of the case of Somchai and ensure that justice be served accordingly.
Signed and authenticated by:
MUGIYANTO
Chairperson
MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Secretary-General