BANGKOK, Thailand – On March 12, 2004 Somchai Neelappaijit was kidnapped while in his car and has not been seen since. Somchai Neelappaijit, a chairman of Thailand’s Muslim Lawyers Association and vice-chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, had just begun a lawsuit alleging widespread police torture of Muslims in the southern border provinces.

One month after his disappearance, five Thai police officers were arrested and charged only with coercion and gang robbery. They could not be charged with murder because Somchai Neelappaijit’s body could not be found, and they could not be charged with kidnapping because Thai criminal code only specifies kidnapping for ransom. After a highly criticized trial, only one police officer was convicted of coercion. However, he later was released after successfully filing an appeal.

Little has occurred in the Somchai Neelappaijit’s case since the trial. However, Human Rights Watch [HRW] urges the new Thai government to take steps to ensure the guilty officers are brought to justice. Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, said, “Somchai’s case is a clear test for the new Thai government. Successive governments have engaged in a cover-up to hide the identities of the authors of this heinous crime. Four years later, no steps have been taken to hold these officials accountable.” Adams added, “Muslims in southernThailand have told us that the government’s failure to solve ‘disappearances’ leaves them with the perception that justice for them is disappearing as well,”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Thailand : End Official Cover-Up in Lawyer’s “Disappearance” – 11 March 2008

United Press International Asia – No Justice for Disappeared Thai Lawyer – 6 March 2008