Justice and the Price of Human Beings
At this moment, it seems that “injustice” has become the Number One problem of Thailand. It is also the cause of a host of problems – be it political injustice or injustice related to several cases in the violence-prone deep South.
The problem of injustice is clearly reflected in two cases – one about the mysterious disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Nilapaichit who has disappeared without any traces for more than seven years and the other which is about the death of Pol Colonel Sompien Eksomya, former superintendent of Bannang Sata district police in Yala province. (The late police officer was posthumously promoted as a full general).
On Friday March 11, the Appeals Court acquitted five defendants charged with involvement in Somchai’s disappearance. They are Pol Maj Ngern Thongsook, a former inspector attached to the Internal Security Operations Command; Pol Lt-Col Sinchai Nimpoonyakampong, former enquiry officer attached to the Crime Suppressio Division; Pol Sgt-Maj Chaiweng Paduang, a former detective attached to Tourist Police Division; Pol Sgt Randorn Sitthikate, a former general affairs officer attached to the Crime Suppression Division and Pol Lt-Col Chadchai Liamsa-nguan, former superintendent of Crime Suppression Division.
Pol Maj Ngern was convicted for three years by the Criminal Court which also acquitted the rest of the defendants.
Except for Ngern who did not show up when the Appeals Court’s verdict was announced by the Criminal Court, the four other defendants attended the hearing. As for Ngern who was sentenced to three-year imprisonment by the Criminal Court, the Appeals Court ruled that the testimony given to the court by a witness was confusing and not strong enough to prove Ngern’s involvement in the disappearance of the human rights lawyer.
Somchai was suspected to be kidnapped from his car in Ramkhamhaeng area allegedly by men in uniform on the night of March 12, 2004. He has never been seen ever since and thought to have been killed.
Mystery also shrouded the disappearance of Pol Maj Ngern, the only defendant convicted by the Criminal Court. He was granted bail while the case was pending with the Appeals Court. However, it was reported that he was swept away by strong currents in Wat Bot district of Phitsanuloke in September 2008. But his body has never been retrieved and nobody has ever seen him ever since.
There are more mysteries however. This was the mysterious disappearance of Abduloh Arbukari, 25, a key suspect in the case in which several police officers were accused of torturing suspected militants alleged involved in the raid of and theft of more than 400 war weapons from an armoury in Narathiwat on January 4, 2004.
Among the officers accused was Pol Gen Panupong Singhara na Ayutthaya, the national deputy police chief. This case was also handled by human rights lawyer Somchai before his disappearance.
Abdulloh, a key witness in the alleged torture case, disappeared without any traces on December 11, 2009, after he returned home in Ra-ngae district of Narathiwat during the Hari Rayo festival.
Somchai’s surviving widow, Mrs Angkhana Nilapaichit, was unhappy with the Appeals Court’s acquittal of all the defendants and vowed to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court.
In quick response to the Appeals Court’s verdict, the Mix Culture Foundation issued a statement criticizing the state’s failure to bring those responsible for the lawyer’s disappearance to justice.
The foundation said that the court’s acquittal verdict tends to reinforce the criticisms that the Thai justice system is ineffective and biased in favour of unscrupulous officials. It also called on the government to overhaul the justice system in order to restore public trust in the system and to endorse the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
March 12 marked the first anniversary of Pol Gen Sompien’s death in a bomb blast in Banang Sata district as he was on an inspection trip.
The officer’s death came just 17 days after he travelled to Bangkok to petition Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for justice after his request to be moved out of the deep South to Kantang district of Trang province to spend the rest of his police career with his family in peace was rejected. The officer claimed that he had spent more than 40 years in the deep South and had only 18 months left before his mandatory retirement.
Sompien’s death reflected the police reshuffle system which was alleged to be plagued with corruption, nepotism and favourtism. A probe was launched to find out who were responsible for shelving Sompien’s request for a transfer. The investigation result was a letdown however. The harshest punishment for the officers held accountable was a modest cut in their salaries and the most lenient punishment was a mere warning.
Like adding salt to injury, the merit-making ritual held by Sompien’s family to mark the first anniversary of his death at Wat Klong Plae in Hat Yai saw not a single government MP attending the ceremony. The only officer present there was Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew, the national deputy police chief.