Missing lawyer Somchai’s family will get 7.5 million baht

The widow of missing human rights lawyer Somchai Nilapaichit will receive 7.5 million baht in compensation as a special case as decided on Sunday June 10 by a panel led by Justice Minister Pracha Promnok.

          The panel which was tasked with considering compensation for victims of the violence perpetrated by government officials in the far South also agreed to award compensation to families of the dead victims from Krue Se, Tak Bai and Sabayoi incidents ranging from 4-7.5 million baht each.

          As for the Tak Bai incident in which 85 people died of suffocation as they were trucked from the protest site in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat to a military camp in Pattani back in 2004, each family of the victims will receive a total of 7.5 million baht in compensation.  However, since 42 families have already received compensation amounting to 300,000-400,000 baht each, the amounts will be deducted from the 7.5 million baht in compensation that they are going to receive from the state.

          There are altogether 19 dead victims mostly members of the Ban Suso football team in the Sabayoi incident who will each receive 7.5 million baht in compensation.

          For the Krue Se incident in which 32 people were killed when security forces stormed the Krue Se mosque in Pattani’s Muang district, the families of the dead victims will be entitled to four million baht in compensation.

          As for the 24 enforced disappearance cases, the panel divided the cases into two groups:  the first group of 12 cases are yet to be concluded and the other group of 21 cases were already concluded and the victims were described as missing people.

          Of the 24 cases, if it could be proven that their disappearances were caused by state officials, the families of the victims will receive 7.5 million baht each in compensation and this includes the widow of missing human rights lawyer Somchai.  As for the other enforced disappearance cases, families of the victims will receive four million baht each.

          As for victims of violence in general not related to the aforementioned incidents, the panel also decided to recommend the cabinet to increase the amounts of compensation for the dead and disabled victims.

          For dead victims, the compensation will be creased from 100,000 baht to 500,000 baht each and for the disabled cases, the compensation will be upped from 80,000 baht to 500,000 baht each.  This compensation payment programme should cover all victims dating back to January 1, 2004.

          Meanwhile on June 8, the Appeals Court upheld the decision of Songkhla provincial court dismissing a plea filed by a group of relatives of the Tak Bai incident demanding an enquiry into the death of the Tak Bai victims.

          The Songkhla provincial court ruled on May 29, 2009 that the 78 victims who died while they were being transported from the protest site in Tak Bai to a military camp died of suffociation while they were in the custody of the security forces who were then performing their duties.  Hence, an enquiry was out of the question.

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Caption : Picture of Somchai Nilapaichit in campaign against enforced disappearance

Thanks : Photo from www.bangkokbiznews.com