Isoc showing the way
Finally, the military made the right decision this week to correct a misguided move. The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) deserves praise for its withdrawal of defamation lawsuits against three human rights activists who authored a report on the torture and ill-treatment of security officers in the South, and agreed to work with them to probe the allegations.
The military regime, however, must recognise there are still other similar charges and prosecutions it has brought against other activists and critics. As a next step, the regime must consider putting an end to those unsound cases.
Since the middle of last year, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation; Anchana Heemmina, founder of the Duay Jai Group; and human right lawyer Somchai Homla-or have faced criminal charges for violating the Computer Crime Act for publishing a report, released in February 2016.
The report documents “credible” cases in which soldiers allegedly tortured 54 ethnic Malay Muslim insurgent suspects between 2014 and 2015 under Isoc’s custody.
In its outright and vigorous denial of the allegations, Isoc then displayed no immediate intention to discover the truth but instead decided to file criminal charges against the three authors.
The change in its stance this week to drop the lawsuits and work with the activists to uncover the truth lends hope for justice in the deep South, where the torture of detained security suspects has been common since the well-known 2004 theft of assault rifles that led to an aggressive hunt for the culprits.
The next move is to ensure that this joint investigation will not end up as a window-dressing effort. Isoc must allow thorough, open and independent work to be carried out.
If the allegations are proven to be true, the culprits must undergo due process and be held accountable for their actions. Meanwhile, those who were victims of torture must be properly compensated.
This new development demonstrates that the military is starting to recognise the right of activists to report their findings. It is commendable that the spokesperson of Isoc’s Region 4 promised that there will be new mechanisms to prevent new cases of human rights violations.
Beyond such preventive mechanisms, what the military can do now is take corrective action. It must drop other similar defamation and criminal charges that it has brought against the many political activists, critics and academics over the course of more than two years since the military coup. These numerous criminal proceedings have reportedly occurred in “a systematic and arbitrary fashion”.
For example, Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat, a young woman who campaigned for justice over the death of her uncle, and Wichian Puaksom, an army conscript who died in Narathiwat Ratchanakarin army camp five years ago, have been charged with defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act.
A senior military officer has also brought lese majeste and computer crime charges against Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, or Pai Dao Din, who shared a BBC Thai article on social media.
Others include criminal charges against groups of students and labour activists who merely distributed leaflets urging people to vote “no” ahead of the referendum on the constitution last year. A group of online activists have also been charged for their satirical depictions of officials on social media. Dozens of political activists who staged protests have also faced similar charges.
The future of these individuals is still in limbo. The charges are either under investigation by the police or military prosecutors or awaiting trial. If found guilty, they will face the prospect of years of imprisonment.
In addition to withdrawing the charges, the military must ensure that there will be no further arbitrary use of the defamation law under the Criminal Code, the Computer Crime Act and other laws as a means to suppress and punish activists and its critics.