US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK2839

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002839 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, TH, HUMAN RIGHTS, Southern Thailand 
SUBJECT: FAMILY OF MISSING MUSLIM HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER 
RECEIVES THREATS 
 
REF: BANGKOK 1842 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert J. Clarke, Reason: 1.4 (d) 
 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY:  Mrs. Angkana Wongrachen, the wife (and 
presumed widow) of Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, has 
alleged that, after a letter was submitted on her behalf to 
the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) about the case of 
her missing husband, she received anonymous threatening phone 
calls from a Thai intelligence official.  The Thai Ministry 
of Justice (MOJ) has responded by providing her with 
protection at her Bangkok home.  Human rights NGOs and the 
head of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) support 
the formation of an independent commission to investigate 
Somchai's disappearance.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) On April 20, the Thai Working Group for the Protection 
of Human Rights Workers sent an open letter to the Ministry 
of Justice (MOJ) asking for protection for Mrs. Angkana 
Wongrachen, the wife of Somchai Neelpaijit, a prominent 
Muslim human rights lawyer who has been missing since March 
12, 2004 and is presumed dead.  (Note:  At the time of his 
disappearance, Somchai was defending 5 Muslim defendants 
accused in an assault on a Thai military weapons depot in 
January 2004.  The defendants had been moved to protective 
detention in Bangkok following claims of torture and abuse by 
Thai police while being interrogated in southern Thailand. 
End Note.)  In the umbrella NGO's open letter, which appeared 
on the internet and in some Thai-language daily newspapers, 
Somchai Hom-laor, an attorney with the NGO Forum Asia and a 
member of the Law Society of Thailand, states that Angkana 
received "telephone calls from a man whose voice she 
recognized as being that of a government intelligence 
officer."  The caller reportedly asked her about her 
intentions in dealing with the United Nations on the case of 
her missing husband.  The NGO letter asks the MOJ to take 
steps to ensure Angkana and her family's safety and "to send 
a message that threats against the families of human rights 
abuse victims will not be tolerated." 
 
3. (C) On April 22, Justice Minister Suwat Liptapanlop met 
with Angkana to hear her concerns.  Based on that meeting, 
the Rights and Liberties Protection Department (RLPD) of the 
MOJ has assigned officers from the Department of Special 
Investigations (DSI) to provide security for Angkana and her 
family at their home in Bangkok.  Poloff confirmed these 
arrangements in conversations with the office of Charnchao 
Chaiyanukij, Director General of the RLPD. 
 
4. (C)  Poloff also contacted Forum Asia staff member Pornpen 
"Noi" Khongkhajornkiart, who has daily contact with Angkana. 
 According to Noi, Angkana started receiving phone calls on 
April 18.  The male caller had a voice that Angkana claims 
she recognized as an "intelligence official."  (Note: 
Angkana reportedly did not explain how she knew the voice of 
the claimed intelligence official, but according to Noi and 
other NGO contacts, Angkana had extensive contact with Police 
and other security officials when she provided statements to 
them in reporting Somchai's initial disappearance over one 
year ago.  End Note.) 
 
5. (C) Noi confirmed that at least two DSI officers have 
rented a small house near the Neelapaijit home.  They have 
met with Angkana and asked for her cooperation in keeping 
them informed of her daily travel plans and those of her 5 
children who reside with her.  They call her frequently to 
check on her.  Noi said Angkana suspects the officials are 
monitoring her phone calls and that they are following her 
when she goes out for errands.  Noi said that Angkana felt 
better after talking to the MOJ and voicing her concerns, but 
that the presence of the security detail is making her feel 
uncomfortable and was an invasion of her personal privacy. 
 
6. (C) In a telephone conversation with Poloff, Somchai 
Hom-laor of Forum Asia noted that the threatening phone calls 
began after the Asian Legal Resource Center submitted a 
letter in Geneva on April 18 to the United Nations Working 
Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.  In 
Angkana's letter to the UN, she complains about the slow pace 
of Thai justice and the fact that no progress has been made 
in determining what really happened to her husband.  "All 
this has made me doubt the intentions of the authorities, and 
wonder how I can get justice in Thailand."  The Geneva-based 
working group will meet in Bangkok May 26 through June 3 as 
part of its regional meeting schedule.  Forum Asia contacts 
said that Somchai's disappearance is not yet on the formal 
agenda.  They opined that the UN will not want to offend 
Thailand during the meeting and therefore will not allow 
discussion of this case during the meeting in Bangkok.  Our 
Forum Asia contacts dismissed as rumor recent media reports 
stating that unnamed Thai National Security Council (NSC) 
officials had made phone calls to Somchai and subsequently to 
Somchai's family to arrange a meeting with him shortly after 
his disappearance.  Forum Asia staff stated that Angkana had 
never made these claims to them. 
 
7. (U)  Somchai Hom-laor expressed his hope that an 
Independent Commission to investigate the Somchai Neelapaijit 
case will be set up by Prime Minister Thaksin soon (Bangkok 
1842).  National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) Chairman 
Anand Panyarachun publicly supported this idea on April 23. 
Meanwhile, the criminal case against the five policemen 
accused of the robbery and kidnapping of Somchai apparently 
has been expedited by the Attorney General's office.  Forum 
Asia staff predicted that the court case will be concluded by 
the end of this year. 
 
8. (C) Somchai Hom-laor also informed Poloff that a working 
group has been formed at the MOJ to form a National Center 
for Missing Persons.  This center, to be based in Bangkok, 
will encourage information sharing amongst various ministries 
and security agencies on pending cases of missing persons.  A 
forensic laboratory to assist in these efforts will also be 
set up.  Somchai said that during the last working group 
meeting, the Royal Thai Police (RTP) expressed opposition to 
the center.  He commented that the RTP is reluctant to share 
information with other RTG offices and doesn't want to give 
up investigative authority. 
 
9. (C) Separately, Somchai Hom-laor said he hopes that the 
NRC will set up a mechanism in the South for confidential 
reporting of missing persons.  When asked about a recent 
statement by Dr. Pradit Charoenthaitawee, a member of the 
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), that there were 200 
reported missing persons in the South since January 2004, 
Somchai said it was very hard to confirm these facts.  From 
his research, he could only come up with 3 to 4 confirmed 
names of missing persons. (Note: When asked about where he 
obtained the 200 person figure, Dr. Pradit told Poloff that 
it was based on "estimates" from the NHRC's investigations 
and their monitoring of media reports.  He stated that the 
NHRC does not have a detailed list of names.  End note.) 
 
10. (C) COMMENT:  The quick response by the MOJ to Angkana's 
concerns about her safety is encouraging.  Clearly, the RTG 
would suffer a huge international public relations blow on 
the human rights front if anything were to happen to Angkana. 
 With the recent release of the full reports of the Tak Bai 
and Krue Se Independent Commissions by the NRC (Septel), 
momentum appears to building for a more transparent process 
in investigating human rights abuses.  We will be watching 
closely the NRC's interface with the MOJ as Somchai's case 
continues in the courts and possibly is investigated by a new 
independent commission. END COMMENT. 
BOYCE