Somchai Homla-or
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2017-080-002
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2017
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 15.870032
Longitude: 100.992541
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Thailand
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 04 August 2016
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
Cross-Cultural Foundation; The above-mentioned persons had published a report in February 2016 entitled “Fifty-four cases of torture and ill-treatment in the Deep South documented in 2014-2015” funded in part by the United Nations Voluntary Fund.
- Type of rights defended
- Civil/political rights
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
recipients of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture; The above-mentioned persons had published a report in February 2016 entitled “Fifty-four cases of torture and ill-treatment in the Deep South documented in 2014-2015” funded in part by the United Nations Voluntary Fund.
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Voluntary fund / torture victims
- Dates of engagement
- February 2016
- Type of attempted engagement
- Submission of information to UN
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 11 February 2016; June 2016
- Reprisal information
They were consequently accused of publishing false information on torture and ill-treatment committed by military officials. The spokesperson of the Royal Thai Army in the region issued a public statement on 11 February 2016 accusing the organization of bias and of using outdated information to seek funding.
object of a legal complaint filed by the Royal Thai Army operating in the Southern Border Provinces.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
- Defamation / Defamation campaign
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Government response dates
- 5 August 2016
- Government response content
Government replied that the allegations of torture documented in the report were unfounded. It further stated that the complaint against the three human rights defenders is still under investigation by the police, before it is sent to the prosecutor’s office to decide whether to file the case for further court proceedings.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2018
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
51.The 2017 report of the Secretary-General (see A/HRC/36/31, para. 57 and Annex, paras.78-79) noted that, in June 2016, grant recipients of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, Ms. Porpen Khongkachonkiet and Mr. Somchai Homla-or of Cross-CulturalFoundation and Ms. Anchana Heemmina of Duay Jai Group, were subject to a legal complaint filed by the Royal Thai Army operating in the Southern Border Provinces for publishing a report in February 2016 entitled “Fifty-four cases of torture and ill-treatment in the Deep South documented in 2014-2015,” funded in part by the Voluntary Fund. They were consequently accused of publicizing false information on torture and ill-treatment committed by military officials.The spokesperson of the Royal Thai Army in the region issued a public statement on 11 February 2016 accusing the organization of bias and of using outdated information to seek funding. 52.It is reported that the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 filed a lawsuit against them for defamation and publication of false information on the internet.On 1 July 2017, plainclothes men believed to be military personnel visited Ms. Hemmina and warned her not to post comments about human rights violations on social media.Further to advocacy efforts related to the allegations, in November 2017, the ISOC 4 withdrew the defamation charges against Ms. Porpen Khongkachonkiet, Mr. Somchai Homla-or, and Ms.Anchana Heemmina.The charges were dropped by the Pattani Provincial Prosecutor.53.On 13 September 2017 four special procedures mandate holders noted that Ms.Angkhana Neelapaijit, Ms. Porpen Khongkachonkiet and Ms. Anchana Heemmina, among others, were also reportedly subject to an online smear campaign, accusing them of bias and misinformation, and associating their human rights advocacy with the promotion of insurgency and separatist movements (THA 6/2017). Ms. Angkhana Neelapaijit is a Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand.Beginning in October 2016, the online blog “Conditions in South Thailand” regularly published content discrediting the work of Ms. Khongkachonkiet and Ms. Heemmina. Death threats were also posted online against Ms. Khongkachonkiet.
- Followup Trends 0
- Improvement
- Did the government respond? 0
- No