Page 52 - Dignity and justice for all of us our voices are heard in Thailand
P. 52
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Voice
Mrs. Angkhana Neelapaijit, wife of the disappeared human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelapaijit,
Mrs. Angkhana Neelapaijit recounts her experiences after the disappearance of her husband. Previously an ordinary
Chairperson, Working Group on Justice for Peace
housewife, she has now become a human rights activist, advocating for state accountability on
violations of human rights and for the establishment of a mechanism to provide justice for
families of disappearance cases, especially in the three southern border provinces of Thailand.
“What we want,
above all else, is Mr. Neelapaijit disappeared on 12 March 2004 and has not been seen since. Mrs. Neelapaijit and
their five children believe he has been killed and that his disappearance is related to the legal
for the truth to be assistance he had been providing to the accused Muslim people in the three southern
told and justice to provinces in Thailand. Five police officers accused of involvement in Mr. Neelapaijit’s
disappearance were put on trial for the charges of robbery and the coercion of another person,
be served” but not on charges of abduction or murder. The investigation of the National Police Bureau
failed to provide sufficient evidence or witnesses. The Criminal Court’s verdict on 12 January
2006 consequently convicted one of the policemen, sentencing him to three years of
imprisonment, while the rest were released due to lack of evidence.
Since Mr. Neelapaijit’s disappearance, the Thai government has been offering some financial
support to his family, but Mrs. Neelapaijit has refused to accept such support, despite the
family’s meagre financial status. She says that she was afraid that any financial support would
come with the condition that her family no longer pursue the case. For Mrs. Neelapaijit, “Money
40 Dignity and Justice for All of Us
