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cards. Due to the Lisu’s lack of legal knowledge, they were afraid of
suing or taking legal action with the cattle owners. The most serious
case was the accusation of trespassing the state land, as the Sam Pa
Hiang community locates inside a national forest reserve and the Chiang
Dao National Park, though, these people have been living in this area
for a long time.
In addition, the community leader, who is a Thai, persecuted the
Lisu by seizing many of their land plots to plant trees and prevented
them from taking the benefits of the plantation. On the other hand,
he allowed his own relatives to utilize the land.
While Khatima protects the rights of ethnic minorities, her family
became the victim of human rights violations.
On one afternoon, Khatima’s father was shot to death while
he was searching for the lost buffalo in the forest, next to the land,
which had been taken from the family. He was shot 5 times by the
community leaders who justified their wrongdoing by reasoning that her
father trespassed into a community forest. He was the one who fired
the officers first, so the officers had to engage in extrajudicial killing.
The death of her father has changed Khatima’s life. She was
motivated to fight back in order to demand justice for the family.
Khatima started by seeking advice from the Inter Mountain Peoples
Education and Culture in Thailand Association (IMPECT) and the Lisu
Network of Thailand. She was suggested to file a complaint to the
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT)
Soon after, the NHRCT and the related agencies visited the area
to investigate the killing of Khatima’s father. However, those involved
in the incident refused to provide any information. Khatima did not
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