UPDATING All Day, Every Day
THE LAUNCH of a report by Thai Lawyers for Human Rights on the human rights situation after the military takeover, scheduled for release at the FCCT tonight, has been cancelled by police acting for the National Council for Peace and Order.
Original Report
PHUKET: Signs were good that the region had a real chance to end the human trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshis, Phuketwan reporter Chutima Sidasathian told a meeting in Bangkok last night.
But she warned that interruptions to the pipeline in the past had always been followed by resumptions and changes in the way the trade in people works.
''Asean must press Burma to cease pushing these people into the sea,'' Khun Chutima said. ''It's a challenge the region must face up to now.''
Khun Chutima appeared at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand on a panel with Lillian Fan, Research Associate, Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute, Matthew Smith, founder and executive director of Fortify Rights, and Jonathan Head, BBC correspondent.
The previous day, the Royal Thai Navy's criminal defamation case against Khun Chutima and her Australian colleague, Alan Morison, was raised when the Australian Ambassador, Paul Robilliard, met with the Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-o-cha.
A request has been made to the Prime Minister by the two journalists to suggest that the Attorney-General quash the case, which a growing number of people see as an unjust and inappropriate use of military might against the media.
The journalists say they cannot in fairness apologise for republishing a controversial paragraph, written by Reuters journalists, unless Reuters apologises first. The paragraph does not mention the Royal Thai Navy.
Phuketwan has been consistently reporting on the plight of the Rohingya in Thailand since 2008.
Awareness of the trafficking issue is growing worldwide, with leading Pakistan politician Imran Khan writing a letter to UN Secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, yesterday calling on the organisation to end ''the persecution and genocide'' of Rohingya in Burma.
''It is time for the UN to act decisively,'' he wrote.
It is pleasing to see that His Excellency Paul Robilliard was able to make representations directly to the Thai Prime Minister.
The Thai government really should assert its authority over a Navy that has so far refused to acknowledge that it needs to change course. The cases just attract more adverse attention as the trial date of 14 July 2015 approaches.
The sooner the charges are dropped the better it will be for the Navy and for a government that is trying to persuade the world that it is serious about tackling human trafficking.
Posted by Ian Yarwood on June 4, 2015 20:36
Editor Comment:
What the Navy appears not to understand is that killing this case, perpetrated by one misguided officer, is wise. Everybody makes mistakes. A bigger mistake would be to stick by the mistake made by one officer. This case is clearly unjust and a blatant attempt to shut down Phuketwan. In democracies, the media and the military both have roles to play. The Navy seems to have failed to acknowledge the onset of the 21st century. Bullying is no longer acceptable.