Bangkok, Paris, Geneva, March 4, 2024 - The Observatory and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) have petitioned
the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on the
ongoing imprisonment of prominent Thai pro-democracy activist and
human rights lawyer Anon Nampa, who is currently serving an
eight-year prison term on charges under Article 112 of Thailand’s
Criminal Code (lèse-majesté or royal defamation).
Anon Nampa was
convicted by the Bangkok Criminal Court in two lèse-majesté cases,
on September 26, 2023 and January 17, 2024. He was sentenced to four
years in prison for each case. The two sentences are to be served
consecutively, for a total prison term of eight years.
“Anon
Nampa has been prosecuted and imprisoned for his peaceful promotion
of human rights. We are confident that the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention will recognise the arbitrariness of Anon’s deprivation of
liberty and urge the Thai authorities to immediately and
unconditionally release him”, said FIDH
Secretary-General Adilur Rahman Khan.
Gerald Staberock,
Secretary General of the OMCT commented: “In
Anon’s case, Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code has been abused
to punish legitimate human rights work. We should not forget that
various UN human rights bodies have repeatedly found that Article 112
is inconsistent with international human rights law.”
Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code prescribes prison terms of
three to 15 years per count for anyone who defames, insults or
threatens the King, Queen, Heir to the throne or Regent.
Anon Nampa's convictions and imprisonment stem from the exercise of
his right to freedom of opinion and expression during Thailand's
pro-democracy protest movement in 2020-2021.
Anon Nampa is currently facing legal action in connection with 12
more lèse-majesté cases. Prior to his imprisonment, he was held in
pre-trial detention for two prolonged periods (113 days and 202
days). The courts have denied his numerous bail requests.
The Observatory and
TLHR argue that Anon Nampa's deprivation of liberty is arbitrary
because it violates numerous provisions of international law relating
to the right to liberty, the right to a fair trial and the right to
freedom of opinion and expression, guaranteed by articles 9, 14, and
19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), to which Thailand is a state party. The Observatory and TLHR
also maintain that Anon Nampa's deprivation of liberty stems from his
political opinions and his status as a human rights defender.
Over the past decade, various UN human rights monitoring mechanisms
have repeatedly expressed concerns about the application of Article
112 in Thailand. They have on several occasions considered this law
to be incompatible with international human rights law and have
called for its amendment or repeal, as well as the release of
lèse-majesté detainees.
In addition, since August 2012, the WGAD has found the deprivation of
liberty of ten individuals detained under Article 112 to be
“arbitrary” because it contravened several provisions of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR.
The Observatory and TLHR call for the immediate and unconditional
release of Anon Nampa and the amendment of Article 112 to bring it
into line with Thailand’s obligations under the ICCPR. The
organisations also urge the government to refrain from arresting,
prosecuting and detaining human rights defenders under Article 112
for simply exercising their fundamental right to freedom of opinion
and expression.
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