Centre for Applied Human Rights
Sittipong
Thailand, CAHR, Spring 2011
My name is Sittipong and I come from the South of Thailand. There have been a lot of problems in our area, and as a result, everyone is very interested in politics. People meet in tea shops and that's what they talk about. They are tired of being ill-treated, and they want justice.
I studied law in Bangkok in the 1970s, when the country spent long periods under military rule. I took part in the student movement, which played an important role in calling on people all over the country to overthrow the government. On 14 October 1973 there was a massive march in Bangkok. Millions of people demonstrated. The military rulers fled the country. It was hailed as a great victory for the people. We looked forward to democracy. But in 1976, the military rulers returned. The students began to organise protests once more, but this time things were different. The students were rounded up and attacked with great cruelty. Many were killed, and many others fled into the forests. I was one of the lucky ones who escaped.
The students were rounded up and attacked with great cruelty. Many were killed, and many others fled into the forests. I was one of the lucky ones who escaped.
Over time, the students emerged from the forests, but the same problems remained: injustice, oppression by government officials, poverty, denial of a fair wage to workers, and ethnic discrimination, particularly against the Thai-Malayu Muslims, who are a minority throughout the country but a majority group in the southern provinces.
In 1978 I qualified and began to work with a human rights lawyer, Tongbai Tongpond. I will never forget him and the work he did for the poor and the oppressed. He helped to mould my awareness and showed me what a good lawyer could do to help the powerless in society.
These days, the south of Thailand continues to experience particular problems. There are many human rights violations by the state, including repression and torture. Martial law has been declared in several southern border provinces. Under this special regime, the military has wide-ranging powers to carry out searches and detain people, and to limit the legal assistance available to people in detention. There have been mass arrests of particular ethnic groups. Torture is also practiced. Thai Muslims are particularly at risk, and the lawyers who represent detainees face danger too. In 2004, Somchai Neelapaijit, a high-profile human rights lawyer who provided free legal aid and demanded justice for the Thai-Malayu Muslims was abducted. Suspicion fell on the police, but to this day, nobody knows what has happened to him and whether he is still alive.
But the lawyers are determined to carry on their struggle for justice, and have banded together to set up the Muslim Attorney Centre, founded in 2007. This organisation brings together 20 experienced human rights lawyers, 15 intern lawyers and 70 volunteer paralegals who compile facts and evidence for the lawyers. The organisation's head office is in Bangkok, and it has branches in three southern provinces with a fourth branch on the way. The mission is to provide free legal assistance to those
individuals who are at risk under the martial law provisions. It also provides legal training to the community and conducts fact-finding into the issues of torture, arbitrary detention, disappearances and extra-judicial killings. The organisation links together lawyers and human rights activists at national and international level. It submits reports on the administration of justice and makes recommendations to the government and the Supreme Court for reforms. We also share this information with the media and the public. In 2009 it was given an award by the National Human Rights Commission as a model for human rights work.
As chairperson of this organisation, I have been given the opportunity to come to the University of York to study. I will use this experience to help those who are denied justice. I am particularly happy to have the chance to network with classmates who work in human rights organisations around the world, so that we can support each other in making sure that human rights are guaranteed for all.