Professional Documents
Culture Documents
September 23, 2010
Hon. Abhisit Vejjajiva
Prime Minister of Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
(By email: Abhisit@abhisit.org)
Re: Thailand’s Violations of International Law
Dear Prime Minister:
As you now know, this law firm acts as counsel to former Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra and as advisors to Thai counsel for members of the United Front for
Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) charged criminally in connection with the so‐
called Red Shirt demonstrations in Bangkok in April and May 2010 (referred to here as
the “Demonstrations”). We are writing to you in your official capacity as prime minister,
and in your individual capacity as an individual of interest under international criminal
law standards.
We have written you twice – first on June 29, 2010 and subsequently on August 6, 2010
– to notify you of Thailand’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) to perform a genuinely independent and impartial investigation
into the deaths of more than 80 civilians killed during the Demonstrations. We also
notified you of your duty under the ICCPR to provide defense counsel for the charged
UDD members with the opportunity to review all evidence, and we requested access to
same. You have not responded to either of our communications.
It is increasingly apparent that your government does not intend to comply with its
obligations under international law, but is instead engaged in a cover‐up of crimes
against humanity perpetrated by the Thai Royal Army against unarmed civilians during
and after the Demonstrations.
On April 20, 2010, you divested the police of its legal authority to investigate the killings,
placing that authority instead in the Department of Special Investigations (“DSI”). For
more than four months, the DSI conducted no investigation into the killings. It made no
effort to comply with the Thai Code of Criminal Procedure, requiring a presentation of
all available evidence – including evidence regarding the identity of the perpetrators,
and evidence to justify the use of deadly force – to the Courts, which are in turn
required to issue findings regarding the identity of perpetrators of the killings. (See
Code of Criminal Procedure of Thailand, Division II, Section 148, et seq.)
Hon. Abhisit Vejjajiva
September 23, 2010
Page 2
Nevertheless, your government arrested and formally charged UDD leadership with
responsibility for the civilian deaths – having conducted no investigation into the
cause of the deaths – in violation of these defendants’ due process rights. As of this
date, nineteen UDD leaders remain arbitrarily detained.
On August 28, 2010 – more than four months after the first killings during the
Demonstrations, apparently in response to public outcry – you finally instructed the DSI
to form committees to investigate the facts. In this regard, we note that the DSI is
neither independent nor impartial, in that it answers to the Center for Resolution of
Emergency Decree (“CRES”), created under the authority of the Emergency Decree
dated April 7, 2010. The CRES has repeatedly accused the Red Shirt leadership of
conspiring to overthrow the monarchy, while the Emergency Decree remains in effect
even though conditions in Thailand have largely returned to normal. These
circumstances are fundamentally inconsistent with any notion of investigative
independence and impartiality.
Your refusal to dissolve the Emergency Decree and return investigative authority to the
police is a strong indication of a cover‐up, in the face of numerous eyewitnesses and
video evidence indicating that members of the Thai military are responsible for the
more than 80 civilian deaths. The CRES transfer of investigative authority away from the
police department on April 20, 2010 put an immediate stop to the investigations by the
Royal Thai Police, which were in progress. The DSI is in possession of autopsy reports
for all civilians, but none have been provided to the defense team for our clients or to
the relatives of the victims, nor has the DSI provided the defense team with any close
circuit video footage of the Demonstrations and their dispersal. No member of the Thai
Royal Army has been arrested or even interrogated, despite extensive photographic and
video evidence clearly identifying soldiers who appear to be discharging their weapons
into civilian crowds. The DSI has never summoned other witnesses, including, for
example, management personnel at buildings used by Army snipers to inquire into how
troops obtained access to tactical positions atop those buildings, or authorities of the
Bangkok Transit System to ascertain the identity of Army personnel who were
videotaped atop the Sky Train on May 19. Indeed, the DSI’s months of delay have
resulted in stale evidence and a general difficulty identifying witnesses.
Indeed, the government has created an ongoing atmosphere of intimidation in Thailand,
which discourages witnesses from speaking openly about the events. The continuation
of the Emergency Decree itself – which permits authorities to exercise extraordinary
measures against suspects – creates an improper chilling effect. At least three UDD
guards have died of unnatural causes since the end of the Demonstrations. CRES
continues to use its powers to freeze assets of individuals associated with the Red Shirt
movement, leading to fears of financial investigations in retaliation for unwelcome
opposition. Various incidents involving M79 and rocket‐propelled grenade have been
blamed on the Red Shirt movement by the state‐controlled media, without evidentiary
support. The DSI recently dismissed credible allegations of financial wrongdoing
involving funding to high‐ranking members of the Democrat Party, signaling a
continuation of the double standard employed by Thai authorities to the detriment of
the Red Shirt movement. All of these circumstances contribute to the reasonable
appearance that your government cannot be entrusted to conduct an independent or
impartial investigation into the civilian killings, while it holds the UDD leaders criminally
Hon. Abhisit Vejjajiva
September 23, 2010
Page 3
responsible for the deaths.
We again remind you that failure to ensure a remedy for the victims of serious crimes
such as extrajudicial and/or arbitrary killing can itself constitute a violation of the ICCPR.
Additionally, the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court imposes
criminal responsibility against military and civilian superiors who fail to submit crimes
against humanity for investigation and prosecution if they knowingly or consciously
disregard information that clearly indicates the commission of such crimes by
subordinates within their responsibility or control. See Rome Statute, Art. 28(b)(III).
This doctrine is also a matter of customary international law, applicable to Thailand.
Given the conduct described above, it is apparent that there is a resolute unwillingness
and inability on behalf of the Government of Thailand to conduct a thorough and
independent investigation into these crimes against humanity.
We suggest that you govern yourself accordingly.
Sincerely,
Robert R. Amsterdam
AMSTERDAM & PEROFF LLP
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
cc: Madam Navi Pillay (by email)
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland
cc: Mr. Geert‐Jan Alexander Knoops (by email)
Knoops & Partners Advocaten
Amsterdam, The Netherlands