THAILAND: Threats to freedom of expression endanger human rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) May 20, 2011 -- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Seventeenth session, Agenda Item 3, Interactive Dialogue with SR on Freedom of Expression

Since the 19 September 2006 coup, the Asian Legal Resource Center has observed the growing constriction of freedom of expression in Thailand. Locating and silencing dissident speech perceived to be critical of the institution of the monarchy has become a significant focus of the work of a range of Thai state agencies, including the judiciary, the Royal Thai Army, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), the Ministry of Interior and the Royal Thai Police; this work has extended to state support of citizen action groups whose purpose is to scrutinize the internet and public space for any perceived instances of lèse majesté. Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code (the lèse majesté law) and the more recent Computer Crimes Act of 2007 have been used with increasing frequency to threaten, intimidate, and in some cases, arrest and prosecute a series of dissidents, journalists, and observers of politics. While the use of the law to repress speech has been growing since the 19 September 2006 coup, in the last twelve months, the Thai state has displayed an increased willingness to manipulate, over-use and go beyond the law to silence speech.

In this submission, we draw the attention of the Council to two kinds of cases representative of the deeply endangered climate for freedom of expression: overt, targeted criminal prosecution and wide-ranging intimidation and threats through legal and extralegal measures. In both kinds of cases, Article 112, the 2007 Computer Crimes Act, or both have been used directly or the spirit of the laws has been invoked. Article 112 criminalizes any speech or action judged to be against the institution of the monarchy: “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.” The 2007 Computer Crimes Act punishes the importing of “false computer data, in a manner that is likely to cause damage” to a third party or the public or “is likely to damage the country’s security or cause a public panic” with a five-year jail term. The Act gives authorities wide-ranging powers to search the computers of suspected users, as well as to request information from internet service providers about the identities of owners of computers with particular IP addresses. Although the 2007 Computer Crimes Act was initially promulgated as part of Thailand’s compliance as a signatory of the United National Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, it has been increasing used in combination with Article 112 to target cyber-dissidents as well as ordinary citizens using the internet in Thailand.

The ongoing prosecution of Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn clearly illustrates the over-use and manipulation of the law to intimidate citizens and silence speech critical of the monarchy and ruling government regime.

Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, editor of the webboard for Prachatai, a progressive online newspaper, is currently on trial in the Criminal Court in Bangkok for alleged violations of both Article 112 and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act. She has been accused of not removing comments deemed offensive to the monarchy quickly enough from the Prachatai webboard. She is being prosecuted for the speech of others, not anything she herself said or wrote. The Asian Legal Resource would further emphasize that Ms. Chiranuch removed the posts in question from the webboard; at the time the alleged posts were made, there were over 2,500 posts being made per day. In other words, Ms. Chiranuch is facing a lengthy jail sentence on the basis of the speed with which she removed the allegedly offensive speech. While Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn’s case stands out due to the severity of the sentence she may be facing, there are many other similar cases in which Article 112 and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act are being used to target both those who write dissident speech online and those who, like her, create or moderate space online for citizens to share opinions and ideas.

Her trial began in February 2011 with witness hearings for the prosecution. After only five days of hearings, the court postponed the remainder of her trial until September and October 2011. If convicted in this case, she faces up to fifty years in prison. Ms. Chiranuch is facing another similar trial in Khon Kaen province for which she was charged in September 2010; no date has been set for the start of the second trial.

-----------
Full statement: http://www.alrc.net/doc/mainfile.php/hrc17/674/

freedom of expression     Freedom of Speech