The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Thailand on 6 August 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. Regrettably, the Government did not reply within this time frame. If a reply is received it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
At the time of writing, the prosecutor before the Thanyaburi Provincial Court has yet to file a motion to start an investigation into Ms. Sanesangkhom’s death. While there remains time for the prosecutor to file this case, the reason for the delay remains unclear. The Special Rapporteur continues to urge the Thai Government to ensure that an investigation is carried out in accordance with international standards, including the Minnesota Protocol on the investigation of potentially unlawful death.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the death in detention of young woman human rights defender Netiporn Sanesangkhom.
Ms. Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom was a 28-year-old woman human rights defender. She was a member of the youth-led Thalu Wang group, which conducts public opinion polls on issues such as monarchy reform and calls for the abolition of section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, which criminalises the offence of lèse-majesté. She began advocating for students’ and LGBTIQ+ persons rights in 2020 by fundraising for the youth-led pro-democracy movement in Thailand.
UN experts have expressed concern on several occasions in the past regarding the use of lèse-majesté legislation to criminalise human rights defenders, activists and critics for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, most recently in AL THA 3/2024.
ALLEGATIONS
On 8 February 2022, Ms. Sanesangkhom and other activists participated in a peaceful protest outside the Siam Paragon shopping mall in central Bangkok. They conducted an opinion poll in which they asked members of the public whether they thought the royal motorcades caused inconvenience.
Following this opinion poll, Ms. Sanesangkhom and other activists went to the Sra Pathum Palace royal residence to hold a demonstration. The demonstrators allegedly removed barricades and metal fences that the police had put up to prevent the protest from taking place. The indictment against these protesters also alleged that some of them did a three-finger salute, which is symbolically associated with the pro-democracy movement in Thailand and other countries in the region. There were no reports of any violence in this demonstration.
On 10 March 2022, criminal proceedings were initiated against Ms. Sanesangkhom and other activists involved in conducting the public opinion poll outside the Siam Paragon shopping mall on 8 February. The charges against Ms. Sanesangkhom included lèse-majesté and sedition, under articles 112 and 116 of the Thai criminal code, respectively. However, the chargesheet against her allegedly did not substantiate how Ms. Sanesangkhom’s conduct constituted either lèse-majesté or sedition.
Ms. Sanesangkhom was released on bail subject to several conditions, namely the prohibition on engaging in any activities that would tarnish the monarchy and the prohibition on posting any “provocative” messages on social media inviting others to join public assemblies.
On 13 March 2022, Ms. Sanesangkhom and other activists conducted another public opinion poll at the Victory Monument in Bangkok. This poll was carried out to gather the public’s opinion on land expropriation by the royal family.
On 3 May 2022, Ms. Sanesangkhom’s prior bail was revoked by the Bangkok South Criminal Court, on the basis that her organisation of, and participation in, the 13 March opinion poll violated the conditions of her bail and caused public disorder.
Ms. Sanesangkhom was detained in Bangkok Women’s Central Correctional Institution from 3 May 2022 to 4 August 2022. During this time, on 30 May 2022, she was indicted alongside seven other defendants on charges of lèse-majesté, sedition, insulting a competent official, resisting or obstructing a competent official and failure to comply with an order from a competent official.
During her detention, she went on hunger strike for 64 days and submitted eight bail requests. Her eighth bail request was granted by Bangkok South Criminal Court on 4 August 2022 on the following conditions: that she would not cause further damage against the monarchy nor engage in further disturbance or similar action. She was also prohibited from leaving the country, from leaving her residence between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. without court approval, and she was required to report to the court every 30 days.
On 6 September 2023, Ms. Sanesangkhom was charged, alongside 17 others, in relation to a peaceful protest which took place on 6 August 2023 outside the Ministry of Culture, during which Ms. Sanesangkhom allegedly spray painted a royal flag. The defendants in this case were charged with assembly with unlawful purposes, trespassing, destruction of public property, and public order offences. The chargesheet in this case made no allegations of injury or violence in relation to this protest.
As a result of her participation in this protest, on 26 January 2024, the Bangkok South Criminal Court once again revoked Ms. Sanesangkhom’s bail from the first public opinion poll case, dating back to March 2022. The court held that she had violated the conditions of her bail and “tarnished the monarchy” by spray painting the royal flag. She was transferred to detention in Bangkok Women’s Central Correctional Institution on the same day.
On 27 January 2024, Ms. Sanesangkhom began a second hunger strike, calling for a reform to the justice system and for an end to the Thai practice of imprisoning people for holding or expressing dissenting opinions.
Beginning on 6 February 2024, she was transferred back and forth several times between the detention facility and the Department of Correction Hospital due to her deteriorating health condition, including hypotension and anaemia.
On 4 April 2024, Ms. Sanesangkhom allegedly began eating and drinking again, but remained in a weakened state. On 14 May 2024, she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at approximately 6.20 a.m. in the detention facility. Medical personnel at the prison hospital reportedly attempted revival but were unsuccessful. She was transferred to Thammasat University Hospital at 9.30 a.m. where she was pronounced dead at 11.22 a.m. A coroner’s report noted that Ms. Sanesangkhom arrived at the hospital with no vital signs and had a “faulty intubation.”
On 15 May 2024, a post-mortem examination was carried out into Ms. Sanesangkhom’s death. According to the information received, a file of this post-mortem examination has not been completed and, as a result, the public prosecutor has not filed a motion with the Court of First Instance to request an investigation into her death. Ms. Sanesangkhom’s lawyer and family have also reportedly faced issues in accessing information pertaining to the circumstances of her death, including access to CCTV footage from the time of her cardiac arrest.
On 18 June 2024, Ms. Sanesangkhom’s lawyer submitted a letter to the chief justice of the Ratchada Criminal Court in Bangkok, requesting that the Court investigate Ms. Sanesangkhom’s death in accordance with section 150 of the Criminal Procedure Code. At the time of writing, no progress has yet been made since this letter was submitted
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our grave concern about the death in detention of the young woman human rights defender and activist Ms. Netiporn Sanesangkhom, who died shortly after a period of hunger strike while promoting the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. Our concern is compounded by the fact that Ms. Sanesangkhom was in detention for her non-violent activism and advocacy for democracy and political reform. We urge the Government of Thailand to put an end to the use of the Criminal Code, and particularly its provisions on lèse-majesté, to target the peaceful and legitimate work of human rights defenders, activists and other dissidents in the country. We remind that when a state loss of life occurring in custody, creates a presumption of arbitrary deprivation of life by State authorities, which can only be rebutted on the basis of a proper investigation and urge that any investigation into Ms. Sanesangkhom’s death be carried out in accordance with international standards including the Minnesota Protocol on the investigation of potentially unlawful death.
