Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

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Law Student, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa at Khon Kaen University, Detained Five Months for Facebook Post

June 20, 2017

Jatupat (“Pai”) Boonpattararaksa, law school student at Khon Kaen University has been detained since December (and can receive up to a 15 year sentence) for a Facebook post that was insulting to the  monarch.  Pai has been denied bail because the post was not removed.  Pai has been continually  subjected to internal searches and there is concern that he is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.  On June 15, CCS wrote the Minister of Justice in Thailand requesting that he look into this case and consider the time that has been served for simply exercising his fundamental right to freedom of expression.

June 15, 2017

Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana
Minister of Justice
Government Centre Building A
120 Moo 3
Chaengwattana Road
Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Fax: +66 2953 0503

Dear Minister Tanyuvardhana:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

We write to express our concern for Jatupat (Pai) Boonpattararaksa, a law student at Khon Kaen University, who has been detained since December 3 for a Facebook post. He faces the possibility of 15 years in prison for insulting the monarchy (lèse majesté).

The post in question was the sharing of a profile of the then new King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun that had been published on the internet by BBC Thailand on December 2, and subsequently blocked by your government. Mr. Jatupat continues to be denied bail, allegedly because the offending post has not been taken down and because of other social media posts deemed to be a threat to security. He has been detained for almost half a year. He is reported to have been repeatedly subjected to degrading internal searches, and we are concerned that he is at risk of being subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.

Lèse majesté provisions have rightly been referred to as “incompatible with human rights law” by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Freedom of Opinion and Expression. If your government is truly committed to freedom of expression, association and assembly, as we believe you are, you should have Mr. Boonphattararaska released immediately and unconditionally. He is being subjected to long term pre-trial detention, and could potentially spend years in prison, for simply exercising these fundamental rights.

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter, and we look forward to receiving your response.

Sincerely,

Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

cc.:
Pol. Gen Chakthip Chaijinda
Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police
Royal Thai Police Headquarters
Rama 1 Road, Pathum Wan
Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Fax: +66 2251 4739

Ambassador Pisan Manawapat
Royal Embassy of Thailand
1024 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202-944-3600
Fax: 1-202-944-3611
Contact form: http://thaiembdc.org/contact/
Twitter: @ThaiEmbDC

Filed Under: CCS Cases, Thailand Tagged With: Academic, Jatupat (Pai) Boonphattararaksa, Khon Kaen University, Law Student, scholar

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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