Sentencing of Mr. Andy Hall, a migrant labour rights researcher.

Newinformation

THA003 / 0815 / OBS 067.4

Sentencing / Judicial harassment

Thailand

March 28, 2018

The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT), has received new information and requestsyour urgent intervention in the following situation in Thailand.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliablesources about the sentencing of Mr. Andy Hall, a migrant labour rights researcher.

According to the information received, on March26, 2018, the Phra Khanong Provincial Court in Bangkok ordered Mr. Andy Hall topay 10 million baht (approximately 26,000 Euros) in damages to the Thai pineappleprocessing company Natural Fruit. The Court also ordered Mr. Hall to pay 10,000baht (approximately 260 Euros) for the plaintiff’s lawyer and the court fees,in addition to a 7.5% interest from the date of filing this case. Mr. Hall willappeal the sentence to the Supreme Court.

The case dates back to February 2013 whenNatural Fruit brought charges against Mr. Hall for his contribution to a reportpublished by Finnish Non-governmental organisation Finnwatch which allegedserious labour rights abuses by Natural Fruit and in relation to an interview he gave to Al-Jazeeraregarding the same report. This case isonly one of four criminal and civil lawsuits filed by Natural Fruit against Mr.Hall (Case 4) (see background information).

The Observatory firmly condemns the ongoingjudicial harassment against Mr. Andy Hall, as it clearly aims at sanctioninghis legitimate human rights activities and calls upon the Thai authorities toput an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, againsthim.

Backgroundinformation:

Since February 2013, the Thai pineappleprocessing company Natural Fruit has filed four criminal and civil lawsuitsagainst Mr. Andy Hall for defamation and computer crimes in relation to Mr.Hall’s contribution to a report by the Finnish NGO Finnwatch that allegedserious labour rights abuses at the company’s factory in Prachuap Khiri KhanProvince and in relation to an interview he gave to Al-Jazeera regardingthe same report[1].Published in January 2013, the report, “Cheap has a high price: Responsibility problemsrelating to international private label products and food production inThailand,”gathered worker interviews in order to document labour rights violations at thefactory, including allegations of child labour, underpayment of wages,confiscation of migrant workers’ travel and work documents, and failure toprovide legally mandated paid sick days, holidays, and leave[2].

On October 29, 2014, the Phra Khanong ProvincialCourt dismissed the criminal defamation cases related to the Al-Jazeera interview[3],due to Mr. Hall’s unlawful interrogation process under Article 120 of theCriminal Procedure Code[4].However, the Office of the Attorney General subsequently appealed thecourt’s dismissal of the case. On September 18, 2015, the Court of Appeals upheld thePhra Khanong Provincial Court’s dismissal of the case. In December 2015,Natural Fruit and the Attorney General were given permission by the AttorneyGeneral to appeal to the Supreme Court. In January 2016, the Attorney Generaland Natural Fruit submitted their appeals on the case to the Supreme Court. Mr.Hall’s legal team responded to the appeal, and on November 3, 2016, the SupremeCourt dismissed the criminal defamation charges (Case 3).

In September 2014, Natural Fruit also filed a100 million Thai Baht civil defamation lawsuit against Mr. Hall, related to theAl-Jazeera interview (Case 4). Thefirst hearing on this case took place on November 21, 2014 at the Phra KhanongProvincial Court. Mr. Hall submitted his defence, and further hearings followedin May/November 2015 and January/April 2016. This case was then also postponedpending a final decision in the appeal to the Supreme Court in the criminaldefamation case related to the interview. In August 2017, following an appeal filedby Natural Fruit, the Court of Appeals ordered the Prakanong Court to acceptjurisdiction and hear the case in full. The hearing of witnesses for thereopened case concluded in February 2018.

On January 18, 2016, the Bangkok South CriminalCourt indicted Mr. Hall under Article 14(1) of the Computer Crimes Act andArticle 328 (libel) of the Criminal Code (Case 1).

Ahead of the indictment, on January 13, 2016,the Bangkok South Criminal Court confiscated Mr. Hall’s passport and issued atravel ban against him. The order was handed down following a temporary bail[5]request submission. Mr. Hall was prohibited from leaving Thailand until thecourt ruled on the case unless permission was granted (permission would havebeen granted on a case-by-case basis). On September 20, 2016, the Bangkok SouthCriminal Court revoked the order restricting Mr. Hall’s travel and returned hispassport.

On September 20, 2016, the Bangkok SouthCriminal Court handed down a four-year sentence against Mr. Hall and a fine of200,000 Thai Baht (about 5,160 Euros), on “criminal defamation” and “computercrimes” charges. The court reduced the sentence to three years, with a two-yearsuspended term and a fine of about 150,000 Thai Baht (3,870 Euros).

Natural Fruit filed a 300 million Thai Bahtcivil defamation lawsuit against Mr. Hall following the publication of theFinnwatch report case (Case 2). Negotiations between the two parties failed onOctober 30, 2014, following which the Nakhon Pathom Court postponedconsideration of this case until a verdict had been reached in the criminaldefamation and computer crimes case.

On November 7, 2016, Mr. Hall left Thailand fearingfor his safety amid legal threats and harassment from Natural Fruit.

Actions requested:

Please writeto the Thai authorities asking them to:

i. Put an end to all acts of judicialharassment against Mr. Andy Hall and against all human rights defenders inThailand;

ii. Guarantee in all circumstances thephysical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Thailand;

iii. Conform with the provisions of theUN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly ofthe United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular with its Articles 1, 6(c)and 12.2;

iv. Ensure in all circumstances respectfor human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with internationalhuman rights standards and international instruments to which Thailand is astate party.

Addresses:

· Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, Prime Minister ofThailand, Fax: +66 (0) 2 282 5131

· Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of ForeignAffairs of Thailand, Fax: +66 (0) 2 643 5320; Email: minister@mfa.go.th

· Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong,Minister of Justice of Thailand, Fax: +66 (0) 2 953 0503

· Pol Gen Chaktip Chaijinda,Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, Fax: +66 (0) 2 251 5956 / +66(0) 2 251 8702

· Mr. Wat Tingsamit, Chairperson of theNational Human Rights Commission of Thailand, Email: help@nhrc.or.th

· H.E. Mr. Thani Thongphakdi, Ambassador,Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland,Fax: +41 22 715 10 00 / 10 02; Email: mission.thailand@ties.itu.int

· Embassy of Thailand in Brussels,Belgium, Fax: +32 2 648 30 66; Email: thaibxl@pophost.eunet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Thailand in yourrespective country.

***

Paris-Geneva,March 28, 2018

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal inyour reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. The objectiveof this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repressionagainst human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33(0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41(0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] The first case relates tocriminal charges for the publication of the report, the second for civildefamation for the publication of the report, the third relates to criminalcharges for the interview and the fourth for civil defamation for theinterview.

[2] See Finnwatch’s report at http://www.finnwatch.org/en/news/180-serious-human-rights-violations-behind-european-food-brands

[3] The case concerned an interviewAndy Hall gave to Al-Jazeera inMyanmar.

[4] See the Observatory’s JointPress Release, July 20, 2015, and Joint Open Letter, August 8, 2014.

[5] The bail was equivalent to300,000 Baht (approximately 7,740 Euros). @font-face { font-family: "Arial";}@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math";}@font-face { font-family: "Tahoma";}@font-face { font-family: "DejaVu Sans";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline; }span.Caractresdenotedebasdepage { vertical-align: super; }span.Rimandonotaapidipagina { vertical-align: super; }span.WW-FootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }span.Marquenotebasdepage { vertical-align: super; }span.En-tteCar { }span.PieddepageCar { }span.NotedebasdepageCar { }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; }