By Asian Human Rights Commission |
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<div>The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to express grave concern about the arrest of Prom Jarana (64 years old), a human rights defender and land rights activist with the Assembly of the Poor in Kaobart Village, Nondindaeng District, Buriram province. According to information provided by Protection International and the Assembly of the Poor to the AHRC, Prom was arrested by a group of soldiers and police at his home at 10:30 am on 17 July 2014 and taken to a military camp. His arrest comes after weeks of intimidation and threatened evictions against the community.
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<p>An open letter to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from Thai and international non-government organisations and individuals expressing concerns over the prosecutions against three members of the Community Land Reform Movement in Lamphun province, who will hear court verdicts tomorrow.</p>
Call for observers in the case of Land Rights and Human Rights Defenders in Lamphun Provincial Court
By Asian Human Rights Commission |
<p>On 6 June 2012, at 9 am in the Provincial Court in Lamphun Province, the Supreme Court verdict in a case involving three land rights activist in northern Thailand will be announced. The three defendants -- Mr. Prawais Panpa, Mr. Rangsan Saensongkhaew, and Mr. Suebsakun Kijnukorn – face potential lengthy prison terms of four years stemming from their actions during land occupations during 2002-2004. At issue in this decision are the individual fates of these three men, as well as land rights and the right to livelihood in northern Thailand in a broader sense.</p>
By Ongart Decha |
<p>In response to long-standing land problems in the country, the government has just passed a resolution to allow communities to farm state land for a period of 30 years. A mechanism will be created to issue ‘community title deeds’, and oversee the practice of the farming communities. However, farmers who have long struggled over land rights issues are sceptical of this government measure, as opposed to their own version of community title deeds. </p>
<div>Since July 17, about 150 farming families have occupied a eucalyptus plantation run by the Forest Industry Organization (FIO) under the Royal Forest Department in Tambon Thung Phra, Khon San District, Chaiyaphum Province in the Northeast. They vow to stay on until the government gives them back their land.</div>
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By Sanitsuda Ekachai, Bangkok Post |
<p>The very same week the Abhisit government promised that the progressive property tax would take effect next year, a group of 200 landless villagers in Chaiyaphum province moved into a state-owned eucalyptus plantation to reclaim the land that was once theirs.</p>