Safeguards Needed Before Allowing Investment, Financial Services

(Washington, DC, May 15, 2012) – The US government should not ease sanctions on business activities in Burma until adequate safeguards are in place to prevent new investment from fueling human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. A US presidential order imposing a ban on investment and financial services in Burma is scheduled to expire on May 20, 2012, unless it is renewed or revised.

Hearings ended on 3 May in the trial of Thai journalist and labour organiser Somyot Pruksakasemsuk. Already held for over a year on remand, he could face up to 30 years' jail for the publication of two articles that allegedly breach Thailand's draconian lèse majesté law. At the time, he was the acting editor-in-chief of the magazine in which the articles appeared. He did not write them, and neither of them even mentions the King of Thailand.

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to express our grief and extend our deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Amphon Tangnoppakul, who was found dead in prison custody on 8 May 2012. Amphon (also known to his family as "Ah Kong" or "grandfather," and to the public at "Uncle SMS"), a 61-year-old man, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 23 November 2011 in Black Case No. 311/2554.

Paris-Bangkok, 9 May 2012. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its Thai member organization, Union for Civil Liberty (UCL), are deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Amphon Tangnoppakhun, who was convicted on 23 November 2011 and harshly sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was accused of sending four text messages deemed offensive to the Queen of Thailand to a personal assistant of the Prime Minister in 2010, in violation of Article 112 of the Criminal Code and the Computer-related Crimes Act of 2007. He had insisted on his innocence throughout his trial.