Over 200 international scholars, writers, and activists support the call to reform Article 112

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Over 200 international scholars, writers, and activists support the call to reform Article 112
Wed, 01/02/2012 - 13:53 | by prachatai
Noted international scholars, writers, and activists support the call of the Campaign Committee to Amend Article 112 (CCAA112) to reform Article 112 in line with the amendment proposed by the Khana Nitirat.

In an open letter to Thai prime minister Her Excellency Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, these 224 international scholars, writers, and activists express grave concern over the use of Article 112 and the erosion of the basic rights of those who face charges under it. The signatories affirm that “Article 112 has become a powerful tool to silence political dissent, and in particular, any dissent interpreted as disloyalty to the monarchy.”

Dr. Kevin Hewison, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Thai studies expert observed that, “The political abuse of the lèse majesté law is associated with a precipitous deterioration of human rights in Thailand. Censorship, selfcensorship and charges of disloyalty seriously restrict the freedom of expression.”

The signatories support the CCAA112 and the amendment law because “reform is necessary to protect the basic rights of Thai citizens and support the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law.”

The proposed amendment would make the punishment for alleged lèse majesté proportionate to the crime, limit who can file a complaint to the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary rather than any citizen, differentiate sincere and truthful criticism from threats to the monarchy, and categorize violations of Article 112 as about the honor of the monarchy, rather than national security.

“We were thrilled that so many distinguished thinkers and activists from around the world have joined with us in this letter in support of the reform of Article 112. They show our courageous Thai colleagues who are seeking reform that they are not alone. This issue is, and will be, closely monitored internationally,” said Dr. Rachel Harrison, noted scholar of Thai cultural studies commented.

The signatories of the letter include (full list appended) distinguished scholars, writers, and activists from 16 countries and territories: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, US.

000

HE Yingluck Shinawatra
Prime Minister
Government House
Phitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300
Thailand
Fax: +66-2288-4016

1 February 2012

Dear Your Excellency,

As concerned international observers of Thailand, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues in the Campaign Committee for the Amendment of Article 112, led by the most respected Thai scholars Dr. Charnvit Kasetsiri, Dr. Nidhi Aeosriwong, and Dr. Pasuk Phongpaichit, in calling for the reform of Article 112 of the Criminal Code. We have watched with growing unease over the last five years since the 19 September 2006 coup as the number of people charged and prosecuted has multiplied exponentially in the service of repression, while the violation of the basic rights of those who face lèse majesté accusations – including the denial of bail and the denial of the right to an open trial – has become routine.

In recent months, the harshest sentence to date under Article 112 was given to Mr. Ampon (a.k.a. Ah-Kong), who was sentenced on 23 November 2011 to 20 years in prison for allegedly sending four SMS messages with anti-monarchy content. There are many known cases in which charges have been filed and prosecutions carried out over the last five years, as well as an unknown number which have not been made public but which court statistics indicate have taken place. Adding an additional layer of concern to the use of Article 112, anyone can currently file a complaint of a violation with the police, who are then compelled to investigate fully. This is of particular concern as the growth in the number of accusations leveraged and prosecutions carried out under Article 112 has occurred as Thai society has become increasingly polarized along political and ideological lines. Within this context, Article 112 has become a powerful tool to
silence political dissent, and in particular, any dissent interpreted as disloyalty to the institution of the monarchy. There is no political space in present-day Thailand to publicly discuss the role and future of the monarchy under democracy, which is a crucial subject for the country at the moment.

The harsh and disproportionate lengths of the prison sentences given out under Article 112 have devastated the individuals sentenced and their families. Grandfathers have been wrenched from the grandchildren and fathers and husbands from their children and wives. Yet these sentences, which are comparable to those given for drug trafficking and violent crime, also work powerfully to create fear among Thai citizens writ large. When citizens cannot be certain if, or when, a knock at the door is going to come for a message they have written, an article they have posted online or another action deemed to be disloyal, action and thought are constricted. As long as this occurs, the full exercise of human rights cannot occur in Thailand.

We stand with the Campaign Committee for the Amendment of Article 112 because reform is necessary to protect the basic rights of Thai citizens and support the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law in a broad sense. The amendment draft proposed by the Khana Nitirat will address the crises engendered by the abuse of Article 112 by making the punishment reasonable and proportionate to the crime, limiting who can file a complaint with the Office of His Majesty's
Principal Private Secretary rather than any citizen, differentiating sincere and truthful criticism from threats to the monarchy, and treating violations of Article 112 as those within the legal category of insulting the honor of the monarchy, rather than the category of violations of national security.

We urge you to consider the proposed amendment without delay.

Sincerely,

(Alphabetical by family name)

Patricio N. Abinales
Professor, School of Pacific and Asian Studies
University of Hawaii-Manoa

Tariq Ali
Writer

Nadje Al-Ali
Professor of Gender Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

Robert B. Albritton
Professor, Department of Political Science
University of Mississippi

Dennis Altman, AM FASSA
Professor of Politics and Director of the Institute for Human Security
LaTrobe University

Gene Ammarell
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Ohio University

Barbara Watson Andaya
Professor of Asian Studies
University of Hawai'i

Dennis Arnold
Lecturer
Maastricht University

Edward Aspinall
Professor, Department of Political and Social Change
Australian National University

Chris Baker
Independent Scholar

Joshua Barker
Associate Professor of Anthropology
University of Toronto

Frieda Behets
Professor of Epidemiology and Research Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Peter Bell
Emeritus Professor
State University of New York at Purchase

Trude Bennett
Associate Professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chris Berry,
Professor of Film & TV Studies, Department of Media & Communications
Goldsmiths, University of London

Robert J. Bickner
Professor (Thai), Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia
University of Wisconsin

Julia Bindman
London, UK

David JH Blake
PhD Candidate, School of International Development, Faculty of Social Sciences
University of East Anglia, Norwich

John Borneman
Professor of Anthropology
Princeton University

Katherine Bowie
Professor of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Francis Bradley
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies
Pratt Institute

Shaun Breslin
Professor, Department of Politics and International Studies
University of Warwick

Lisa Brooten
Associate Professor, College of Mass Communication and Media Arts
Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Andrew Brown
Lecturer
University of New England

James Buchanan
MA, Southeast Asian Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies

Poowin Bunyavejchewin
Alumnus
University of Hull

Michael Burawoy
Professor of Sociology
University of California, Berkeley

Pongphisoot Busbarat
Research Associate, Department of Political & Social Change
Australian National University

Peter Carey
Emeritus Fellow in History, Trinity College
Oxford University

Toby Carroll
Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
National University of Singapore

Pavin Chachavalpongpun
Fellow
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Dipesh Chakrabarty
Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor, Department of History and
Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations
The University of Chicago

Dae-oup Chang
Senior Lecturer, Department of Development Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies

Hilary Charlesworth
Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Director and the Center for
International Governance and Justice
Australian National University

Pheng Cheah
Professor, Department of Rhetoric
University of California at Berkeley

Nicholas Cheesman
Projects Officer
Asian Legal Resource Centre

Hyaeweol Choi
Professor
Australian National University

Noam Chomsky
Institute Professor (retired)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

John Clark
Professor of Asian Art History and ARC Professorial Fellow
University of Sydney

Peter A. Coclanis
Department of History
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Joshua Cohen
Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society
Stanford University

Paul T. Cohen
Senior Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology
Macquarie University

Elizabeth Fuller Collins
Professor, Classics & World Religions, Southeast Asian Studies Program
Ohio University

Michael Kelly Connors
Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences
La Trobe University

Jason Cons
Postdoctoral Fellow in Development Sociology
Cornell University

Christopher Cramer
Professor of the Political Economy of Development
School of Oriental and African Studies

Altha Cravey
Associate Professor of Geography,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Simon Creak
Associate Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Kyoto University

Vicki Crinis
Research Fellow
University of Wollongong

Michael Cullinane
Associate Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Susan M. Darlington
Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies
Hampshire College

Tony Day
Visiting Professor of History
Wesleyan University

Bina D'Costa
Fellow, Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies
Australian National University

Heather D’Cruz
Adjunct Research Associate, Centre for Human Rights Education
Curtin University of Technology

Deirdre de la Cruz
Assistant Professor, Asian Languages and Cultures and History
University of Michigan

Arif Dirlik,
Knight Professor of Social Science (retired)
University of Oregon

Ariel Dorfman
Author and Distinguished Professor
Duke University

Ian Down
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

George Dutton
Vice Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
University of California, Los Angeles

Nancy Eberhardt
Professor of Anthropology
Knox College

Pilapa Esara
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
The College at Brockport (State University of New York)

Grant Evans
Senior Research Fellow
Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient

Brett Farmer
Lecturer, BALAC Program, Faculty of Arts
Chulalongkorn University

Nicholas Farrelly
Research Fellow, School of International, Political and Strategic Studies
Australian National University

Didier Fassin
James D. Wolfensohn Professor of Social Science
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

Jane M. Ferguson
Lecturer, School of Culture, History, and Language
Australian National University

Federico Ferrara
Assistant Professor
City University of Hong Kong

Jessica Fields
Associate Professor of Sociology
San Francisco State University

Thamora Fishel
Outreach Coordinator
Cornell Southeast Asia Program

Tim Forsyth
Reader in Environment and Development, Department of International Development
London School of Economics and Political Science

Nancy Fraser
Henry A. & Louise Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics
New School for Social Research

Arnika Fuhrmann
Research Scholar
University of Hong Kong.

David Fullbrook
Graduate Student
National University of Singapore

Narayanan Ganesan
Professor
Hiroshima Peace Institute

Lisa Gardner
Journalist

Paul K. Gellert
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
University of Tennessee

Kenneth M. George
Professor of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Amitav Ghosh
Author

Tamra Gilbertson
Carbon Trade Watch
Barcelona, Spain

Henry A. Giroux
Global Television Network Chair, Department of English and Cultural Studies
McMaster University

Jim Glassman
Associate Professor of Geography
University of British Columbia

Lawrence Grossberg
Morris Davis Distinguished Professor of Communication Studies
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Geoffrey C. Gunn
Professor of International Relations, Faculty of Economics
Nagasaki University

Tyrell Haberkorn
Research Fellow, Department of Political and Social Change
Australian National University

Vedi Hadiz
Professor of Asian Societies and Politics, Asia Research Centre
Murdoch University

Jeffrey Hadler
Associate Professor, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
University of California, Berkeley

Shahar Hameiri
Senior Lecturer in International Politics, School of Social Science and Humanities
Murdoch University

Annette Hamilton
Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
University of New South Wales

Paul Handley
Journalist and Author of The King Never Smiles

Eva Hansson
Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science
Stockholm University, Sweden

Harry Harootunian
Adjunct Professor, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Visiting Professor, Literature Program, Duke University

Rachel Harrison
Reader in Thai Cultural Studies
SOAS, University of London

Gillian Hart
Professor of Geography & Chair of Development Studies
University of California, Berkeley

Paul Healy
Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities
University of New England

Steve Heder
Faculty of Law and Social Sciences
School of Oriental and African Studies

Chris Hedges
Author

Sascha Helbardt
Lecturer for Southeast Asian Studies
University of Passau

Dagmar Hellmann-Rajanayagam
Associate Professor for Southeast Asian Studies
University of Passau

Ariel Heryanto
Associate Professor, Southeast Asia Centre
Australian Natioanl University

Kevin Hewison
Professor of Asian Studies
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Allen Hicken
Associate Professor
University of Michigan

Maureen Helen Hickey
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore

CJ Hinke
Independent Scholar
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)

Scott A. Hipsher
Visiting Professor, Fort Hays State University
Hays, KS USA (China Campus)

Philip Hirsch
Professor of Human Geography
University of Sydney

Preedee Hongsaton
PhD Candidate
Australian National University

Alexander Horstmann
Senior Research Affiliate
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Ethnic and Religious Diversity

Thomas Hoy
Lecturer
Thammasat University

Caroline Hughes
Director, Asia Research Centre
Murdoch University

Adadol Ingawanij
Senior Research Fellow
Westminster University

Feyzi Ismail
Doctoral candidate
School of Oriental and African Studies

Soren Ivarsson
Associate Professor
University of Copenhagen

Peter A. Jackson
Professor of Thai History, College of Asia and the Pacific
Australian National University

Arne Kalleberg
Professor of Sociology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ward Keeler
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
University of Texas at Austin

Charles Keyes
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and International Studies
University of Washington

Khoo Boo Teik
Political analyst and author
Member, Aliran Kesedaran Negara, Penang, Malaysia

Khoo Gaik Cheng
Lecturer
Australian National University

Ben Kiernan
Whitney Griswold Professor of History
Yale University

Sung Chull Kim
Professor
Hiroshima Peace Institute

Damien Kingsbury
Professor and Director, Centre for Citizenship, Development and Human
Rights, Faculty of Arts and Education
Deakin University

Sherryl Kleinman
Professor, Department of Sociology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

H. Ruediger Korff
Professor for Southeast Asian Studies
University of Passau

Andrew Alan Johnson
Postdoctoral Fellow, Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore

Lee Jones
Lecturer in International Politics, School of Politics & International Relations
Queen Mary, University of London

Hjorleifur Jonsson
Associate Professor of Anthropology, School of Human Evolution and Social
Change
Arizona State University

Sarah Joseph
Director, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law
Monash University

John Langer
Honorary Fellow, School of Communication and the Arts
Victoria University

Tomas Larsson
Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Studies
Cambridge University

Laurids S. Lauridsen
Professor
Roskilde University

Doreen Lee
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Northeastern University

Namhee Lee
Associate Professor of Modern Korean History, Department of Asian
Languages & Cultures
University of California, Los Angeles

Christian C. Lentz
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Samson Lim
Assistant Professor, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Singapore University of Technology and Design

Peter Limqueco
Co-Editor, Journal of Contemporary Asia

Larry Lohmann
The Corner House, UK

Tamara Loos
Associate Professor of Southeast Asian History
Cornell University

Gregore Pio Lopez
PhD Candidate, Crawford School of Economics and Government
Australian National University

Trevor H.J. Marchand
Professor of Social Anthropology
School of Oriental and African Studies

Thomas Marois
Lecturer in Development Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Andrew MacGregor Marshall
Freelance journalist and author

Geoff Mann
Associate Professor
Simon Fraser University

Mary E. McCoy
Lecturer & Outreach Coordinator
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Colleen McGinn
PhD Candidate
Columbia University

Katharine McGregor
Senior Lecturer in Southeast Asian History
University of Melbourne

Shawn McHale
Associate Professor of History, Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University

Robert Meeropol
Executive Director
Rosenberg Fund for Children

Gayatri Menon
Department of Sociology
Franklin and Marshall College

Mary Beth Mills
Professor of Anthropology
Colby College

Art Mitchells-Urwin
SOAS Thai Society President
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Michael Montesano
Visiting Research Fellow
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore

Rosalind Morris
Professor, Department of Anthropology
Columbia University

Frank Munger
Professor of Law
New York Law School

Melissa Nickols
Honours Candidate
Australian National University

Nguyen-vo Thu-huong
Associate Professor, Asian Languages and Cultures and Asian American Studies
University of California, Los Angeles

Don Nonini
Professor of Anthropology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Rachel Sarah O'Toole
Assistant Professor of History
University of California, Irvine

Piya Pangsapa
Head and Senior Lecturer, Institute for Gender and Development Studies
The University of the West Indies

Raj Patel
Visiting Scholar, Center for African Studies
University of California at Berkeley

Jamie Peck
Canada Research Chair in Urban & Regional Political Economy
University of British Columbia

Maurizio Peleggi
Associate Professor, Department of History
National University of Singapore

Thomas Pepinsky
Assistant Professor, Department of Government
Cornell University

Sheldon Pollock
Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Studies
Columbia University

Oliver Pye
Lecturer for Southeast Asian Studies
Bonn University

Rahul Rao
Lecturer in Politics
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Rajah Rasiah
Khazanah Nasional Chair of Regulatory Studies and Professor of Technology
and Innovation Policy, Faculty of Economics and Administration
University of Malaya

Leon Redler
Faculty (since 1970), Former Chair of the Association
Philadelphia Association, London, UK

Anthony Reid
Professor [emeritus]
Australian National University

Craig Reynolds
Professor, School of Culture, History, and Language
Australian National University

Andrea Riemenschnitter
Professor and Chair of Modern Chinese Studies, Director of the
University Research Priority Program “Asia and Europe”
University of Zurich

Jonathan Rigg
Professor, Geography Department
Durham University

Geoffrey B. Robinson
Professor and Vice-Chair, Department of History
University of California, Los Angeles

Garry Rodan
Professor of Politics and International Studies
Murdoch University

John Roosa
Associate Professor, History Department
University of British Columbia

Danilyn Rutherford
President, Society for Cultural Anthropology
Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology
University of California, Santa Cruz

Saskia Sassen
Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology
Co-Chair, Committee on Global Thought
Columbia University

Wolfram Schaffar
Professor for Development Studies, Institute of Development Studies
University of Vienna

Tilman Schiel
Professor, Chair of Insular Southeast Asian Studies
University of Passau

Johannes Dragsbaek Schmidt
Associate Professor
Aalborg University

Sarah Schulman
Distinguished Professor of the Humanities
City University of New York

Raymond Scupin
Director, Center for International and Global Studies and Chair, Department of
Anthropology and Sociology
Lindenwood University

Laurie J. Sears
Professor of History and Director, Southeast Asia Center
University of Washington

Mark Selden
Coordinator
The Asia-Pacific Journal

Sarah Sexton
The Corner House, UK

Jeffrey Shane
Southeast Asian Librarian, Curator, David K. Wyatt Thai Collection and
Chair of CORMOSEA
Ohio University

John T. Sidel
Sir Patrick Gillam Professor of International and Comparative Politics
London School of Economics and Political Science

Dan Slater
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
University of Chicago

elin o'Hara slavick
Distinguished Professor of Art
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Claudio Sopranzetti
PhD Candidate
Harvard University

Chris Sneddon
Associate Professor, Environmental Studies Program and Geography
Department
Dartmouth College

Irene Stengs
Senior Research Fellow, Ethnology Department, Meertens Institute
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

Carolyn Strange
Senior Fellow, School of History
Australian National University

Donald K. Swearer
Harvard University

David Szanton
Executive Director, emeritus, International and Area Studies Center
University of California, Berkeley

Eduardo Climaco Tadem
Professor of Asian Studies
University of the Philippines, Diliman

Teresa S. Encarnacion Tadem
Professor of Political Science
University of the Philippines, Diliman

Neferti Tadiar
Professor and Chair, Department of Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Barnard College

Eric Tagliacozzo
Associate Professor, Department of History
Cornell University

Michelle Tan
Independent Scholar

Nicola Tannenbaum
Professor of Anthropology, Department of Sociology & Anthropology
Lehigh University

Nicholas Tapp
Professor Emeritus, Australian National University
Chair, Department of Sociology, East China Normal University

Ross Tapsell
Lecturer in Asian Studies
Australian National University

Benjamin Tausig
PhD Candidate, Department of Music
New York University

James Taylor
Senior Lecturer
The University of Adelaide

Nora A Taylor
Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art, Department of Art
History, Theory and Criticism
School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Robert Tierney
Lecturer, School of Business
Charles Sturt University

Serhat Uenaldi
Doctoral Candidate
Humboldt-University of Berlin

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

Peter Vandergeest
Associate Professor, Department of Geography
York University

Andrew Walker
Senior Fellow, College of Asia and the Pacific
Australian National University

Joel Wainwright
Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Ohio State University

Napisa Waitoolkiat
Lecturer at South East Asian Institute of Global Studies
Payap University

Meredith L. Weiss
Associate Professor of Political Science
University at Albany, SUNY

Marion Werner
Department of Geography
University at Buffalo, SUNY

Cornel West
Class of 1943 University Professor
Center for African American Studies
Princeton University

Frederick F. Wherry
Associate Professor of Sociology
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)

Jerome Whitington
Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore

Ingrid Wijeyewardene
Lecturer
University of New England

Andrew Willford
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Cornell University

Joanna Williams
Professor Emerita, History of Art & South/Southeast Asian Studies
University of California at Berkeley

Ara Wilson
Director, Program in the Study of Sexualities and Associate Professor,
Women's Studies & Cultural Anthropology
Duke University

Leslie Woodhouse
Lecturer, History
University of San Francisco

Susan L. Woodward
The Graduate Center
City University of New York

Rebecca Zorach
Associate Professor, Art History
University of Chicago