Boworn Yasintorn, 63, was not entirely surprised when he found out he was among seven people nominated for the National Human Rights Commission last week.
Proud conservative: Boworn Yasintorn is a well-known royalist and chair of the Citizen Volunteers for the Defence of the Three Institutes group, which aims to protect the nation, religion and monarchy.
After applying for the position in May, he was certain his credentials and background in politics and student activism would win him a position from a pool of more than 120 hopefuls.
As part of the application process, candidates had to declare their vision for the NHRC and domestic human rights.
Mr Boworn is a well-known opponent of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his proxy governments. He is also the chair of the Citizen Volunteers for the Defence of the Three Institutes group which aims to protect the nation, religion and monarchy.
He said the military crackdown on red shirt protesters at Ratchaprasong in May 2010 — which resulted in more than 90 deaths and the payback burning of buildings in Bangkok — ignited his interest in community schemes related to human rights.
He recalled how the Bon Kai housing estate on Rama IV Road became the stage for violent clashes between demonstrators and residents, mostly youths, during those demonstrations in 2010 against the Democrat administration.
“After the red-shirts set the city on fire that year, I started going to the Bon Kai area and offered help to the community,” Mr Boworn said.
“I took the young people of Bon Kai out to relax after the violence and I tried to set up schemes to heal other affected residents. I wanted to protect the rights of the people.”
AGGRESSIVE BELIEFS
But since the announcement of the NHRC nominations, Mr Boworn has been singled out for criticism.
Many believe his past actions have stifled freedom of expression, rather than promoted it.
Of the other candidates, three are former judges, two are senior health officials, and the other is prominent human rights activist Angkhana Neelapaijit.
As an anti-Thaksinite, however, Mr Boworn is best known for his aggressive support of article 112 — the lese majeste law — having filed several complaints against activists, journalists and academics for allegedly defaming the monarchy.
Throughout protests to oust the Yingluck Shinawatra government in late 2013 and early last year, he was a frequent speaker on People’s Democratic Reform Committee stages across Bangkok. It was during these gatherings Mr Boworn, a student activist in the 1970s, renewed his commitment to street politics.
In November 2012, Mr Boworn also attended anti-Yingluck gatherings as part of the “Freeze Thailand” campaign, run by former Pitak Siam leader Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit. He admitted meeting former members of the armed right-wing Red Gaurs at the time. He also met members of vocational student groups politically aligned with his ultra-royalist stance.
Matichon online reported that Mr Boworn later joined forces with former Red Gaur Thong Thassanamontien and former vocational student leader Ancamillo Pianpop, issuing in 2013 a “national crisis aversion” statement calling on the public to protect the monarchy.
Human Rights Watch’s Sunai Phasuk.
The Red Gaurs group, or Krathing Daeng, was a right-wing paramilitary force recruited by the government in the 1970s. Made up of unemployed men, vocational students and former soldiers, they were used by the state to crush liberal activists, students, labourers and farmers. The height of the group’s brutality was the Oct 6, 1976 Thammasat University massacre.
In an interview with Spectrum, Mr Boworn, whose nomination to the NHRC the National Legislative Assembly is yet to endorse, denies any historical involvement with the Red Gaurs.
“During the Oct 14, 1973 uprising, I was a student activist. There were no Red Gaurs then,” Mr Boworn said.
The Chulalongkorn University engineering graduate said he was an active member of the National Student Centre of Thailand, which played a key role in ousting the military regime led by field marshals Thanom Kittikachorn, Prapass Charusathiara and Narong Kittikachorn.
After the “three tyrants” fled the country in 1973, the King appointed Sanya Dharmasak, the chancellor of Thammasat University, as prime minister.
“In 1976, when the massacre took place, I was an assistant to Pichai Rattakul, the then foreign minister,” Mr Boworn said. The job, serving in the cabinet of Democrat premier Seni Pramoj, was the first of many positions he held under various ministers throughout the years.
“In 2012, I met some of the former Red Gaur members at the ‘Freeze Thailand’ gathering at the Royal Plaza,” he said. “They had aged like me and had ended up getting decent jobs. I also met members of vocational student groups and we agreed that the monarchy needs protecting. I don’t have any association with the Red Gaurs.”
CREDENTIALS CHECK
Mr Boworn is keen to stress his track record of defending rights. Clashes between police and demonstrators at the “Freeze Thailand” gathering on Nov 24, 2012 resulted in several injuries, and Mr Boworn was active in seeking justice for affected protesters.
“The police were using tear-gas to block protesters from entering the Royal Plaza grounds. Before the protest ended in the afternoon, some people were injured,” he said. “I took the matter to the NHRC, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Administrative Court. The case is still being reviewed.”
This was one of several examples outlined in his application to the NHRC. All candidates were required to explain their involvement in at least three human rights activities.
“In 2012, during the Yingluck administration, I submitted a petition to the Office of the Attorney-General opposing the government’s attempt to revise the 2007 constitution,” Mr Boworn said.
“The case went to the Constitutional Court in time for parliament to withhold its third hearing.
“I also petitioned the United Nations against the Yingluck government’s amnesty bill, which was a misuse of power and a violation of people’s rights.”
But what Mr Boworn cites as his “credentials” have raised eyebrows among human rights activists, already unhappy with the performance of the outgoing NHRC.
Shortly after his nomination was announced, Human Rights Watch issued a public statement calling for a rejection of all nominees, except for Ms Angkhana — the wife of missing human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit.
Ms Angkhana has won broad support for her work campaigning against enforced disappearances and torture, having fought for justice in her husband’s case since his disappearance in 2004.
Former Thammasat University scholar Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a lese majeste fugitive living in exile, described Mr Boworn as a “right-wing vigilante” and “witch hunter” in a Facebook post regarding his nomination.
RIGHTS OR WRONG?
Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher at the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said all the NHRC candidates should be disqualified because their selection process “lacked clear criteria and did not adhere to the Paris Principles”.
The Paris Principles, adopted in 1993, identify the objectives of human rights organisations worldwide, specifying a need for independence, a broad rights mandate, adequate funding, and an inclusive and transparent selection and appointment process for members.
“The selection process for candidates lacks broad-based participation because they never announce the criteria to ensure the NHRC has impartiality and independence,” Mr Sunai said. “Without that, the organisation becomes meaningless.”
Apart from Mr Boworn and Ms Angkhana, the public knows little about the other five candidates.
They are Chatsuda Chandeeying, a school owner and an associate judge at Samut Prakan’s juvenile and family court; Prakayrat Tonteerawong, a board member of the Thai Women Empowerment Fund and an associate judge at Nonthaburi’s juvenile and family court; Wat Tingsamid, a former Supreme Court judge; Supachai Thanomsap, a doctor at Ramathibodi Hospital and Surachet Satidniramai, the acting permanent public health secretary.
TESTING THEIR METTLE
Three of the NHRC nominees have a background in the judiciary, but Mr Sunai warned this does not automatically qualify them.
“Their background is not in human rights work. They are not known to have knowledge of or commitment to human rights,” he said. “They might have been active in the field of women, children or health care, but human rights work is not charity work.”
As of July 21, an NLA panel has 20 days to vet the candidate’s qualifications. If the NLA approves the nominations, Mr Sunai said, the NHRC will be on track to repeating past mistakes.
“I hope that we can put pressure on the selection committee and the NLA during the endorsement process,” Mr Sunai said. “This is a litmus test to see whether or not the NLA is just a rubber stamp.”
The NHRC's work has been causing concern for some time. In December, the organisation’s performance was downgraded to “B status” by the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Organisations, which grades bodies across the world.
Organisations are given “A status” if they adhere to all the Paris Principles, “B status” if they are only partially compliant and “C status” if they totally fail to comply.
Thailand’s downgrade was blamed on the NHRC’s failure to address serious human rights violations, and the fact commissioners expressed political views while on duty.
Outgoing NHRC Chair Amara Pongsapitch — in post since 2009 — faced heavy criticism for her passive role during the 2010 red-shirt crackdown, and for the 2013 NHRC report that accused protesters of using women and children as human shields during the bloody event.
In January, Constitution Drafting Committee chairman Borwornsak Uwanno proposed merging the NHRC and the Office of the Ombudsman.
But Mr Sunai argues the country needs a distinct national human rights body. “The two offices have completely different mandates,” he said. “The NHRC needs independence and accountability in its work to protect and promote human rights.”
RULES OF THE GAME
Though Mr Boworn denies involvement with the Red Gaurs, he ackowledged he has continued to meet former members of the group and vocational students since the “Freeze Thailand” campaign concluded. He said they consider him an “ally” in their efforts to uphold lese majeste law.
“I do not oppose any coloured camp,” Mr Boworn said. “I oppose anyone who is a threat to the monarchy.”
Asked how he views the role of a human rights defender, Mr Boworn said a commissioner’s job is to be an umpire: defining the rules of the game and warning players — the government and the people — not to breach them.
“In the past, the NHRC has been seen as a tool in the fight against the government by the people, but what if the people cross the line? The NHRC cannot be a tool for either side,” Mr Boworn said.
“I feel the NHRC has done too little to help the public understand its work. To me, the NHRC is like a paper tiger. It has not been aggressive enough. It just waits for complaints to be filed.”
Mr Boworn believes the scope of the NHRC’s work must be broad, since there is a void in rights work to tackle human trafficking, labour abuses, environmental concerns, corruption and business-related issues.
Commenting on the arrest of anti-coup student activists last month, he said “human rights must not contradict national security” and “some people must give up their rights for others, since the country is going through a ‘special’ period”.
Mr Sunai, from Human Rights Watch, said he wants the public to ask the right questions about the NHRC nominees.
“This is not about Mr Boworn’s political stance or the organisation he belongs to,” he said. “It is about whether his intentions are in accordance with the universal doctrine of human rights. There are no US human rights or Thai human rights. There are just human rights.”
Street battle: Police and demonstrators clashed at the ‘Freeze Thailand’ gathering on Nov 24, 2012. Mr Boworn says he sought justice for injured protestors as part of his human rights work.
Show of force: Police fire tear-gas at Pitak Siam protesters rallying against the Yingluck government. Mr Boworn attended similar gatherings in 2012.
Bangkok’s burning: The Bon Kai housing estate on Rama IV Road was the stage for clashes between red-shirts and residents in 2010. Mr Boworn says he later went to the aid of local youths.
Bad blood: The military crackdown on red-shirt protestors at Ratchaprasong in May 2010 — which resulted in more than 90 deaths — ignited Mr Boworn’s interest in community human rights schemes.
Fight for justice: Red-shirts protest in 2010. The National Human Rights Commission has been criticised in the past for its response to the crackdown.