Thailand must get to the bottom of the killing of a Cambodian dissident in its capital and must not deport dozens of Uyghur people to China and an ethnic minority activist to Vietnam, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
Lim Kimya, 74, a former member of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, was shot dead on a Bangkok street on Jan. 7. While investigators have yet to reach a conclusion on the motive, the murder has shone a spotlight on Cambodia’s poor rights record and on Thailand’s response to suspected transnational crimes on its soil.
The Cambodian case comes as Thailand is already under scrutiny over the case of 48 Uyghurs, detained in Bangkok for almost a decade, amid reports Thailand is preparing to send them back to China, and the case of a Vietnamese activist who Hanoi wants to extradite and jail for terrorism.
Human Rights Watch’s Asia director, Elaine Pearson, presenting the group’s annual report at a press conference in Bangkok, called on Thai authorities to pursue their investigation into Lim Kimya’s killing.
“The more we find out about this case, the more it points to people linked to the ruling party,” she said, referring to the Cambodian People’s Party of former Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Lim Kimya was an outspoken Cambodian-French critic of the veteran leader.
Police have arrested his suspected Thai killer and issued warrants for the arrest of two Cambodian suspects, one of whom Thai police identified as Ly Ratanakrasmey, who they said was an adviser to Hun Sen.
Police have said they believe the killing stemmed from a personal dispute but Pearson said she suspected Lim Kimya’s murder was a warning to all Cambodian dissidents that they are vulnerable even if they leave their country.
“This is a message to dissents – you are not safe,” she said.
“This is something we are very concerned about as a growing trend in this region,” Pearson added, referring to authoritarian governments pursuing their critics across borders.
Sunai Phasuk, senior Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch, commended police for their investigation but said they should not jump to the conclusion that the motive for Lim Kimya’s killing was a personal dispute.
“The investigation should not just end there. They need to find out more,” Sunai said.
Risk of torture
Pearson said the case of the 48 Uyghurs, detained in Thailand since 2014 after attempting to use the Southeast Asian nation to escape persecution in China, could be an early test for the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump.
The Uyghurs have said they fear they are about to be deported to China and went on hunger strike on Jan. 10, calling upon fellow Uyghurs living abroad for support.
A Thai Immigration Bureau spokesperson said no decision had been made on the 48 members of the mostly Muslim minority from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Thailand had adopted a law that enshrines the principle of non-refoulement, or not deporting people to places where they face torture and other abuse, and it should abide by that, Pearson said.
“Absolutely, they should not be sent back,” she said. “There is a very serious risk they will face torture upon their return, we know that.”
Similarly, Thailand should not deport Vietnamese ethnic minority rights activist Y Quynh Bdap, who faces a 10-year prison sentence in Vietnam for “terrorism” over 2023 attacks on government offices in Dak Lak province that resulted in nine deaths.
The activist, who has been in Thailand since 2018, has consistently denied Vietnamese accusations that he was behind the violence.
In September, a Bangkok court ruled that he should be extradited to Vietnam. The court gave the Thai government 90 days to enforce the decision, which is still pending.
“If the law is followed strictly, Y Quynh Bdap, must not be sent back,” Sunai said.
But Sunai said he was disappointed by the civilian Thai government’s failure to protect rights, despite its membership of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which he said had had “no positive effect” on Thailand’s rights situation.
“Protection of refugees and political dissidents from Vietnam and Cambodia hasn’t improved. Cross-border suppression has continued consistently,” from the previous military government to the civilian one, he said.
“The Pheu Thai government is good at talking and making promises about human rights improvements, but their actions show the opposite,” he said of Thailand’s ruling party.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.