More work remains on human trafficking – Bangkok Post

The conviction of a senior military officer and officials is a good start but Thailand must not be complacent if it wants to improve its reputation in the global community

Before and after. Left, Lt Gen Manas Kongpan, head of Isoc in the South and human trafficking enabler. Right, same man, a shackled prisoner. (Bangkok Post file photos)

The Criminal Court's historic ruling in the human trafficking case, with harsh penalties against a former senior military officer and some local officials, is an attestation of the government's strong determination to combat the heinous crime dubbed as modern-day slavery.

The trial, which brought to justice Lt Gen Manas Kongpan and over 60 people involved in trafficking Rohingya migrants, gained international praise. But more needs to be done.

Manas received a sentence of 27 years in prison for multiple human trafficking charges and other offences. His offences involved trafficking and taking bribes in cases involving migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Anucha Charoenpo is news editor, Bangkok Post.

In the largest human trafficking case ever tried in court, the judge said Manas, a former commander of the 42nd Military Circle in Songkhla and a former senior army adviser, had held a position with responsibility for keeping out and expelling migrants who entered Thailand illegally. Because he was a government official, he was to receive double punishment compared to that of an ordinary citizen who violated the same trafficking laws.

Other convicts include Patchuban Angchotpan, or Ko Tong, former chief of the Satun Provincial Administration Organisation; Banchong Pongphon, or Ko Chong, mayor of Padang Besar municipality in Songkhla; Prasit Lemlah, or Bang Base, deputy mayor of Padang Besar municipality; and Asan Inthanu, or Bang San, a former member of Padang Besar Municipal Council.

All received harsh penalties -- Patchuban was sentenced to 75 years in prison, while Banchong, Prasit and Asan each received 78 years. The court ordered them to pay 4.4 million baht in compensation to the Rohingya victims who suffered from their crimes.

It was indeed a lengthy and complicated case. Manas and the other defendants were arrested in 2015 following the discovery of 36 shallow graves in Songkhla's Sadao district in what had served as holding camps. Migrants were kept in those camps until they could be smuggled over the border into Malaysia, the intended destination for most.

At times these trafficking victims were starved, beaten and tortured. According to court documents, some women victims were raped. Other camps with more bodies were found, some on the Malaysian side of the frontier.

Manas and Co were unmasked after the investigators traced their telephone records and, more importantly, the money trail.

The court said Manas could not prove evidence of claims that he had earned about 14 million baht over the past two years from gambling on bullfighting and receiving legal payments for keeping out and expelling Rohingya migrants from the country.

Grim discovery: six bodies - four females and two males - are exhumed for identification from an abandoned graveyard in Padang Besar of Songkhlas Sadao district in 2015.(Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

Despite the success in this case, more needs to be done regarding human trafficking crimes.

According to intelligence sources, Thailand is still a source, destination and transit country for men, women and children who are often smuggled and trafficked from poorer, neighbouring countries Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to work in Thailand, usually as labourers and sex workers.

The Manas case shows that corruption by state authorities has obstructed anti-trafficking efforts. Wrongdoers resort to threats and intimidation and other brutal acts to cover up their crimes. The lead investigator in the Manas case, Pol Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin, had to seek asylum in Australia for fear of his safety.

Looking forward, it's necessary that the government must do whatever it can to prevent such crimes, starting from screening officers tasked with anti-trafficking missions. There must be other stringent measures in checking records of state authorities responsible for the work.

The state and civil society worked closely together until the wrongdoers were exposed. They must maintain, if not enhance, constructive cooperation which can increase efficiency in tackling a crime that continues to be a major problem in Thailand.

Those who are found or alleged to have abused their authority to facilitate or commit this inhumane crime must face a swift disciplinary probe. When necessary, the use of telephone records and checking suspects' money trails must be applied.

If found guilty, harsh disciplinary action with maximum penalties is a must.

Like Manas, any military or police officers involved in wrongdoing must lose their ranks before being thrown into jail.

The slow judicial process in the Manas case, which came to light in 2015, is probably a factor in the US State Department's decision to maintain Thailand in its Tier 2 Watch List in the 2017 Trafficking in Persons report released in June.

According to its statement, it said the Thai government had not fully met the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. It did not aggressively prosecute and convict officials complicit in trafficking crimes, and official complicity continued to impede anti-trafficking efforts.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs countered that Thailand has made progress in policy initiatives, prosecution of wrongdoers and complicit officials, prevention of potential crimes and protection of witnesses and victims. It has also forged partnerships with various groups of stakeholders, both domestic and foreign.

After this case, I think the Thai government will improve its anti-human trafficking efforts in order to convince the US State Department to next year elevate the country from Tier 2 Watch List status.

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More work remains on human trafficking - Bangkok Post