On Thursday (3 December 2020), at 14.00, the Friends of Wanchalearm and Amnesty International’s activists have gone to the Cambodian Embassy in Thailand to organize an activity marking six months of Wanchalearm Satsaksit’s disappearance and to submit to Cambodia a name list of 14,157 individuals who urge Cambodian authorities to ensure  effective, urgent, thorough and transparent investigation and to restore justice to Wanchalearm’s family.

Clad in colorful Hawaiian shirts often worn by Wanchalearm, they put on Wanchalearm masks and urge people to use #6MothsOnWeShallNotForget hashtag to show that they still remember and keep monitoring progress in this case. 

Piyanut Kotsan, Director of Amnesty International Thailand, reveals that to mark the six months of Wanchalearm Satsaksit’s disappearance in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh on 4 June,  the Friends of Wanchalearm and Amnesty International’s activists have gone to ask for a meeting with H.E. Mr. Ouk Sorphorn, the Kingdom of Cambodia’s Ambassador to Thailand to discuss and ask  to know about progress in this disappearance case. They also submit to him a name list of individuals who urge Cambodian authorities to expedite their investigation effort. 

“We hold firm on our outstanding demand for the Cambodia authorities to expedite the effort to effectively, urgently, thoroughly and transparently investigate Wanchalearm’s disappearance and to bring justice to the family of the disappeared immediately since the last six months saw no progress in terms of the legal case. Wanchalearm still looms large in our memory. Six months on, but we never forget Wanchalearm and we shall never cease to demand justice for him and his family.”

Ms. Sitanan Satsaksit, Wanchalearm Satsaksit’s sister, has gone to Cambodia since 10 November along with the legal team to give evidence and provide testimony to the Cambodian authorities regarding the case of her brother’s disappearance. She is due to give her information on 8 December. 

We fervently hope that after that, the Cambodian authorities will be able to investigate and inform the family about the whereabouts of Wanchalearm and to give them an answer regarding why he has to be made disappeared, who did it, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”

The 14,157 names given to the Cambodian authorities have been compiled by Amnesty International Thailand after the AI International Secretariat  had launched an Urgent Action to invite people around the world to write to Prime Minister Hun Sen to demand Cambodian authorities to urgently investigate the enforced disappeaccrance of Wanchalearm and to keep his family informed of his whereabout as well as to bring the perpetrators to justice through a fair trial with civilian court. They also urge Cambodia to act in compliance with the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance to which Cambodia is a s state party and not deport Wanchalearm to Thailand in order to act in compliance with the obligation to not send a person to a place where it is likely they shall face human rights violation.