<p>A new ICJ report criticizes the Thai Government’s failure to take the steps necessary to establish the fate and whereabouts of missing lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, saying it illustrates the challenges of achieving justice in cases of serious human violations in Thailand.</p> <p>In the report, <em>Ten Years Without Truth: Somchai Neelapaijit and Enforced Disappearances in Thailand,</em> the ICJ documents the tortuous legal history of the case.</p>

<p>Bangkok’s Military Court dismissed a petition questioning its jurisdiction, submitted by Worachet Pakeerut, a prominent law academic and core member of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.prachatai.org/english/category/nitirat">Nitirat group</a>, who was charged with failing to report to the junta. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/1422797047994795/photos/a.1422801184661048.1073741828.1422797047994795/1540103046264194/?type=1">Free Thai Legal Aid (FTLA)</a>, the Military Court of Bangkok on Monday morning rejected the petition submitted by Worachet.</p>

<div><span>Prachatai’s Thaweeporn Kummetha discussed the situation with Sam Zarifi, Regional Director, Asia and Oceania, of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) about the human rights situation after the military coup d’état in Thailand.</span></div> <p></p>

<div> <div>Two years after the abduction of the prominent, internationally acclaimed Lao development worker Sombath Somphone by Lao state agents, the Lao government has done very little to find the truth, experts say. Meanwhile, the disappearance and lack of justice has effectively created a climate of fear which has worsened the human rights situation in Laos.&nbsp;</div> </div>

<p>An awkward silence in a small restaurant in Yangon: The veteran dissident and pro-democracy activist had just explained why he does not have much sympathy for the Rohingya despite the widespread and systematic violence they have faced, because, as he saw it, ‘Rohingya’ is a ‘made up’ name’ and ‘they are all illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and they should go back there.’<br /></p>