Jatupat Boonpattararaksa
Jatupat Boonpattararaksa is a human rights defender and one of the core leaders of a student activist group called ‘Dao Din’ based in Khon Kaen University northeastern province of Thailand which advocats for community rights, social justice and democracy. He is active in the New Democracy Movement (NDM), which brings together student activists, community-based human rights defenders and other activists together for human rights, social justice, democracy, and to fight against the military dictatorship in Thailand.
Human rights defenders in Thailand face threats, physical assaults, arbitrary detention, judicial harassment, and extrajudicial killings. HRDs most at risk include those working with migrants, particularly along the border with Burma, those who are fighting for economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights, and those working in the conflict zone of the three border provinces in Southern Thailand. The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand has documented 35 cases of extrajudicial killings of human rights defenders between 2003 – 2012, approximately 30 of whom were HRDs working on ESC rights. Many of these cases have not been properly investigated by the authorities.
