"Thailand: judicial system abused by business to silence human rights defenders – UN experts", 12 March 2020

A group of UN experts* have condemned the continued misuse of judicial processes by Thai poultry producer Thammakaset to harass and silence human rights defenders who have spoken out against its abusive and exploitative labour practices.

“We are deeply troubled by the information we continue to receive about migrant workers, human rights defenders, academics and journalists facing ill-founded defamation cases by the company Thammakaset when they raise legitimate concerns about working conditions in this company,” the experts said.

In the last year alone, the Thai company has filed criminal and civil defamation complaints against 10 individuals who have exposed human rights abuses against migrant workers in this company. Six of the individuals facing trial are women. If found guilty those accused face heavy fines and possible prison sentences...

The UN experts expressed their deep concern that these cases may have a “chilling effect” on the legitimate work of human rights defenders, journalists and civil society actors...

The Thai Government and all relevant business enterprises must act now to stop judicial harassment...