ILRF is concerned about the most recent charges brought against labor rights activist
Andy Hall by the Natural Fruit Company. Hall now faces four defamation charges
(both civil and criminal) and two charges under the Computer Crimes Act, and is
waiting to hear if these cases will proceed in Thai court. Natural Fruit is a Thai export
company producing pineapple juice and dried fruit. The NGO Finnwatch has published two reports documenting poor labor conditions in the Natural Fruit factory, including
child labor, failure to pay overtime, confiscation of migrant workers’ passports, and
conditions that amount to human trafficking. Hall contributed to the first of those two
reports, and the company responded with the first defamation charge soon after it was
released.
On May 19th, Hall appeared at the Bangna Police Station in Bangkok to give evidence
regarding the most recent charges, which stem from an interview Hall gave to Aljazeera
in Burma about ongoing migrant worker rights abuses in Thailand. There are an estimated
3-4 million migrant workers in Thailand, most of whom come from neighboring Burma.
These workers often take the most undesirable, dangerous and poorly-paid jobs, mostly in domestic work, construction or Thailand’s booming export industries: seafood, food
processing and other light manufacturing. They face discriminatory labor laws and
complex, costly immigration policies that leave them vulnerable to employer exploitation.
Hall, a British citizen, has long documented abuse among migrant worker communities in Thailand and worked to hold the government and corporations accountable.
If found guilty of all the charges against him, his advocacy for labor rights could cost him
dearly. He faces up to seven years in prison and about $9.5 million in damages. Hall’s next hearing is scheduled for June 18th, 2014.
Such harassment is an unacceptable assault on labor rights activists and could have a
dangerous chilling effect silencing other rights activists. This is not the only time Thailand
has used criminal defamation against people speaking out about serious abuse of migrants. The Thai Royal navy brought criminal defamation charges against two Thai-based journalists who covered a Pulitzer-Prize winning Reuters investigation into Thai officials’ complicity in trafficking of Rohingya Muslims fleeing ethnic violence in Burma.
These charges demonstrate how criminal defamation can be used to attack labor rights
defenders and silence those who speak out on behalf of exploited workers. To ensure
freedom of expression and preserve the rights of activists and workers to speak out, the
Royal Thai Government must repeal criminal defamation laws and amend the Computer
Crimes Act to ensure it cannot be used to silence criticism. Additionally, we demand that
the Natural Fruit Company drop its existing charges against Andy Hall and address the underlying issues that forced him to speak out about the company, rather than attempt to
punish him for uncovering and documenting the true situation of workers in its factory.
Keep up to date on this case at Andy Hall’s blog on the Natural Fruit prosecutions
against him.
SEE BELOW FOR THE 1001STTIME THE REITERATION OF DEMAND PAYMENT OF RETIREMENT PAY WHICH SHELL REFUSED TO HONOR IN THE PRESENCE AND DEEMED APPROVAL OF THE HONORABLE MAGISTRATES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES
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