Akha EMERGENCY ALERT: Canadian, Australian observers arrested!!!!!
fpcn-intercultural | 30.01.2004 19:46
This is urgent please call the Thai embassy nearest you, email them,organise a demo demand an explanation
Two women Human Rights Observers were ARRESTED by THAI army personel and transported to the Haen Taek Police Station.
Ms. Amber Lee Solomon 24, of Sault Sainte Marie,Ontario, Canada Passport Number VM182834
Ms. Billeigh Waaha, 25, of Melbourne, Australia Passport Number L4014938
These two women have taken up a posting in the Akha village of Hooh Yoh, Haen Taek, Ampur Mae Faluang, Chiangrai Province, Thailand for several days to document the seizure of the entire farm land of HoohYoh Village Cluster, amounting to the land of 1019 people, 250 families. Staying with an Akha family they daily photographed the project that was being
built on Akha land, the government "helping" the Akha by taking all their land.
We URGENTLY need you to contact your Thai Embassy and demand an explanation.
We need people to assist us in organizing protests to the Thai government, that Human Rights Observers will not be harassed in this way.
This is urgent. We don't need action next week, we need it now, these two women are now in jail.
Call the embassy nearest you, email them, demand an explanation and the IMMEDIATE UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF THESE WOMEN.
Lahu, Chinese, and Lisu families area effected as well by this land seizure. Two months ago 8 Akha men and women were arrested. Four of them women, two women were more than eight months pregnant. They were arrested for trying to farm their land anyway. Forestry and Third Army were the project organizers and those who carried out the arrests then. These eight villagers were fined 15,000 baht, about $400 US dollars and spent more than 20 days in a small cell together. After their release they were told to pay
135,000 baht more each, about $4000. They went into hiding as they could not pay.
The Thai government, which makes millions advertising the hill tribe, treks, air fares, taxis, hotels, and a host of pandering tourism, gives nothing back to these people and steadily relocates them and puts them in prison.
What ever the reason, and there is always a reason, the Akha are abused. The only good Akha is a DEAD AKHA the Thai government thinks. And so it is, we have filed 46 cases of murder and torture, with the UN via a 1503 filing, and this is just the events of two years, events we HEARD about.
*******
Write, protest, call, demand the Thai government release these women and issue an apology.
Contact for more details.
Matthew McDaniel
The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
http://www.fpcn-global.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=14
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.org
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.
Ms. Amber Lee Solomon 24, of Sault Sainte Marie,Ontario, Canada Passport Number VM182834
Ms. Billeigh Waaha, 25, of Melbourne, Australia Passport Number L4014938
These two women have taken up a posting in the Akha village of Hooh Yoh, Haen Taek, Ampur Mae Faluang, Chiangrai Province, Thailand for several days to document the seizure of the entire farm land of HoohYoh Village Cluster, amounting to the land of 1019 people, 250 families. Staying with an Akha family they daily photographed the project that was being
built on Akha land, the government "helping" the Akha by taking all their land.
We URGENTLY need you to contact your Thai Embassy and demand an explanation.
We need people to assist us in organizing protests to the Thai government, that Human Rights Observers will not be harassed in this way.
This is urgent. We don't need action next week, we need it now, these two women are now in jail.
Call the embassy nearest you, email them, demand an explanation and the IMMEDIATE UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF THESE WOMEN.
Lahu, Chinese, and Lisu families area effected as well by this land seizure. Two months ago 8 Akha men and women were arrested. Four of them women, two women were more than eight months pregnant. They were arrested for trying to farm their land anyway. Forestry and Third Army were the project organizers and those who carried out the arrests then. These eight villagers were fined 15,000 baht, about $400 US dollars and spent more than 20 days in a small cell together. After their release they were told to pay
135,000 baht more each, about $4000. They went into hiding as they could not pay.
The Thai government, which makes millions advertising the hill tribe, treks, air fares, taxis, hotels, and a host of pandering tourism, gives nothing back to these people and steadily relocates them and puts them in prison.
What ever the reason, and there is always a reason, the Akha are abused. The only good Akha is a DEAD AKHA the Thai government thinks. And so it is, we have filed 46 cases of murder and torture, with the UN via a 1503 filing, and this is just the events of two years, events we HEARD about.
*******
Write, protest, call, demand the Thai government release these women and issue an apology.
Contact for more details.
Matthew McDaniel
The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal Discussion
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha http://www.fpcn-global.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=14 Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.org PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.
fpcn-intercultural
e-mail:
info@fpcn-global.org
Homepage:
http://www.akha.org