Press Release:
Feb 27, 2008
I have filed a case against the Government of Thailand with the International Criminal Court in the Hague, charging the Government of Thailand with the crime of Genocide against the Akha people.
A systematic effort to deprive the Akha of land, including land confiscations by the Queen of Thailand, to deprive the Akha of food resources, to forcibly relocate their villages resulting in high numbers of deaths, high instances of false arrest, imprisonment, extra-judicial executions, the blatant removal of Akha children by missionaries for conversion and allienation from their language, culture and identity have clearly shown that the Thai Government has mounted a long term campaign against the Akha that can be identified as Genocide.
Attempts by the Akha to resist, to document the abuse and killings, are met with reprisal and more killings. Akha rescued from Army camps were later arbitrarily executed.
Removal of Akha children by missionries numbers in the thousands. The Thai Government has approved of these actions.
I call on the world body of the International Criminal Court to fully investigate these charges and demand of Thailand a complete end to these actions and conditions, and that Thailand begin to prosecute the perpetrators of this crime where ever they may be. This would include the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who ordered thousands to be killed with little to no evidence of their crime, many of whom were Akha people.
Matthew McDaniel
The Akha Heritage Foundation
