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Harvard Must Not Endorse Military Dictatorship in Thailand
An open letter to the Harvard Crimson from Robert Amsterdam, counsel to the Organization of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy (FT-HD)
Nicholas P. Fandos
Managing Editor
Harvard Crimson
14 Plympton St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
August 21, 2014
Dear Mr. Fandos,
I read with grave concern the recent article published on 18 August 2014 in The Harvard Crimson entitled “Troubles with Thai Studies,” which reported the ongoing efforts by Thailand’s coup-appointed Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan to institute a $6 million endowed “Thai Studies Program” at Harvard University that would serve to legitimize an illegal military government.
I was further dismayed to see the article temporarily pulled from the website after the author received threats of violence from these same extremists that have toppled the elected government in Thailand. Although the article has indeed been reposted subsequently, legitimate concerns remain.
As the article notes, “Most of the Harvard program’s Thai backers are members of a conservative elite—which includes the aristocracy, generals, and wealthy families—that has dominated the country since the 1950s and rolled back reforms enacted after the absolute monarchy was overthrown in 1932.”
This is actually putting it quite mildly. As international counsel to the Red Shirt movement, we have been fighting for four years for accountability for the Bangkok massacres of 2010, when almost 100 unarmed protesters were murdered in cold blood by the Thai Army under the orders of an unelected government. Now these same people, whose supporters threatened your correspondent, have seized the instruments of power after losing six consecutive democratic elections in a row. Their vision is not about reform, but rather returning the nation to a feudalistic state, where the rights of a minority of citizens count more than the rights of the majority.
Harvard University is internationally respected as one of the world’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, so it comes as a grave disappointment to see the Harvard Asia Center kowtow to a brutally intolerant military junta that has repeatedly violated academic freedoms.
After taking power, the junta’s “National Peace and Order Maintaining Council” detained hundreds of outspoken professors and students for interrogations. A letter signed by 26 academics based overseas and argued that “the coup cannot be a measure for peace because the coup itself is the use of violence,” while demanding an immediate return to constitutional rule.
Under the military junta, the abuse of the draconian lese majeste law has proliferated, including the arrests of two university students last week who could face lengthy prison sentences for having performed in a play about the 1973 Thammasat University student massacre by the military. The play, entitled “The Wolf Bride,” was performed more than 10 months ago.
Meanwhile, the junta appears to be signaling that they intend to hold power for the foreseeable future. In an unprecedented move, the coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha just gave himself the highest civilian post as a supine parliament elected him Prime Minister. The junta’s “draft constitution” contains nothing about rights, but rather a list of military decrees.
On behalf of the members of FT-HD, as well as the tens of millions of Thai people who simply want to restore their basic right to suffrage, I would respectfully ask that The Harvard Crimson take a closer look how the military junta is attempting to hijack the University’s good name to launder their soiled reputation.
A stronger effort to expose the truth in Thailand is required, and judging by the shameful and cowardly attempt by the pro-coup forces in Thailand to intimidate your correspondent, the Crimson must not back down.
Sincerely,
Robert Amsterdam
Amsterdam & Partners LLP
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Related article:
Death threat made with medical jargon over op-ed
CBS News
"I swear that if I saw this [expletive] on the street I'd elbow his middle meningeal artery and leave him dead from epidural hematoma," UCLA microbiologist Peera Hemarajata allegedly posted on Facebook.
The bizarre threat was aimed at writer Ilya Garger, who is in Hong Kong.
Garger said the point of his piece was to discuss Harvard taking money from one political side in Thailand.
"It was surprising to see that a doctor, and especially one at UCLA, would say something so silly. I had to read up on Wikipedia to figure out what it is that he was going to do to me," Garger said.
Garger said he isn't surprised about Hemarajata's reaction because he purportedly said on his Facebook post that he is still loyal to the Thai monarchy. But Garger is surprised that UCLA says it cannot take action against Hemarajata for making a perceived threat.
UCLA said in a statement: "While UCLA and UCLA Health System abhor violence and condemn any threat of violence, we have no jurisdiction or authority to censor such hateful comments made in social media when they are made outside the course and scope of an employee's work."
"The university ought to consider taking stronger measures than just saying that they're not responsible," Garger said.
CBS Los Angeles tried to get a comment from Hemarajata, but his Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts have all been taken down.
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