Universal Declaration of Human Rights Voice Mrs. Angkhana Neelapaijit Chairperson, Working Group on Justice for Peace “What we want, above all else, is for the truth to be told and justice to be served” Mrs. Angkhana Neelapaijit, wife of the disappeared human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelapaijit, recounts her experiences after the disappearance of her husband. Previously an ordinary housewife, she has now become a human rights activist, advocating for state accountability on violations of human rights and for the establishment of a mechanism to provide justice for families of disappearance cases, especially in the three southern border provinces of Thailand. Mr. Neelapaijit disappeared on 12 March 2004 and has not been seen since. Mrs. Neelapaijit and their five children believe he has been killed and that his disappearance is related to the legal assistance he had been providing to the accused Muslim people in the three southern provinces in Thailand. Five police officers accused of involvement in Mr. Neelapaijit’s disappearance were put on trial for the charges of robbery and the coercion of another person, but not on charges of abduction or murder. The investigation of the National Police Bureau failed to provide sufficient evidence or witnesses. The Criminal Court’s verdict on 12 January 2006 consequently convicted one of the policemen, sentencing him to three years of imprisonment, while the rest were released due to lack of evidence. Since Mr. Neelapaijit’s disappearance, the Thai government has been offering some financial support to his family, but Mrs. Neelapaijit has refused to accept such support, despite the family’s meagre financial status. She says that she was afraid that any financial support would come with the condition that her family no longer pursue the case. For Mrs. Neelapaijit, “Money 40 Dignity and Justice for All of Us