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Fighting for the disabled

Prejudice and discrimination must end, says a lawyer who's fighting for his own personal dream and for the rights of all those with a disability

Story by SAMILA SUTTISILTUM, Pictures by SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT

Sirimit Boonmoon aspires towards the day when the world is free from all forms of intolerance and discrimination.

Struck by polio at the age of nine, Sirimit Boonmoon struggled to understand why he had to stay in bed while his playmates enjoyed themselves in the sun. It was a difficult time for a young boy.

Soon enough, however, sheer determination helped Sirimit to get back into the swing of life, undeterred by the slight alteration to his gait as a result of the polio.

That was 22 years ago and since then Sirimit has lived a normal life - taking buses to school, finishing a law degree, working as a lawyer, driving a car with the lean limbs that are part of polio's legacy.

That sort of success explains why he couldn't believe his ears when he was told that he couldn't ever be a judge because he was "physically unsuitable''.

"My confidence was shattered,'' the 35-year old Kamphaeng Phet-born lawyer said of the time, four years ago, when he discovered he'd been denied the right to take a qualifying exam for the position of assistant judge.

The exam is organised by the Office of the Judicial Commission.

Sirimit then started a long struggle to fight that decision _ he believes it violates the 1997 Constitution, which prohibits discrimination against the disabled.

His determination to fight was only strengthened after he was disqualified for similar reasons from a position at the Office of the Attorney General.

Before these setbacks, Sirimit had become accustomed to making his life work just as he wanted it to. He had spent years working hard to complete a law degree at Ramkamhaeng University and the Thai Bar Association. No one treated him any differently and he never felt different.

In retrospect, the degree challenge now feels like "peanuts'' when compared to his present battle.

Sirimit is used to living normally, and to being treated that way. He lived a perfectly ordinary life growing up in the friendly rural village in Kamphaeng Phet where he was born. Polio made very little difference to his life, after he got special shoes to help correct his gait.

"I was never teased or bullied about my gait. Perhaps that was because it was a country area, where everyone knew one another well. Most importantly, my parents were also my teachers, so no one dared bully me,'' he said with a smile.

Sirimit had decided to pursue a law career early in his childhood. "My parents were cheated out of land because they lacked legal knowledge,'' he said. "That injustice stuck in my mind and made me determined to do law, so that I could fight for my own rights and the rights of others. Back then, I also believed that law was one of the most open-minded professions,'' he said..

Like his able-bodied siblings, Sirimit moved to Bangkok to further his studies. "My parents bought a house in Bangkok for us children to live in while we were studying. I took buses to school and I lived exactly as other students did. I never, ever, had any problems.''

After obtaining an LLB from Ramkamhaeng University in 1994 and a barrister-at-law certificate from the Thai Bar Association in 1996, Sirimit spent two years working as a volunteer lawyer for the Criminal Court of Southern Bangkok. His duty was to ensure that poor defendants received proper legal rights. Later, he opened his own legal office in Kamphaeng Phet.

Sirimit was determined to apply for his "dream job'' when the Office of the Judiciary announced it was recruiting for the position of assistant judge.

"I was so excited,'' he recalled. "To become a judge is the ultimate goal of any law graduate. I believed I could do a lot more for the country as a judge than a lawyer.''

The training for an assistant judge is believed to be very tough and comprehensive. "The training would surely expand my legal knowledge. And no one would benefit from my knowledge more than the country would!''

He was shattered when he didn't see his name on the list of those eligible for the exam. "I asked the Office of the Judicial Commission for an explanation,'' he said. "I was told that I was disqualified because of my 'unsuitable physical condition.'''

The Commission, he said, cited Article 26 in the Judicial Officials Governing Act which bars the employment of people with an unsuitable physical condition.

"That's all that is said in the article. It's so subjective, what is `unsuitable' and what not.''

It took about two years for Sirimit's documents appealing that decision to reach the Constitutional Court. Sirimit had to make a special appeal to the Court to speed the process up and consider his case before the Office of the Judicial Commission's new recruitment session, which took place earlier this year.

He had pinned high hopes on the Court's decision over whether Article 26 in the Judicial Officials Governing Act violated the charter's human rights clauses.

Article 30 of the constitution clearly stipulates that it is unconstitutional to discriminate people on the basis of their physical condition.

But what could have been a milestone case for the handicapped ended up with a blow. In April last year the Constitutional Court, with an 8:3 vote, ruled that the judicial commission had not violated the charter.

Sirimit then appealed to the Civil Court. Again, the ruling was in favour of the Judicial Commission.

Still determined to win, Sirimit is currently drafting an appeal to both the Constitutional and the Civil Courts.

He refuses to accept the Judicial Commission's stated reason for refusing him - which was that a person who walks with a gait would not fit with the respectable image demanded of judges.

And he refuses to accept the Office of the Attorney General's ruling that he couldn't perform effectively as a state attorney because the job is highly mobile, involving a lot of travel to collect evidence, attend autopsies and travel upcountry to promote legal knowledge in rural areas.

Sirimit points out that he has already done all of those kinds of tasks working as a lawyer. "I've submitted the evidence to the Administrative Court, so I have no idea why I should be disqualified for the job.''

Up to last year, his was a lone battle. Then he decided to seek help from national and international rights groups, knowing he could not do it all on his own. Not surprisingly, many stepped in to lend him a hand.

What needs to be done now, he says, is a comprehensive amendment of the rules and regulations concerning employment which violate the constitution by discriminating against the disabled.

As his case has illustrated, the struggle for legal justice is a long, uphill battle - one in which changing hearts and minds to let go of prejudice may be even more important than changing the rules.

"You should know in your own conscience that we are all equal,'' he said. "Do disabled people have the privilege of being exempt from violations of the law? No, they don't! They are sentenced just like other people. So why deprive them of their basic rights?''

Sirimit believes that there is a lot of discrimination of various kinds still in Thailand. "Many still believe that men are superior than women and the able-bodied are better than the physically handicapped. That's why we need the constitution, to protect everyone's basic rights.

"I see my case as a violation of basic human rights - it's a case of a person struggling to achieve what he or she is supposed to already have.

"Many disabled people want to have education, to have a job, to be self-supporting and to contribute to society. Why then should they be deprived of the chance to help better our country?

Source: Bangkok Post, Outlook. Sunday 3rd August 2003

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