TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that 2014 will be remembered as a year of daunting human rights challenges, especially in Southeast Asia where reports of several extrajudicial killings involving human rights activists have occurred.

In Thailand, two human rights activists working on land and natural resource issues have been murdered in the south of Thailand as they challenged the legality of large private sector projects in the area. Pitan Thongpanang - an activist who actively opposed mining operations on communal land in Nonpitam district - was shot nine times in Nakhon Sri Thammarat Province on November 30 as he was visiting villagers to seek financial support to engage legal assistance in the case.

Pitan was the lead plaintiff in an ongoing case in which the administrative court issued a temporary order to the company involved to halt its mining operations.

Four days later, on December 3, Sumsuk Kokrang was fatally shot at a palm oil plantation in Krabi province, while he was traveling to meet with local villagers. Sumsuk, a land rights activist, was leading a campaign to investigate the legality of the palm oil plantations in the area.

At least 30 human rights defenders have been victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Thailand since 2001, especially in its’ restive southern regions, where human rights activists have long been exposed to intimidation, harassment and violence, and these latest cases indicate such attacks may be intensifying. They also underscore the need for the authorities to take urgent measures to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable human rights defenders.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, five Papuan teenagers in the highlands region of Paniai in Indonesia were killed by the police outside a police station in the town of Enarotali yesterday while they protested against the beating of a local boy by security forces on Sunday night, December 7, 2014.

The OHCHR is calling on Thai and Indonesian authorities to facilitate an independent and thorough investigation into these incident, as a part of its’ commemoration of the Human Rights Day on December 10, which marks the date on which the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The OHCHR is also calling on the authorities to implement protection measures for human rights defenders, in particular those working on land rights. "Communities affected by major land projects rely on such courageous individuals to air their concerns and defend their rights. It is up to the authorities to ensure a safe environment for human rights defenders and the communities they work with, to enable them to speak out and organise freely without fear of persecution." said the OHCHR in a press briefing received by Tempo on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. (*)