A Voice for Workers’ Rights

For a number of years ACRATH has supported Any Hall’s campaign for justice in the case brought against him by Thai pineapple company Natural Fruit. The charges relate to an interview Hall gave to Al-Jazeera English in Myanmar in 2013 in the wake of the publication of the Finnwatch report about working conditions at Natural Fruit Ltd’s pineapple factory. Thailand’s Supreme Court has cleared Andy Hall of all charges brought against him.

The multiple prosecutions against Hall have attracted a lot of attention over the years. The proceedings have been criticised by the UN and the European Parliament as well as by many companies, civil society organisations and trade unions, especially for the “chilling effect” they have had on people researching working conditions in supply chains in Thailand. These organisations have called on the Thai government to introduce legal reforms to protect human rights defenders and ensure the full realisation of freedom of speech and labour rights.

Hall left Thailand in 2016. He continues to work on migrant worker rights’ issues in South and Southeast Asia. Most recently, he has been campaigning for labour rights violations in Malaysia’s rubber glove industry, an issue ACRATH is deeply concerned about..

On hearing the Supreme C0urt’s ruling Andy Hall said:

“I welcome today’s ruling. But after years of ongoing judicial harassment that has taken a heavy toll on me, my family and my colleagues, this is not a victory. My activism for over a decade in Thailand was intended only to promote and uphold the fundamental rights of millions of migrant workers in the country. These workers continue to find themselves without a voice in high-risk situations of forced labour and subject to systemic human and labour rights violations in global supply chains.’’