Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has since last year documented and closely followed the case of a teenager who appears to have been blatantly killed by the police in Kalasin province of northeastern Thailand, after they had already arrested and charged him. Although the alleged torture and extrajudicial killing of Kietisak Thitboonkrong has been taken up by the Department of Special Investigation under the justice ministry, no progress is known to have been made towards charging the suspect police officers. The AHRC has so far documented 24 cases of alleged abduction and killing by police in Kalasin from 2004 to 2006; it is believed that the actual number of victims may be far higher.
In this appeal we bring you the details of the case of Kietisak Thitboonkrong. Updates will follow in coming days with details of other cases.
When Kietisak Thitboonkrong was 16, in 2003, he was arrested and charged with motorcycle theft. He claimed that he had been tortured and his confession of guilt was forced. Nonetheless, he was found guilty and convicted to over one year in jail. After he was let out of jail, he went back to school in the central district of Kalasin. He lived with his grandmother, Sa Thitboonkrong, just a few hundred metres from the district police station.
ARREST & DISAPPEARANCE:
On 16 July 2004 Kietisak didn’t come home. Sa didn’t know what happened to him; but on July 17 a neighbour came and told her that he had been arrested and charged with motorcycle theft again.
On July 19, the police came to take Sa to observe Kietisak being interrogated at the provincial office of the public prosecutor. There was no social welfare officer, psychologist or lawyer present as required by law, as Kietisak was 17 at the time and should have been treated according to regulations for juveniles, not adults. Sa didn’t see Kietisak again after that. She contacted to her daughter in Bangkok to arrange for her to bring money for bail.
At around 10am on July 22, before the family had secured bail, the police contacted Sa to say that someone else had arranged for Kietisak’s release. When she went to the police station she was informed that a municipal official had stepped forward as guarantor. She was surprised, because she had never heard of this politician before. Nonetheless, she accepted the help and went to wait at the court for the release order. After that, at about 4pm she came to wait for her grandson at the police station. Around 5pm the police told her to go home and that they would inform her when he was free to go.
At around 6pm, Kietisak called Sa and in a shaking voice urged her to come back to the police station quickly. “They didn’t tell the truth to you, grandma. It is not as they said,” he told her. “They are going to take me away and kill me. Hurry come and help me, I’m on the second floor.” After that the line was cut.
Sa went to the police station but when she arrived a ranking officer insisted that her grandson had been released already. She could hear her grandson crying out for help from upstairs and shouted out to him, insisting to the officer that he had called her and was there. She tried to go up onto the second floor, but the police at first blocked her. Later she was allowed to go up but could not see him; however, she saw his bag on a desk.
At about 6:30pm, Kietisak also called his uncle and urged him to come and get him immediately. He said that he heard his grandmother’s voice downstairs. But Sa was unable to meet him
The mobile phone that Kietisak used to call on both occasions was in the possession of a witness at the police station, who has confirmed that he was there and that he called his grandmother and uncle with the phone, but does not know what happened to him after that.
At 8pm Sa made a missing person complaint at the police station saying that the investigating officer, Pol. Maj. Sumitr Nunsathit, was recorded as having released Kietisak in accordance with the court order issued that afternoon, but the boy hadn’t come home. She never saw him alive again.
POST MORTEM INQUIRIES:
On July 26, a police officer came to say that Kietisak’s body had been found in part of a neighbouring province, about 30km away.
The body was sent for autopsy at a regional hospital. The autopsy revealed bruising on his head, chest and legs, cuts on the chest and both wrists, rope tied around the neck and injuries to the elbows. He appeared to have been dragged along the ground and rope tied around the neck. Persons who had been present when the body was recovered said that the boy’s feet and slippers were not dirty, although the surrounding area was muddy due to heavy rain. There were also reportedly many other prints around the area that were clearly not those of farmers.
Sa was convinced that the police had tortured and killed her grandson. But to be absolutely sure, instead of cremating his body, she first took it to the Central Institute of Forensic Science under the justice ministry in Bangkok. The institute’s examination confirmed that he had been tortured to death. It found many more wounds on the body and that the cuts on the wrists had been caused by the victim being pulled by handcuffs. The victim’s testicles also had been crushed. It concluded that he had died from suffocation caused by the rope being wrapped around his neck several times by someone else, who had then made it to appear that he had committed suicide by hanging.
On July 29, the police called the witness who had leant her phone to Kietisak and said that the phone was police property and reportedly told her that if the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand asked her about it then she was to say that. She was surprised by the instruction and replied, “I’ll say whatever I saw.” In response the police said, “Go ahead. If you talk, then you’ll hang like that kid, unless there is anywhere in Thailand that you can escape.” She alleges that after that she was repeatedly shadowed and that on one occasion had seen an unregistered car with tinted windows parked across from her workplace.
COMPLAINTS, BUT NO RESULTS:
Sa and other relatives began collecting documents and making complaints to various agencies, including the NHRC.
An NHRC investigation team obtained the telephone records for the mobile phone that was used by Kietisak and confirmed that the phone calls matched the witness tesimonies, and that he had still been in the police station at 6:30pm, after which time he disappeared, contrary to the police record, which shows that he was released at 4:35pm. The NHRC also found that he was recorded as having been arrested together with another youth, Adul Nathongchai, who later complained that they had been beaten up by the police to obtain forced confessions. Adul had been bailed out and released on July 19. When the NHRC personnel checked the police records of the charges, they found that the photographs submitted in evidence were not clear and that the signatures on the confessions appear to have been forged.
After the NHRC found the gaps in the police version of events, the police changed their story to say that an officer had seen Kietisak outside of the station (after being released) at about 6pm but thinking that he had absconded brought him back and then re-released him at about 7pm.
In September 2006 the NHRC recommended to the government that there be an independent investigation into the case, involving all personnel alleged to have been involved, including senior officers, and that the family of the victim be compensated.
Meanwhile, in June 2005, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) took up the case, but like all other human rights cases in its hands under the former administration, failed to make any progress (see earlier petition: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/dsi_petition/). In October 2006, an officer of the DSI told journalists that it had interrogated and done lie detector tests on 12 police from Kalasin and that so far five of them had been identified as possible perpetrators, but up to now none are known to have been charged. On the contrary, investigating officer Sumitr Nansathit has been promoted.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Persons with petty criminal records are easy prey for police in Thailand, as there is a lack of public sympathy for them, whether or not the accusations have any substance or not. The AHRC has already reported on a number of similar victims accused in ordinary criminal cases, for instance:
Uthai Boonnom and partner (UA-233-2006): abducted, robbed and tortured by police before being charged with drug offences; jailed and no proper investigations despite many complaints and corroborating evidence of allegations.
Anek Yingnuek and friends (UP-004-2005): brutally tortured over alleged robbery case; sentenced to long prison terms; no proper investigations despite many complaints; family of victim being sued for criminal defamation by investigating police officer.
Other torture victims include Ekkawat Srimanta (UP-157-2005) and Urai Srineh (UP-137-2005).
None of the police officers have ever been prosecuted for any offence. In fact, the AHRC is not aware of any Thai police officer ever having been criminally punished for torturing a detainee.
In 2003 more than 2500 persons were killed in the first “war on drugs” operation launched by the government (see “Extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers in Thailand“, article 2, June 2003, vol. 2, no. 3; www.article2.org). Kalasin was the first province that the government declared to have “won” the war and be drug free.
The sister organisation of the AHRC, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) in 2005 released a report entitled “Rule of law versus rule of lords in Thailand” which examined torture and other gross abuses of human rights in Thailand (article 2, April 2005, vol. 4, no. 2). More recently it issued a related report, “Protecting witnesses or perverting justice in Thailand“, which deals with the problems of security for victims of police violence and their families (article 2, June 2006, vol. 5, no. 3).
The AHRC has consistently pointed out that the problems of police abuses in Thailand will not be solved until there is a proper independent agency to receive and investigate complaints against the police, and initiate prosecutions. In 2005 the UN Human Rights Committee also recommended that the government of Thailand set up such an agency [CCPR/CO/84/THA]. But so far there is no evidence that the government has given any consideration to this proposal by the UN. After the interim administration under the military government took over in October 2006, the interim prime minister, General Surayud Chulanont, spent a few days emphasising the need for police reforms to address the many grave problems but did not go beyond some piecemeal measures, such as inviting the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to assist (see AHRC-OL-006-2007).
The AHRC, NHRC and many other groups have also constantly urged the government of Thailand to ratify the UN Convention against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which would bring it into line with international law on torture. The government has said for many years that it would do this but so far despite its repeated assurances it has not. The justice ministry under the former administration had last said that it would try to ratify the convention after September 2006, when the military coup occurred.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the interim justice minister to ask him what progress is being made into this case. Please also ask that the government of Thailand set up an agency to receive and investigate complaints against the police as suggested by the UN and many other agencies and human rights monitors, and ratify the Convention against Torture without more delay.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ________,
THAILAND: What progress into investigations of Kalasin police over alleged torture and extrajudicial killing of Kietisak Thitboonkrong?
Name of victim:
Kietisak Thitboonkrong, 17, grade 11 student, Charnyuthviddhaya High School, residing in Amphur Muang, Kalasin
Identities of alleged perpetrators:
1. Pol. Maj. Sumitr Nansathit, Investigating Officer, Kalasin District Police Station; now promoted to Police Lieutenant Colonel and Inspector in charge of Laotangkham Subdistrict Police Station, Phonphisai District, Nongkhai Province
2. Pol. Maj. Paiboon Tityanwiroj, Arresting Officer, Kalasin District Police Station
3. Pol. Sgt. Suththinant Nonthing, Kalasin District Police Station
4. Other police stationed at Kalasin District Police Station
Date of incident: 22 July 2004
Place of incident: Victim detained at Kalasin District Police Station; body recovered from Baan Bung Khon, Moo 5, Sanchart Subdistrict, Jangharn District, Roi-et Province
I am writing to express my deep frustration that almost three years since a young man was allegedly tortured and killed by the police in Kalasin province, Thailand, and despite firm findings by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand against the version of events given by the police, still investigations are ongoing and not one police officer is known to have been suspended or brought to justice.
According to the information that I have received, on 17 July 2004 Kietisak Thitboonkrong was arrested by personnel of the Kalasin District Police Station on a charge of motorcycle theft. On July 19, he was interrogated at the provincial office of the public prosecutor but did not have a lawyer, or a social welfare officer or psychologist as stipulated by section 133bis of the Criminal Procedure Code.
On the morning of July 22, Pol. Lt. Col. Sampher Indee informed the victim’s grandmother that Surasak Ruensriman, a member of the Kalasin District Municipal Council, had become the guarantor for bail. The grandmother had never heard of him before but accepted his help and at about 4pm she came to wait for her grandson at the police station. Around 5pm the police told her to go home and that they would inform her when he was free to go.
At around 6pm, Kietisak called his grandmother and reportedly told her in a shaking voice that the police intended to take him away and kill him. He said that he was on the second floor and asked his grandmother to come and get him. But when she went to the police station she was reportedly told that her grandson had been released already; however, she claims that she could hear him upstairs and she called out to him. She tried to go up onto the second floor, but the police at first blocked her. Later she was allowed to go up but could not see him; however, she saw his bag on a desk. Around the same time, 6:30pm, Kietisak also called his uncle and urged him to come. The mobile phone that he used on both occasions was in the possession of a witness at the police station, who has confirmed that he was there and that he called his grandmother and uncle with the phone, but does not know what happened to him after that.
At 8pm Kietisak’s grandmother made a missing person complaint at the police station saying that the investigating officer, Pol. Maj. Sumitr Nunsathit, was recorded as having released Kietisak in accordance with the court order issued that afternoon, but the boy hadn’t come home.
Kietisak’s body was uncovered in Sanchart Subdistrict, Roi-et, adjacent to Kamalasai District, Kalasin Province, on July 26. It was sent for autopsy at Srinakarin Hospital in Khon Kaen. The autopsy revealed that Kietisak had died of blood loss to the brain, apparently caused by strangulation with a nylon rope around his neck. In addition, there were many other injuries, including a 1cm cut on his chest, 3cm cuts on both wrists, two bruises on his forehead, and wounds on both elbows, apparently caused by being dragged. Persons who had been present when the body was recovered said that the boy’s feet and slippers were not dirty, although the surrounding area was muddy due to heavy rain. There were also reportedly many other prints around the area that were clearly not those of farmers.
The family then sent the body for further examination at the Central Institute of Forensic Science under the justice ministry in Bangkok. The institute’s examination confirmed that he had been tortured to death. It found many more wounds on the body and that the cuts on the wrists had been caused by the victim being pulled by handcuffs. The victim’s testicles also had been crushed. It concluded that he had died from suffocation caused by the rope being wrapped around his neck several times by someone else, who had then made it to appear that he had committed suicide by hanging.
On July 29, the police called the witness who had leant her phone to Kietisak and allegedly threatened her not to tell the truth about the case. She alleges that after that she was repeatedly shadowed and that on one occasion had seen an unregistered car with tinted windows parked across from her workplace.
A team from the NHRC obtained the telephone records for the mobile phone that was used by Kietisak and confirmed that the phone calls matched the witness tesimonies, and that he had still been in the police station at 6:30pm, after which time he disappeared, contrary to the police record, which shows that he was released at 4:35pm. The NHRC also found that he was recorded as having been arrested together with another youth, Adul Nathongchai, who later complained that they had been beaten up by the police to obtain forced confessions. The photographs submitted by the police in evidence were not clear and that the signatures on the confessions appear to have been forged.
After the NHRC found the gaps in the police version of events, the police changed their story to say that an officer had seen Kietisak outside of the station (after being released) at about 6pm but thinking that he had absconded brought him back and then re-released him at about 7pm.
In June 2005, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) took up the case, but like all other human rights cases in its hands under the former administration, failed to make any progress. In October 2006, an officer of the DSI told journalists that it had interrogated and done lie detector tests on 12 police from Kalasin and that so far five of them had been identified as possible perpetrators, but up to now none are known to have been charged. On the contrary, Sumitr has been promoted.
In September 2006 the NHRC recommended to the government that there be an independent investigation into the case, involving all personnel alleged to have been involved, including senior officers, and that the family of the victim be compensated.
I am aware that Kietisak is by no means the only alleged victim of the police in Kalasin in recent years. Human rights defenders have documented at least 24 cases of alleged abduction and killing of young men there, and it is apparent that this alleged killing is part of a much wider pattern of systemic abuse and violence by the police in the province, and Thailand as a whole.
After the interim government came into power last year, its prime minister, General Surayud Chulanont, promised to make a range of reforms to policing and investigation, including to the DSI. The police officer running the department was removed and replaced by a former judge, and there was also some evidence of possible progress in a number of important human rights cases. But since then, predictably, old patterns have reemerged — the sacked DSI head, Pol. Gen. Sombat Amornvivat, has now taken up a post as deputy commissioner-general of police, and the DSI itself has been put under the control of the Royal Thai Army, through the Internal Security Operations Command. Its credibility rests upon successful investigation, and yet there is no evidence of good progress in this or many other human rights cases in its hands.
Delays in investigation are the cause of gross injustice because they give perpetrators time to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses. This is particularly so where they are serving police officers, as in this instance. The case of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphajit is another example of where constant delays in investigation have allowed the perpetrators to escape justice. There are many others besides, and any reforms of policing in Thailand must place this as a key concern.
I therefore urge that the DSI investigation be properly concluded into the death of Kietisak Thitboonkrong without further delay and a separate credible independent investigation also be conducted into the entire affair, including the apparent mishandling of inquiries from the start by the concerned officials, as recommended by the NHRC. The government of Thailand should also ratify the Convention against Torture as a matter of the utmost urgency, and adopt the recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee from 2005 that it introduce an agency to receive and investigate complaints against police and initiate prosecutions.
I look forward to your intervention on these matters.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
Mr. Charnchai Likitjitta
Interim Minister of Justice
Office of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building
22nd Floor Software Park Building,
Chaeng Wattana Road
Pakkred, Nonthaburi
Bangkok 11120
THAILAND
Tel: +662 502 6776/ 8223
Fax: +662 502 6699/ 6734 / 6884
Email: moj@moj.go.th
PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:
1. General Surayud Chulanont
Interim Prime Minister
c/o Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 280 1404/ 3000
Fax: +662 282 8631/ 280 1589/ 629 8213
E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th
2. Mr. Aree Wongaraya
Interim Minister of Interior
Office of the Ministry of Interior
Atsadang Road
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +662 224-6320/ 6341
Fax: +662 226 4371/ 222 8866
Email: moi@moi.go.th
3. Pol. Gen. Seripisuth Themiyavet
Acting Commissioner-General
Royal Thai Police
1st Bldg, 7th Floor
Rama I, Patumwan
Bkk 10330
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 251 5956/ 205 3738/ 255 1975-8
E-mail: feedback@police.go.th
4. Mr. Pachara Yutidhammadamrong
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Lukmuang Building
Nahuppei Road
Prabraromrachawang, Pranakorn
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +662 224 1563/ 222 8121-30
Fax: +662 224 0162/ 1448/ 221 0858
E-mail: ag@ago.go.th or oag@ago.go.th
5. Prof. Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
422 Phya Thai Road
Pathum Wan District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 2219 2980
Fax: +66 2 219 2940
E-mail: commission@nhrc.or.th
6. Professor Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Attn: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXECUTIONS)
7. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (general) (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
