UPDATE (Thailand): Alleged torturer appears as prosecution witness in criminal case against victim in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Court while Thai government delegation to UN Human Rights Committee declares that the accused have been investigated

[RE: UP-10-2005: THAILAND: Updated information on the torture of the four men by the Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police, UP-04-2005: THAILAND: Repeated torture at Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Police Station; UA-170-2004: Anther case of torture to obtain confession at Ayutthaya Police Station, UP-75-2004: Demand immediate criminal action against police torturers, UP-71-2004: More serious allegations of police torture emerge in Thailand, UA-153-2004: Two cases of extremely serious torture and cruel and inhuman treatment by Thai police officers]

UP-88-2005: THAILAND: Alleged torturer appears as prosecution witness in criminal case against victim in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Court while Thai government delegation to UN Human Rights Committee declares that the accused have been investigated and punished

THAILAND: Torture; Impunity; Need for effective investigation mechanism for torture perpetrators; Government inaction; False information provided by the government to the UN Human Rights Committee?

Dear friends,The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that an alleged torturer, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak Pinsaeng of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District Police Station, appeared as the witness for the prosecution in a criminal case against one of his reported victims. The AHRC has previously reported on this case which involved Mr Anek Yingnuek being allegedly brutally tortured in September 2004 by a group of police officers led by Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak. (See further: UP-10-2005, UP-04-2005, UA-170-2004, UP-75-2004, UP-71-2004, UA-153-2004).?The officers allegedly tortured Mr Anek by electrocuting him through a bag of ice placed over his genitals, in an attempt to have him implicate a number of friends in a robbery charge.

Astonishingly, at the same time as Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak was appearing in court as a witness for the prosecution in this case, a delegation of the Government of Thailand to the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva declared that the alleged torturers had been investigated and punished. Yet the AHRC is not aware of any criminal investigation having commenced or pending against the accused officers and Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak’s presence in court gives support to this.

The AHRC has also obtained detailed information regarding at least two other victims of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak, Mr Ekkawat Srimanta and Mr Metta Saiphan, which suggests that the officer concerned may be a mentally unbalanced serial torturer. Despite submission of this evidence by the AHRC and family members of the victims to numerous government and quasi-government agencies, we are not aware of any criminal prosecution or pending against the accused officers. Meanwhile, Mr Metta and one other person have been given a ten-year jail sentence based upon a testimony allegedly extracted under torture.

On 20 May 2005, the AHRC was informed in writing by the Deputy Director General of the Department of Rights and Liberties Protection, Mr Kobkiat Kasivivat, that the cases of Mr Anek Yingnuek, Metta Saiphan and others had been transferred to the National Counter Corruption Commission. He also wrote that the accused officers, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak Pinsang, Pol. Sgt-Maj. Winai Kampang, Pol. Snr Sgt-Maj. Wichai Kernumnuay, Pol. Snr Sgt-Maj. Panya Enon, Pol. Sgt. Wasan Mingkwan and Pol. Cpl. Pitak Chamcharas had been removed from duty.

Though the AHRC would welcome this action on the part of Ministry of Justice, it would also highlight the insufficiency of this if after an internal investigation the Royal Thai Police found that the officers identified were responsible for brutal torture. Criminal charges would be the only course of action to take if this were the case.

However, despite Mr Kasivivat’s written guarantees that justice had been served in removing the officers from their duty, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak’s presence as a witness for the prosecution against Mr Anek demonstrates the contrary. Furthermore, when the defense lawyer alleged in court that Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak had tortured his client; the court refused to admit his argument. It did, however, accept the testimony of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak, who also insisted he had not tortured anyone. When asked as to his status as a police officer, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak replied that he was returning to active duty as the case of Mr Ekkawat, which obtained media attention is quiet now.

In light of this we ask that you intervene in this case. Please write to the Minister of Justice to voice your strong condemnation of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak’s court appearance, the Thai government’s inaction in properly investigating the accused officers in this case, and its blatant lie in informing the UN Human Rights Committee that it had investigated and punished the perpetrators, when all evidence suggests that it has not. Evident from this case is that there is no adequate means by which persons can make complaints of torture and other gross abuses by the police and have them investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted. The government, therefore, must take all necessary steps to remedy this serious institutional gap. One such step, and undoubtedly the most important, would be to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment without delay.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Justice and request his intervention in this case.

—————————————-

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER