THAILAND: Police officer attempts to rape migrant worker 

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information about an attempted rape in Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand, by a local police officer on October 15. The officer, who was drunk at the time, allegedly forced his way into the house and tried to commit rape after extorting money from the woman the day before.

After the incident, the victim fled back to Burma without lodging a formal complaint. Therefore, it is difficult for a full inquiry to be opened. However, a complaint has been lodged on behalf of the victim with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand, and it is also possible to call on the Ministry of Justice to request that an investigation be conducted into the allegations.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION

Victim: Ma Thet Thet, 18, a Burmese migrant worker
Alleged perpetrator: An unnamed officer of the Mae Sot District Police Station
Date of incident: 15 October 2005
Place of Incident: Mae Sot town, Tak Province

According to information gathered by local human rights workers and made available to the AHRC, on 14 October 2005 Ma Thet Thet was going with two friends to buy some things in Mae Sot market. On the way they were met by two uniformed police, who instructed them to show their documents. The three had temporary residence permits, but no work permits. The police accused them of being in Thailand illegally, and handcuffed Ma Thet Thet’s two friends.

The police allegedly forced the three to take them to one of their houses, situated in the Islamic quarter of Mae Sot, near the Bunkum crossroads. There they demanded that each of them give 1000 Thai baht (USD 25). The young women said that they did not have that much and finally gave the police 1000 baht for the three of them, after which the police left.

However, at 1pm on the same day the police reportedly came back to the house and looked for the women. They spoke with the person at the house and told everyone to leave except for Ma Thet Thet. Other neighbours came and pressured the police to leave.

At 10:30am the following day, October 15, one of the two police came back in civilian clothes, carrying a bottle of alcohol and apparently drunk. He demanded to be let into the house but the resident refused. He forced the door open and came inside. Again some of the neighbours came and pressured him to leave.

Around 6:30pm the police officer came back a second time, still drunk. He again demanded to be let in. Daw Ma Naw Mar, an older woman who was in the house, told him that Ma Thet Thet had gone back to Myawaddy, on the Burmese side of the border. The police officer became angry and allegedly threatened Daw Ma Naw Mar by pulling out his gun and cocking it, threatening to arrest her. At that time a bullet fell onto the ground at the front of the house. The officer tried to find it but as it was already dark and he was drunk he could not see it. He allegedly hit Daw Ma Naw Mar in the face three or four times before forcing himself inside. He started searching the house and breaking property. He found Ma Thet Thet and attempted to rape her, but Daw Ma Naw Mar intervened and was able to stop him, at personal risk. After that the officer left.

Daw Ma Naw Mar went to Mae Sot District Hospital to have her injuries treated after being hit by the policeman, and a medical record exists of her visit. However, when she was at the hospital she was reportedly spoken to by a security staff person who told not to report about the incident to anyone and offered her money to stay quiet. He also reportedly threatened her by saying that she would be harmed by the police if she did not keep silent.

The next morning the bullet was recovered from the front of the house and is in the possession of a local group, together with the medical record taken by Daw Ma Naw Mar. Both she and Ma Thet Thet have gone back to Burma.

On October 27 a complaint was lodged on behalf of the victim with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand, requesting that it open an investigation into the incident.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

In past years law enforcement officials in Thailand failed to investigate and prosecute in cases of rape and murder perpetrated against migrant workers. They have also had absolute impunity to extort money or otherwise commit abuses against these persons, especially undocumented workers. However, in recent times there have been greater efforts to hold perpetrators of criminal acts against migrants, including officials, accountable for their actions. For instance, in 2003 the police were pressured to act in a rape and murder case of a migrant factory worker after protests by other workers led to the arrest of the perpetrator (UA-44-2003). An air force officer and his wife are facing charges over the brutal murder of another migrant worker (UP-80-2004). Also, this year for the first time a village headman and his associates were found guilty of the murder of six migrant workers whom they openly led away and killed in 2003 (AS-18-2003): the AHRC is at present awaiting detailed documentation on that decision by the court.

Despite the above developments, it is still extremely difficult for migrant workers and their supporters to be able to lodge complaints and get investigations conducted in cases where the police are alleged perpetrators or otherwise complicit. The AHRC and its sister organization the Asian Legal Resource Centre have repeatedly pointed to the lack of a procedure for complaints about the police in Thailand as a primary obstacle to the effective redress of human rights violations in the country (see for instance in the report to the UN Human Rights Committee, Institutionalised torture, extrajudicial killings and uneven application of law in Thailand). In this case, the victim and the main witness have both fled back to Burma, out of fear of the police and lack of expectation that it is possible to lodge a complaint.

SUGGESTED ACTION
Please write to the director of the Department of Rights and Liberties Protection under the Ministry of Justice asking his department to investigate the allegations. Although the accused officer was not identified by name, district police records would be able to reveal which officers were posted in the area of the market on October 14, and there would have been many witnesses to the initial arrest of the three young women, as well as those in the neighbourhood on that day. A copy of the letter may be sent to other agencies, including the NHRC, or a separate letter sent to the NHRC directly, as a complaint has already been lodged there.