THAILAND: Alleged use of torture to obtain forced confessions in southern Thailand

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) previously reported on the alleged torture of two men after their arbitrary arrest and detention in southern Thailand, (see UAC-005-2008). It has since received news of other similar cases involving torture. The latest victims are charged with organizing the Nong Fern Karaoke restaurant bombing in Pattani province.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information from the Working Group and Justice for Peace (Thailand), the three were arrested on 6 December 2007, after being accused of the karaoke restaurant blast. All of them allege that they were tortured at a military unit, camped at Lhak Muang temple (behind the Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani campus). Then they were transferred to the Ingkayuthboriharn Army Camp, and onto the Police Detention Unit at the Yala Police Academy, Yala province.  During their trial they were able to see their relatives briefly (10 December 2007), were taken to the scene of the bombing and also involved in a press conference at Pattani police station (28 December 2007).

During their interrogation, one man describes having been ordered to undress and bathe with cold water, before being taken between a series of very cold or dark rooms for long periods of time, while being pressured to plead guilty. His relatives have reported his physical deterioration, and that his lips were dry and cracked open. Relatives were able to meet with the second man for a few minutes, and found his back covered in bruises. In the third case the victim reported having feet in combat boots pressed at his throat. He told relatives that he had been under pressure to plead guilty, and implicate three of his friends in the blast.

All of them are custody at Pattani prison, but their names, and those of their relatives are being withheld for their own security.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

This incident demonstrates the total impunity with which Thai security forces are operating under the Emergency Decree in the south. The decree was introduced by the former prime minister mid-2005 as part of a heavy-handed approach to the violence in that part of the country, and it grants the army and police even greater powers than under martial law. They cannot be prosecuted for any actions taken under it (see AHRC-PL-056-2006 and read final report).

When the new military regime took power in September 2006 it spoke of easing the conflict in the south, and ending the emergency regulations there (AS-255-2006). Instead it has extended the decree (see further UP-007-2007) until 20 April 2008.

This case also shows how the Emergency Decree results in torture and other serious human rights abuses. State officers are therefore encouraged to keep detainees in secret locations, where they can do whatever they like without fear of being prosecuted. (Please refer to: UA-237-2007, UA-144-2007, AS-024-2007, AS-255-2006, UA-111-2007, UA-034-2007, UA-348-2006)

However, torture is by no means limited to the south of Thailand, and anecdotal evidence suggests that it is widely practiced both by the police and the army across the country. There is no clear law prohibiting torture in Thailand and no effective victim and witness protection program, so alleged perpetrators can easily intimidate complainants into silence. See for example the following cases UP-065-2007: UA-410-2006; UA-233-2006; UP-157-2005; UP-137-2005; UP-088-2005. Please also see torture and death of a man in custody in the region: UA-237-2007, UA-136-2007.

In October 2007, a senior bureaucrat admitted that around 30 per cent of criminal cases in Thailand’s courts were probably fabrications (see AS-261-2006). For instance, in November there was a case against 58 men, who were accused of provoking military force during a protest in Narathiwat province–in which some 85 persons (78 in army custody) died. The case was dropped after the state admitted that there was no evidence against them (see AHRC-OL-060-2006).

Article 32 of the new Constitution of Thailand prohibits torture, and the government has signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). However, there is no specific provision prohibiting torture under the Penal Code of Thailand. The current legal provisions to deal with torture fall far short of that envisaged by the CAT, and don’t effectively address the endemic torture that the AHRC believes persists in the country.

For full details on the decree and violence in the south visit: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/edecree

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Persons accused in narcotics cases are particularly vulnerable in Thailand, as there is a lack of public sympathy for them, regardless of whether the accusations have any substance. In 2003 more than 2500 persons were killed in the government’s first “war on drugs” operation (see “Extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers in Thailand“, article 2, June 2003, vol. 2, no. 3; www.article2.org.)

The sister organisation of the AHRC, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) released a report entitled “Rule of law versus rule of lords in Thailand” in 2005, which examined torture and other gross abuses of human rights in Thailand (article 2, April 2005, vol. 4, no. 2). Another recent report, “Protecting witnesses or perverting justice in Thailand“, deals with the security problems faced by victims of police violence, and their families (article 2, June 2006, vol. 5, no. 3).

ADDITIONAL COMMENT:

These cases all feature ordinary people accused of petty offences–the case for most victims of human rights abuse in Thailand. They are the country’s “bad people,” and popular sentiment cries “easy come, easy go” (see Strange fruit in Kalasin). Deliberate delays in investigations are giving perpetrators time to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses, especially when crimes have been committed by serving police officers. The case of abducted human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphajit is one example of this, but there are many others besides. Any reforms of policing in Thailand must place this as a key concern.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the concerned authorities to call for a proper criminal investigation and take a leading role in the investigations and prosecutions of the police. Please also demand that the government of Thailand lift the Emergency Decree over the south.

The AHRC writes separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Question of Torture calling for the intervention in this case.

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