THAILAND: Military personnel kill 15-year old boy, shoot up school

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the killing of a 15-year-old boy by soldiers in southern Thailand. Abukoree Kasor was shot dead while he travelled with his brother-in-law by car on 9 March 2007. After he and the driver were shot, two units of soldiers came in pursuit of them to a school and allegedly fired into it and ransacked its contents. Abukoree died in hospital later. The army accused the men of being insurgents, but there is no evidence to support this claim.

DETAILS OF THE INCIDENT:

According to detailed information gathered by local human rights defenders, on March 9 Abukoree Kasor and his brother-in-law Afandee drove a pick-up truck to collect his sister, Afandee’s wife, from the Phonor Islamic school in Tasei, Yala, to take her to practice for a university graduation ceremony in downtown Yala.

At about 5:30pm some 100 meters short from the school, Afandee had to slow the vehicle to cross an unsteady bridge. Suddenly, bullets started flying into the vehicle. Afandee was hit by glass in the face when a bullet went through the front window; however, he could continue driving the car through the front gate of the school. Abukoree slumped next to him and said that he had been hit in his side.

At the school, the teachers had gathered the students together and closed all the doors as soon as they heard the sound of repeated shooting, from near and far. But when the car came into the compound, some came out to help the wounded boy and man. They transferred them into another car and drove out of the school from a different direction.

Shortly after, two units of around 20 soldiers came into the compound from the front and back sides of the school. One unit was in full khaki uniform. The other unit was in black ranger uniform and wearing rubber sandals. The soldiers demanded to see the two from the car, but a teacher told that they had been sent to the hospital already. The soldiers did not believe him because they had not seen the other car leave, and insisted that the school doors be opened, but the teacher was afraid for the students and refused them. The teacher tried to get other provincial and local authorities to come before anything else happened, but the soldiers forced the students out of the buildings and assembled them on the school sports ground. Altogether around 90 male and 80 female students were forced there. The male students were reportedly pushed and hit by the soldiers, who verbally abused and threatened them. The students allege that they could smell alcohol on the breath of some of the men.

The soldiers then allegedly fired into the school buildings, and shot open the locks on doors before entering. They allegedly went through the school property and belongings of students who were living at the school boarding rooms, and broke and stole some items, such as mobile phones.?

Meanwhile, the injured boy and man had been taken to the local hospital and then transferred to a provincial hospital, but Abukoree, who had been hit in his stomach and side, died in intensive care around 3am the next day, March 10. The bullet that killed him was found to be army-issue.

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS:

On March 10, police and other officials came to interrogate Afandee. They asked him if there were not in fact three others with him and Abukoree, which he denied. They took his statement and told him that after his release from hospital he would have to go to the police station.

Neither the army nor any other officials have at any time denied that the soldiers shot the two victims. At first they claimed that the two were part of a group of insurgents. The Nation newspaper on March 11 quoted an army officer, Col. Akara Thiproj, as saying that the two were being pursued by the rangers when they came under fire. The Matichon newspaper of the same day reported that the two had opened fire from the car on the rangers, who had returned fire and the unit nearby had come to assist.

While in hospital, the police did forensic tests to check for gunpowder on the victims, but the tests did not show anything. Nor did they recover any weapons that they allegedly used. After nearly a week, when Afandee was discharged from the hospital and he went to the police station in Yala, he was told that he was being investigated for obstructing government officials in the course of their duties. The police failed to take action over his claims that he and Abukoree was shot without reason by the soldiers.

The family of Abukoree has lodged complaints about his death. They have said that he was not an insurgent and did not have any record of wrongdoing. They have demanded compensation for his death. The police have recorded a complaint but not as a matter of investigation against the army, despite the fact that there is ample evidence to show that the units of soldiers who pursued the men into the school were the ones responsible. The investigation is pending.

After the school gave a list of broken and stolen items from the students’ possessions, the army gave compensation of over 50,000 Thai Baht (USD 1250) but refused to accept responsibility for any wrongdoing by the troops. The school administration was also given materials with which to make repairs to the buildings that had been fired upon.

About two weeks after the incident, a special investigative committee came to make inquiries and concluded that the two victims had been shot by low-ranking troops. A senior officer said that the responsible personnel would be disciplined, but no further information is so far available about what action if any will be taken.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

In the last three years, the amount of violence in the south of Thailand has worsened immensely. Incidents reported in recent times by the AHRC include extrajudicial killing (UA-348-2006), abduction and torture (UA-034-2007), and abduction and forced disappearance (Where did they go?). There are many other cases of which the AHRC has obtained details but for security reasons is unable to publicise. Human Rights Watch has also recently issued a report on forced disappearances in the region: “It was suddenly like my son no longer existed”. In response, the interim prime minister claimed that there had been “no human rights abuses” since his government took office last year after the September 19 military coup.

When the new military regime took power in September, it placed as a top priority solving of the conflict in the south of Thailand, and also mouthed concerns about the need to end the emergency regulations there (AS-255-2006). But this has never happened. Instead, as the violence has continued it has extended the Emergency Decree over the southern provinces twice and has ordered more troops and weapons to be sent down (AS-039-2007).?

The Emergency Decree over the southern provinces in Thailand was introduced by the former prime minister in mid-2005 as part of a heavy-handed approach to the violent conflict in that part of the country. It grants even wider powers to the army and police than martial law and gives them complete impunity from prosecution for any actions taken under it, prompting the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings to say that it makes it possible for them to “get away with murder”. Independent bodies that have studied the situation in the south have recommended that it be withdrawn, including the prominent National Reconciliation Commission. To see details of these and other documents please visit: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/edecree.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write the relevant Thai authorities and demand a full and proper investigation of this incident. Please ask them to compensate the family of the victim and demand that the government lift the Emergency Decree and permit the UN expert on extrajudicial killings to visit the country.

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