Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by the Working Group on Justice for Peace that the inquest into the deaths of 78 persons in army custody in Narathiwat, southern Thailand in October 2004 has heard that the victims all died from asphyxiation. However, there were other injuries on the bodies that indicated that some had been assaulted before death. Also, the doctors were not able to conduct full autopsies as required by law.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
As the AHRC informed in the last update (UP-051-2007), the inquest into the deaths of the 78 was transferred to the Nonthaburi Provincial court in April to hear the testimonies of doctors who examined the victims’ bodies.
On April 10, Dr Porntip Rojanasunan, the acting director-general of the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) under the justice ministry testified to the court.
According to her testimony, on 25 October 2004 she was called by the authorities to come to the Inkayauthboriharn army camp in Pattani province to do DNA tests on persons that they had taken into custody after a protest outside the Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat.
However, when she arrived at the camp at 9am on October 26 instead she conducted examinations of 24 bodies out of the 78 persons who had been killed while being transported to the camp in army trucks. (At that time the news of the deaths had not yet become public.) (See video footage of the men being loaded on to the trucks and forced to lie face down, one on top of the other: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/takbai/takbai04.wmv)
Dr Porntip said that all of the victims, which were all male and aged from children to elderly, had died from asphyxiation and heat stroke. She also identified nine that had other physical injuries, including bruising and cuts to the face, neck and body, which seem to have been caused by the victims being hit with hard objects. But these injuries were not fatal. Additionally, around 70 per cent of the bodies appeared to have been immersed in water for some time before their deaths. It appeared from the bodies that the hands had been kept tied behind the backs. The bodies showed signs of physical pressure (from having other persons stacked on top of them).
(Prior to loading over one thousand arrestees onto trucks the army had forced them to lie face down on the ground near the police station. See video footage: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/takbai/takbai03.wmv. As the area was small, many were lying on the banks of the adjacent river, partly submerged in the water.)
When asked whether or not the victims would have died had they not been transported to the army camp (in the manner in which they were taken), Dr Porntip said that they would not have died; the lethal injuries that they suffered occurred during transportation.
Dr Porntip also made clear to the court that the deaths were in no way related to the fact that many of the victims had been fasting for the Islamic month of Ramadan. (Officials of the government of the then-prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, had claimed at the time that the victims had been weakened due to lack of food and that this had contributed to the deaths.)
She said that the examinations were conducted in accordance with criminal procedure, in the presence of police and public prosecution personnel. Two teams conducted examinations: one from the CIFS and the other from the police forensics unit; but they did not work together. However, Dr Porntip said that it not possible to do full autopsies on the corpses as no instruction had been received from the Minister of Justice, and only incomplete examinations were conducted on five of the deceased.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Under the criminal procedure law in Thailand the doctor holding the inquest is entitled to conduct a full autopsy. However, in this case it was not done. This is highly peculiar, given the circumstances of death and also that the CIFS ordinarily does full autopsies on bodies brought to its attention. Therefore, in addition to the matters before the court, there is a serious question about the failure to do these autopsies, and why the justice minister also did not give a clear instruction that they be subjected to complete examinations and full details recorded for further legal action.
Three senior army officers were identified by a politically-appointed inquiry as being responsible for the deaths. But they have never been prosecuted. See further: AHRC-OL-008-2007.
FURTHER INQUEST DATES:
The inquest is due to continue on the following dates during 2007 in the Songkhla Provincial Court. We urge human rights defenders and other concerned persons in Thailand to attend as observers. For more information please contact Angkhana Neelaphaijit or Pornpen Khongkhachonkiet, Working Group on Justice for Peace, tel. (66)2 693 4939.
Witnesses for the public prosecution (9am to 4.00pm daily)
June 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29
July 3, 4, 5
Witnesses for the families of the deceased (9am to 4.00pm daily)
August 1, 2, 8, 9, 28, 29, 30
September 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27
October 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25
Special additional hearing at Nonthaburi Provincial Court: 1 June 2007, starting at 9am
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the temporary justice minister of Thailand pointing to the importance of this case and asking why no full autopsies were conducted. Please send copies of the letters to the other persons listed below.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
THAILAND: Post mortem inquest into the deaths of 78 persons (Narathiwat Provincial Court, Case No. Jor 16/2548)
I am informed that on 10 April 2007, Dr Porntip Rojanasunan, Acting Director-General of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, testified in the post mortem inquest of the 78 persons who died on 25 October 2004 after being transported from the Tak Bai District Police Station in Narathiwat Province to the Inkayauthborihan army camp in neighbouring Pattani Province by army truck. The hearing was conducted at Nonthaburi Provincial Court.
According to Dr Porntip, she examined 24 of the 78 male victims herself, being Mahamah Jaemakor (Ref. PorRor 22), Moohamad Zoh (Ref. PorRor 23), Harumingmamah Kurong (Ref. PorRor 24), Itharan Binsakee (Ref. PorRor 26), Bugree Deevama (Ref. PorRor 27), Samaae Moodaw (Ref. PorRor 28), Varom Soo (Ref. PorRor 29), Direk Useng (Ref. PorRor 31), Updullauning Sani (Ref. PorRor 32), Sasudeng Masoh (Ref. PorRor 33), Malorhem Makah (Ref. PorRor 34), Gimplee Mamah (Ref. PorRor 35), Mahamahsawlae Meeyaseng (Ref. PorRor 37), Mamasugree Lataeh (Ref. PorRor 40), Arhamah Sapree (Ref. PorRor 41), Hasae Samaae (Ref. PorRor 42), Arlee Arvae (Ref. PorRor 43), Sumlee Arvaebajoo (Ref. PorRor 44), Harong Patawmah (Ref. PorRor 45), and five unidentified (Refs PorRor 25, 30, 36, 38 & 39), from 10am to 6pm on 26 October 2004.
She testified that all of the victims had died from asphyxiation and heat stroke. She also identified nine that had other non-fatal physical injuries, including bruising and cuts to the face, neck and body, which seem to have been caused by the victims being hit with hard objects. Additionally, around 70 per cent appeared to have been immersed in water for some time before their deaths. It appeared from the bodies that the hands had been kept tied behind the backs of the men. The bodies showed signs of physical pressure, which we can infer was a result of the manner in which they were transferred to the camp. She made clear to the court that the deaths were in no way related to the fact that many of the victims had been fasting during Ramadan as had been suggested by members of the former administration.
Dr Porntip indicated that the examinations were conducted in accordance with section 150 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), in the presence of police and public prosecution personnel. Two teams conducted examinations: one from the CIFS and the other from the police forensics unit; but they did not work together. However, Dr Porntip told the court that it not possible to do full autopsies on the corpses as no instruction had been received from the then Minister of Justice, Pongthep Thepkanjana, and only incomplete examinations were conducted on five of the deceased.
I am gravely concerned that in a case of such manifest importance as this one, proper autopsies were not done. This is particularly so in view of the fact that section 151 of the CrPC makes clear that, “Whenever there is the necessity to find the cause of death, the official holding the post mortem inquest shall have the power to order the dissection of the corpse and then analyse any portion thereof…” or send it for analysis. The importance of an autopsy and the extent to which the concerned authorities have power to ensure that it is conducted properly is underlined by section 153, which allows for a corpse that has been buried to be dug up for the purpose of autopsy. It seems clear from these provisions that autopsies could and should have been done, and yet they were not.
Why was it that there were no autopsies of these 78 persons? Why did the Minister of Justice not give explicit instructions to ensure that there were examinations? These are critical questions that deserve to be answered not only such that justice may be obtained in this case but for the sake of the judicial system in Thailand as a whole.
I therefore urge you, given the testimony of Dr Porntip and her colleagues to the court, to launch a special inquiry to identify and rectify the many seeming irregularities in the handling of this case that have meant that over two and a half years since some 85 persons were killed as a consequence of the actions of the Royal Thai Army on 25 October 2004 as yet not one army personnel or other government officer has been held to account, or even produced for questioning before inquiry officials with a view to the lodging of a criminal case.
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: ommoj@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. 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
3. Khunying Dr. Porntip Rojanansunan
Acting Director-General
Central Institute of Forensic Science
Chaeng Wattana Road
Pakkred, Nonthaburi
Bangkok 11120
THAILAND
Fax: +662 502 8289
E-mail: info-cifs@moj.go.th
4. Prof. Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
422 Phya Thai Road
Pathum Wan District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 219 2980
Fax: +662 219 2940
E-mail: commission@nhrc.or.th or saneh@nhrc.or.th
5. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Attn: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXECUTIONS)
6. Mr. Leandro Despouy
Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
Attn: Sonia Cronin
Room: 3-060
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9160
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR JUDGES & LAWYERS)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
