The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the raid on the Rung Roj Wittaya school by police and military forces on 5 February 2008 that led to the arrest and detention of two teachers, one of whom was tortured by the authorities.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the open letter by Nasrudin Kaji, administrator of Rung Roj Wittaya School)

Rung Roj Wittaya School is an Islamic private school in Banna Sub-district, Jana District, Songkhla Province teaching both a secular and an Islamic religious curriculum. It has 726 students and 53 staff members.

On 5 February 2008, 200 Border Patrol Police (BPP) and Rangers (a paramilitary group -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thahan_Phran) raided the school; rounding up persons in the school, searching the building, teacher and student living quarters in an attempt to find evidence connecting persons within to recent bombings and shootings in the area.

The group of military personnel split up; one unit searched the surrounding buildings questioning nearby residents. Nothing was reported to have been found as a result of these enquires and throughout the questioning the forces failed to state the purpose of the searches.

A second unit entered the school office to find a lone teacher. They ordered him to call the school administrator (a.k.a. the permit holder). When he was unable to contact the school administrator he was pressured in an aggressive manner to continue. Other members of the BPP entered the student dorms.

One of the units proceeded to the house of the school administrator and found his wife and 1 year old daughter of the administrator as well as Mr. Aminudin Kaji, a teacher at the school. The forces abrasively pushed their way into the school administrator's house. When Mr. Aminudin attempted to negotiate with the BPP he was taken to the school office and forcibly arrest along with one other teacher and two students. The second teacher, Mr. Abdulrohman Sorman, had entered the office to enquire into the motives of the BPP. The BPP demanded he show his ID card when he failed to immediately produce this he was arrested.

The two students initially arrested with the teachers were released but Mr. Abdulrohman and Mr. Aminudin were taken away, weapons pointed at them. The two men were taken to the forty-third Taskforce Military Base, Natawee District.

The BPP and paramilitary forces failed to show any documents authorizing the operation or give reasons for the arrest.

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS:

Mr. Abdulrohman was release at 6pm on 5 February 2008. Mr. Aminudin remained in custody. His relatives received a call at 2pm on February 6 requesting them to collect him. Suspicious of the responses they received to inquiries about his well-being his relatives called the Ingkayuthborihan camp. The camp confirmed that he had been transferred there. Upon arriving at the Ingkayuthborihan camp his relatives were not permitted to see him.

His relatives received a subsequent call at 6pm on February 6 stating that Mr. Aminudin had been transferred to Provincial Police Region 9. His family however did not believe this was the case. He was released on February 7 at 9am from Ingkayuthborihan camp.

DETAILS OF INCARCERATION:

Following his release Mr. Aminudin described the torture he endured during his incarceration. He was detained at the forty-third Taskforce Military Base, Natawee District where 5 men carried out an interrogation during which he was tortured.

He was assaulted. His ears were boxed causing damage to his hearing. Following his pleas stating that he had lost his hearing in his left ear the officers threatened to make him deaf in both ears. The officers attempted to force him to confess to the shooting of a teacher in the Saphanmaikaen Sub-district and to bomb blasts at Nam Kem village, Banna Sub-district. He continued to deny his involvement in both incidents. As a result the officers beat him in between each question all over his body including his back and waist. When winded by the blows and complaining about not being able to breathe the officers responded by standing on his windpipe at least three times whilst accusing him of being part of the insurgency. He also had a gun held to his head and a knife held to his throat. At one point, according to Mr. Aminudin, he was given two options to either die in custody or to die outside--the officers said that he would be given a gun and told to run.

The officers tied a blanket into a wad and hit Mr. Aminudin over the head with it over 50 times, the use of a soft object fails to leave an obvious mark but with repeated use can do significant damage. His head was also tied in a plastic bag three times and an officer wearing gloves strangulated him. The ordeal is estimated to have lasted from 11pm on the night of February 5 to 2:30am on the morning of January 6 before Mr. Aminudin was sent to Ingkayuthboriharn.

Mr. Aminudin's medical report found that his left arm and head were swollen. He sustained injuries to his arms, torso and back. He suffered from headaches and ringing in both ears. His ear drums in both ears were broken.

His relatives sent him at 4pm on February 7, following his release, to Jana Hospital, which confirmed the damage done to him and sent him to Hatyai Hospital to receive further treatment. Mr. Aminudin and his family attempted to launch a case with the Jana District Chief officer and Chief of Jana District Police station, who told them to petition the Jana District Center for Justice and Fairness before launching their complaint. They also encouraged them to lodge a complaint in Natawee District Police station, the location of the incident. Mr. Aminudin and his family petitioned the Jana District Center for Justice and Fairness and then lodged their complaint to Jana District Police station.

Colonel Prayong Klahan, Commander of the Taskforce 4th, announced that investigations were being conducted by the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC)--4th Region, the Civilian Police Military (CPM) joint headquarter and the Jana District Police station by Lieutenant Colonel Tavisak Kam-phud.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Over 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 publicize. 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. In a recent case police and military forces where involved in a sho! oting at a school that led to a one man being injured and the death of a15 year old boy (UA-111-2006),

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.