The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP) that a man was shot dead and another was reportedly tortured after being arbitrarily arrested on 18 March 2008 by military task force in Southern Thailand. The relatives of the arrestee witnessed several bruises and remarks on his body.

CASE DETAILS:

On 18 March 2008, Sukrinai Loamar and his father-in-law Sakri Loama came under fire in BaNgoeMuwa village in their home district at 6am, while they were harvesting rubber from trees near the local mosque.

The WGJP, Peace Witnessing Project at the Research Center for Peace Building, Mahidol University, and the Muslim Association Center have all reported on the case. According to these reports, around 60 members of the 39th Special Military Task Force surrounded the village before some opened fire from behind Sukrinai and Sakri without warning. Due to the gun fire, Sakri was shot dead. Sukrinai lay on the ground and was arrested. The military claim that Sukrinai was involved in the beheading of three Buddhists last year in the Samakki sub-district, and other violent incident in Ruesor. However, to date the police have failed to investigate the death of Sakri.

After his arrest, Sukrinai was held in a truck with small barred windows, which is used for detaining a person, stationed inside the military camp on the same day. He was not allowed to pray. Sukrinai's mother was able to visit on March 19 and was shocked to note bruises and red marks on his face. While his relatives waited outside the camp, they were warned that their presence would result in Sukrinai being assaulted further and they left. When they came again on March 20, they were told the same thing and that if they returned again Sukrinai would not be transferred to police custody but would stay where he was and be treated worse than before.

On following morning, March 21 Sukrinai and other detainees were taken to Ingkayuthboriharn camp in Pattani Province. Sukrinai was then taken to Ruesor district police station at about 4pm, where he was able to see relatives and report that he had been tortured the night before. The torture included having his fingernails and toenails pierced with a syringe, his arms and legs scratched with syringe needles, and his back and head beaten. He was hung upside down from a tree for an extended period of time, made to grovel at the feet of the military personnel and forced to drink alcohol. His relatives said that they saw dried blood on his clothes.

Then, Sukrinai was transferred to Tan Yong Police Station, central District, Narathiwat Province on March 22 and his mother reported this incident to the police at Ruesor district Police Station on next day.

The police records that Pol. Capt. Denchai Moonpom has made, which require that an injured person undergo a medical checkup, also acknowledge that Sukrinai had suffered injuries, although failed to give details.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

According to Sukrinai, when he was in the camp of the 39th Special Military Task Force on March 19, he was confined with Imam Yapa Koseng, who later died, and five other people in the truck (See AHRC-UAC-055-2008). Sukrinai claimed that he witnessed Yapa being tied to a chair while naked, then kicked and beaten to the floor repeatedly.
 
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

This case shows how the Emergency Decree which is in effect over Southern Thailand results in serious human rights abuses. 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. State officers are therefore encouraged to keep detainees in various locations and treat them in any manner without fear of being prosecuted. (Please refer to: AHRC-UAC-026-2008, AHRC-UAC-013-2008, AHRC-UAC-005-2008 and UA-237-2007)

This incident also speaks to the total impunity with which the security forces are operating under the Emergency Decree in southern Thailand. It bears a resemblance to a number of other recent killings of young men, including those in Bannang Sata on April 9 (AS-078-2007) and the shooting of 15-year-old Abukoree Kasor by rangers on March 9 (UA-111-2007). In none of the other cases also have any inquiries followed against the accused officers that might lead to legal action (UA-174-2007)

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

For further on human rights issues in Thailand read the 2007 country report of the AHRC.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities below urging them to investigate the torture of Sukrinai Loamar, the death of Sakri Loama and arbitrary arrest and detention

Please be informed that the AHRC has written separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Southeast Asia office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calling for an immediate action in this case.

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