Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by reports that the authorities in southern Thailand have proposed to give large cash rewards to people who have gunfights with alleged insurgents, where the highest reward is given for killing the person. The AHRC is urging widespread attention to be paid to these reports and for the government of Thailand to publicly reject any such policy, which would only encourage further abuses in the south of Thailand.
According to reports in the media and from other sources, the authorities in the south of Thailand have offered large cash incentives to people in the southern border provinces who kill or injure suspected insurgents. These include amounts of 50,000 Thai baht (USD 1250) for injuring and capturing an alleged insurgent and 100,000 Thai baht for killing.
Several sources have reported that the governor of Pattani Province, Mr. Panu Uthairat, has either proposed or endorsed the policy on the grounds that civilians should be encouraged to learn how to protect themselves, and be allowed to carry guns for the purpose of self defence when they are attacked. Panu had reportedly used a similar strategy in the south, but with smaller amounts of cash involved. Other sources indicate that the policy is being applied to all three of the southernmost provinces, not just Pattani, and is coming from higher up in the government.
Despite the gravity of this information and the fact that such a policy would if implemented greatly worsen the situation of human rights in the south, there has been no clear response on the purported policy by the senior authorities in the government of Thailand.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Human rights abuses in southern Thailand have constantly intensified since the start of 2004. There have been large numbers of unsolved killings and alleged attendant abuses, including torture and disappearances (see the most recent AHRC appeal on Thailand, UA-186-2006). They have been linked to the use of “lists” of suspects by the army (see AS-085-2006 ). The recently-tabled report of the National Reconciliation Commission–headed by a former prime minister–has put the blame for the violence in the south on increased militarisation and urged for troop withdrawals and non-confrontational approaches to resolving the problems there (see related news article: Disarm troops, NRC says).?
There is a history of “shoot to kill” policies in Thailand that encourage security forces and civilians to murder and commit other gross abuses of human rights with impunity. In 2003, the same types of strategies as are being used in the south were used in the first phase of the so-called “war on drugs”, in which over 2500 persons were killed within a few months. Officials then were rewarded bonuses for arresting suspects and seizing narcotics, and the bonuses increased when the alleged offenders lost their lives. The effect of this policy was to encourage a rapid increase in gross human rights abuses by the police and other agencies in Thailand, and greatly undermine the security of the people in the country as a whole, and the rule of law there (see special report, “Extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers in Thailand“, article 2, vol. 2, no. 3, June 2003.)
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the Caretaker Minister of Justice to request clear explanation about the reported policy of encouraging extrajudicial killings and asking him to discourage the application of such a policy in the south of Thailand.
Please join these calls. A sample letter and contact details are given below.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear _____________,
THAILAND: Request for clarification of reports that cash rewards are being given to civilians killed alleged insurgents in southern Thailand
I am very concerned by reports in the media and from reliable sources that the government authorities in southern Thailand are encouraging civilians to injure or kill insurgent suspects for rewards as high as 100,000 Thai baht. The reports also mention that this policy was either proposed or endorsed by Mr. Panu Uthairat, the governor of Pattani Province on the grounds of security reasons, to allow civilians to carry guns for protecting themselves from the insurgent attacks.
Encouraging civilians to injure and kill suspected insurgents and pay rewards for such actions could not be regarded as a practice consistent with a democracy. I am aware this policy follows a similar practice introduced in 2003 in the name of the “war on drugs? Such a practice would only accelerate the spread of extrajudicial killings in the south of Thailand. It might also further damage the rule of law and human rights in the whole country.
Moreover, as you will be aware, a recent recommendation of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) was for the withdrawal of army troops from the region and for non-confrontational approaches to be taken to resolve the problems there. It clearly shows that a policy of rewarding people for killing alleged insurgents will not work.?As the prime minister and the head of the army both agreed to the recommendation of the NRC, I expect that the government policy will follow along these lines.
I request you to urgently clarify in public about the reports that rewards are being given for the killings of insurgents, and if the government has this policy or not. If it is the case, I am very concerned that the government of Thailand has not examined the consequences of applying this policy in the region, both for the south and country as a whole.
I therefore urge you to take immediate steps to seek further information as much as possible, and investigate these reports that the authorities have encouraged civilians to kill or hurt insurgent suspects in the south.
Persistent allegations of forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and torture in the south of Thailand have considerably damaged Thailand’s international reputation on domestic human rights. These facts are among the reasons which prevented Thailand from getting a seat on the newly established Human Rights Council of the United Nations. In this regard I would like to remind you of the recommendation of the United Nations Human Rights Committee to the government of Thailand with reference of the state’s obligation under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
“The Committee is concerned at the persistent allegations of serious human rights violations, including widespread instances of extrajudicial killings and ill-treatment by the
police and members of armed forces, illustrated by incidents such as the Tak Bai incident in October 2004, the Krue Se mosque incident on 28 April 2004 and the extraordinarily large number of killings during the “war on drugs?which began in February 2003?The Committee further notes with concern that this situation reflects a lack of effective remedies available to victims of human rights violations, which is incompatible with article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant (arts. 2, 6, 7). The State party should conduct full and impartial investigations into these and such other events and should, depending on the findings of the investigations, institute proceedings against the perpetrators. The State party should also ensure that?victims and their families, including the relatives of missing and disappeared persons, receive adequate redress. Furthermore, it should continue its efforts to train police officers, members of the military and prison officers to scrupulously respect applicable international standards. The State party should actively pursue the idea of establishing an independent civilian body to investigate complaints filed against law enforcement officials.?lt;/strong> [CCPR/CO/84/THA, 8 July 2005, para.10]
Thank you for your urgent intervention.
Yours sincerely
________________
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
Pol. Gen. Chidchai Wanasatidya
Caretaker 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 or chidchai@moj.go.th
PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:
1. Pol. Lt. Col. Dr Thaksin Shinawatra
Caretaker Prime Minister
Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 280 1404/ 3000
Fax: +662 282 8631/ 280 1589/ 629 8213
E-mail: thaksin@thaigov.go.th or govspkman@mozart.inet.co.th?lt;/font>
2. ACM Kongsak Wantana
Caretaker Minister of Interior
Office of the Ministry of Interior
Atsadang Road
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +662 224-6320/ 6341
Fax: +662 226 4371/ 222 8866
Email: ommoi@moi.go.th?lt;/font>
3. Pracha Terat
Governor, Narathiwat
Narathiwat Provincial Office
Pichitbamrung Road
A. Muang, Narathiwat 96000
THAILAND
Tel: +66 73 514 320 ext. 76027
Fax: +66 73 514 320 ext. 76029
Email: pocnara@pocnara.go.th or narathiwat@moi.go.th?lt;/font>
4. Prof. Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
422 Phya Thai Road
Pathum Wan District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 2219 2980
Fax: +66 2 219 2940
E-mail: commission@nhrc.or.th or saneh@nhrc.or.th?
5. Prof. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Attn: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXECUTIONS)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org or urgent-action@ohchr.org
6. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Melinda Ching Simon
Room 1-040
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)
E-mail: MChingSimon@ohchr.org or urgent-action@ohchr.org
7. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Safir Syed
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE QUESTION OF TORTURE)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
