Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UPDATE (Thailand): Commander testifies that he left for dinner instead of overseeing Tak Bai protest operation
 

UPDATE (Thailand): Commander testifies that he left for dinner instead of overseeing Tak Bai protest operation

August 21, 2007

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

22 August 2007

[RE: UA-143-2004: THAILAND: At least 84 people killed in Southern Thailand on 25 October 2004; UP-65-2004: THAILAND: A list of the victims of the mass killing in Narathiwat province; Immediate international intervention needed; UP-25-2005: THAILAND: Three generals found responsible for mass killing transferred without penalty; UP-094-2006: THAILAND: Trial opens against 58 accused in Narathiwat protest; key witnesses for prosecution go missing; UP-126-2006: THAILAND: Trial continues against 58 accused in Narathiwat protest; key witnesses for prosecution absent or ignorant; UP-201-2006: THAILAND: Important events marking 2nd anniversary of mass killing; UP-051-2007: THAILAND: Inquest into deaths of 78 men going on in Bangkok; UP-056-2007: THAILAND: Doctor tells court that Tak Bai victims died of asphyxiation after assault; no full autopsies done; UP-083-2007: THAILAND: General did nothing to stop mass killing; attempt to intimidate lawyers for victims' families in court]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UP-113-2007: THAILAND: Commander testifies that he left for dinner instead of overseeing Tak Bai protest operation

THAILAND: Mass extrajudicial killing; denial of custodial rights; impunity
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MASS KILLING AT TAK BAI
http://thailand.ahrchk.net/takbai
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information on the postmortem inquest into the deaths of 78 persons in 2004 at Tak Bai, Narathiwat, Thailand. The commander of the dispersal operation testified that he stayed inside the police station for most of the time during the dispersal; and when more than a thousand protesters were being transferred to the army camp, he was dining with the then-prime minister instead of overseeing the transfer. His testimony also confirmed that the protesters were unarmed and some of them were injured during the dispersal.

TESTIMONY OF LT. GEN. CHALERMCHAI
Lieutenant General Chalermchai Wirunpeth was one of the three army officers which were named as responsible for the deaths by an independent commission appointed by the former government (See: Tak Bai and Krue Se Report). He was the commander of the Fifth Infantry Division when the killings took place on 25 October 2004.

He gave testimony on 1 August 2007 in Songkhla Provincial Court. He recalled that he was ordered by General Pisarn Wattanawongkiri, the chief of Fourth Army Region, to arrange the dispersal. However, he stayed in the meeting room of the Tak Bai police station during most of the time of the dispersal. And instead of directing the transfer of protesters to the Inkayuthaboriharn Army Camp, he left the scene and went to dinner with the then-prime minister in the royal palace in the south. He also did not prepare water for the detainees during the transfer, despite of the hot weather.

He confirmed some injuries of the dead could have been caused during the dispersal, as pictures show serious injuries like broken teeth and swollen eyes.

Lt. Gen. Chalermchai did not instruct his officers to use rubber bullets instead of live bullets during the dispersal, although he repeatedly emphasized he had asked his officers to restrain from using firearms. Because he was inside of the police station, he said that he did not know who fired first. He did not indicate whether or not there had been an internal army inquiry into this matter. He also confirmed that the protesters did not carry any firearms or knives.

He accused the protesters of being drug addicts. However, this allegation is not supported by the drug tests conducted on the detainees in Inkayuthaboriharn Army Camp, in which only 13 out of the 1093 detainees tested positive for drugs (See: Tak Bai and Krue Se Report).

TESTIMONIES FROM OTHER WITNESSES
Suriya Mama, owner of a teashop near the Tak Bai Police station, testified on 29 June 2007. During the dispersal, he was 50m away from the protest area. He did not see any protesters carrying arms or under influence of drugs. He believed the gunshots were fired by the police and military because the sound first came out from the direction of the police station.

On 2 August 2007, Sergeant Major First Class Ritthirong Promrit gave evidence in court. He was the driver of a military truck on which five protesters were found dead. He testified that the truck he drove could contain only 25 people, but about 50 persons were on his truck on the date of incident. When he reached the Inkayuthaboriharn Army Camp, five people were found unconscious on the truck.

Several other officers who drove the trucks to the army camp told the court that they were warned about burning tyres and scattered nails on the road, and were told to drive slowly. It was also dark and raining, therefore, the trip was longer than usual and took three to four hours. However, there were in fact no obstacles on the road.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The testimony of Lt. Gen. Chalermchai illustrates the absence of command responsibility in the Thai military. As a commander of the dispersal, he spent most of his time inside the police station and dining with the prime minister instead of carrying out his duty. The culture of impunity and lack of command responsibility persisted even after the truth of the incident became known. Lt. Gen. Chalermchai, together with two other army officers, former Fourth Army Region Commander Gen. Pisarn Wattanawongkiri and his former deputy his former deputy Maj. Gen. Sinchai Nutsathit, were named by the independent commission as responsible for the deaths. Yet, they continued to serve in the army and no disciplinary or criminal action has been launched against them other than to be transferred temporarily (AHRC-OL-060-2006; AHRC-OL-008-2007). Gen. Pisarn and Lt. Gen Chalermchai were in fact promoted after the incident from the position of lieutenant general and major general respectively.

FURTHER INQUEST DATES:
The rest of the hearings will be held in Songkhla Provincial Court. The AHRC urges all human rights defenders and concerned persons in Thailand to please attend. The details are as the follows:
Dates:
August 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
Time: 9am to 4.00pm daily
Venue: Songkhla Provincial Court, Platha Road, Boyang Subdistrict, A. Muang, Songkhla
Case No.: Chor 2/2548


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-113-2007
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.