Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UPDATE (Thailand): Alleged tortured victim withdraws his complaint against the police
 

UPDATE (Thailand): Alleged tortured victim withdraws his complaint against the police

December 2, 2005

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

2 December 2005

[RE: UA-153-2004: THAILAND: Two cases of extremely serious torture and cruel and inhuman treatment by Thai police officers; UP-71-2004: THAILAND: More serious allegations of police torture emerge in Thailand; UP-75-2004: THAILAND: Demand immediate criminal action against police torturers; UP-78-2004: THAILAND: Torture cases transferred to special investigators, but police still free]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
UP-157-2005: THAILAND: Alleged tortured victim withdraws his complaint against the police

THAILAND: Torture; cruel and inhuman treatment; forced confession; impunity; illegal detention; denial of due process rights
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that an alleged victim of physical assault and attempted murder by Thai police has now withdrawn his complaint. Mr. Ekkawat Srimanta sought legal assistance from the Law Society to bring charges of physical assault and attempted murder against 26 police officers from the Ayutthaya province. During this alleged crime, Mr. Ekkawat is said to have had electric shocks applied to his penis.

However, it has now been learned that prior to the hearing of his case on 11 November 2005, Mr. Ekkawat withdrew his lawsuit, giving no explanation as to why. The Law Society was not informed of Mr. Ekkawat’s decision, and only came to know of it when Mr. Ekkawat failed to appear in court. The Law Society has subsequently suspended its legal assistance to Mr. Ekkawat, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.

The AHRC is concerned that the reason for this conclusion is that the police coerced the victim into accepting money to withdraw his case prior to him giving evidence in court, in the same manner as torture victim Mr Urai Srineh (UP-137-2005). With the prospects of being able to lay criminal charges next to none, the prospects of obtaining compensation slim and a long way off, and the prospects of getting adequate and immediate protection also dim and little known, the average victim of torture in Thailand has few choices. Inevitably, the withdrawal of cases under coercion and offers of money is a common occurrence.

Evident from this case is that there is no adequate means by which persons can make complaints of torture and other gross abuses by the police and have them investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted. The government, therefore, must take all necessary steps to remedy this serious institutional gap. One such step, and undoubtedly the most important, would be to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment without delay.

Please write to the Minister of Justice (MoJ) to express your concerns over the lack of effective witness protection in Thailand, which is denying victims justice and allowing for impunity within the police force. Please also urge the MoJ to call for this case to be taken up by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) under his ministry. Irrespective of Mr. Ekkawat withdrawing his case, the DSI and the National Human Rights Commission should continue in their investigations. These investigations should include inquiries as to why Mr. Ekkawat withdrew his case.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Justice calling for this case to be investigated by the Department of Special Investigation under his ministry, and for proper witness protection to be afforded to the victim in order that he feel able to give a true account of what allegedly happened to him.

Suggested letter:

Dear Pol. Gen. Chidchai

THAILAND: Alleged tortured victim withdraws his complaint against the police

I am concerned by the recent action taken by alleged torture victim Mr. Ekkawat Srimanta to withdraw his lawsuit against 26 police officers from Ayutthaya province, who reportedly applied electric shocks to his penis.

Despite having initially sought legal assistance from the Law Society in bringing his perpetrators to justice, Mr. Ekkawat has now withdrawn his case stating that the lawsuit was based on a misunderstanding. The Law Society themselves only came to know of Mr. Ekkawat’s decision when he failed to appear in court for a November 11 hearing.

I am worried that the reason for this is that Mr. Ekkawat was coerced into taking money to contradict his earlier story about what had happened to him. The horrific injuries Mr. Ekkawat sustained during his torture, which were publicly documented in Thailand, make any possible ‘misunderstanding’ doubtful. I am also aware that there have been other cases in Thailand, such as the one involving alleged torture victim Mr Urai Srineh, where police coercion was also assumed to have been used.

In view of the seriousness of this case and the confusion surrounding the circumstances of Mr. Ekkawat’s withdrawal of the suit, I urge you to see to it that the Department of Special Investigation is assigned to investigate, if it has not done so already. I also urge you to ensure that Mr. Ekkawat’s whereabouts are located and that adequate witness protection is given to him in order that he is able to tell the truth about what happened to him without fear of repercussions.

In that regard, I would also request that you move to develop the Office of Witness Protection in Thailand so that it be able to play a greater role in providing security for witnesses and victims of gross violations of human rights in Thailand.

Evident from this case is that there is no adequate means by which persons can make complaints of torture and other gross abuses by the police and have them investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted. The government, therefore, must take all necessary steps to remedy this serious institutional gap. One such step, and undoubtedly the most important, would be to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment without delay.

Finally, I would also call upon the National Human Rights Commission to ensure that it continue to investigate this matter, irrespective of the case being dropped, including establishing as to why Mr. Ekkawat withdrew his case.

I trust that you will take immediate action in this matter.

Yours sincerely,


-------------------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

Pol. Gen. Chidchai Wanasatidya
Minister of Justice
Office of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building
22nd Floor
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
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

2. Pol. Gen. Sombat Amonwiwat
Director-General
Department of Special Investigation
Ministry of Justice Building
Chaeng Wattana Road
Pakkred, Nonthaburi
Bangkok 11120
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 913 7777
Email: dir.gen@sid.go.th

3. 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

4. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-157-2005
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.