UPDATE (Thailand): Alleged torturer appears as prosecution witness in criminal case against victim in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Court while Thai government delegation to UN Human Rights Committee declares that the accused have been investigated

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: UP-88-2005
ISSUES: Impunity,

[RE: UP-10-2005: THAILAND: Updated information on the torture of the four men by the Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police, UP-04-2005: THAILAND: Repeated torture at Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Police Station; UA-170-2004: Anther case of torture to obtain confession at Ayutthaya Police Station, UP-75-2004: Demand immediate criminal action against police torturers, UP-71-2004: More serious allegations of police torture emerge in Thailand, UA-153-2004: Two cases of extremely serious torture and cruel and inhuman treatment by Thai police officers]

UP-88-2005: THAILAND: Alleged torturer appears as prosecution witness in criminal case against victim in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Court while Thai government delegation to UN Human Rights Committee declares that the accused have been investigated and punished

THAILAND: Torture; Impunity; Need for effective investigation mechanism for torture perpetrators; Government inaction; False information provided by the government to the UN Human Rights Committee?

Dear friends,The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that an alleged torturer, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak Pinsaeng of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District Police Station, appeared as the witness for the prosecution in a criminal case against one of his reported victims. The AHRC has previously reported on this case which involved Mr Anek Yingnuek being allegedly brutally tortured in September 2004 by a group of police officers led by Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak. (See further: UP-10-2005UP-04-2005UA-170-2004UP-75-2004UP-71-2004UA-153-2004).?The officers allegedly tortured Mr Anek by electrocuting him through a bag of ice placed over his genitals, in an attempt to have him implicate a number of friends in a robbery charge.

Astonishingly, at the same time as Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak was appearing in court as a witness for the prosecution in this case, a delegation of the Government of Thailand to the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva declared that the alleged torturers had been investigated and punished. Yet the AHRC is not aware of any criminal investigation having commenced or pending against the accused officers and Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak’s presence in court gives support to this.

The AHRC has also obtained detailed information regarding at least two other victims of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak, Mr Ekkawat Srimanta and Mr Metta Saiphan, which suggests that the officer concerned may be a mentally unbalanced serial torturer. Despite submission of this evidence by the AHRC and family members of the victims to numerous government and quasi-government agencies, we are not aware of any criminal prosecution or pending against the accused officers. Meanwhile, Mr Metta and one other person have been given a ten-year jail sentence based upon a testimony allegedly extracted under torture.

On 20 May 2005, the AHRC was informed in writing by the Deputy Director General of the Department of Rights and Liberties Protection, Mr Kobkiat Kasivivat, that the cases of Mr Anek Yingnuek, Metta Saiphan and others had been transferred to the National Counter Corruption Commission. He also wrote that the accused officers, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak Pinsang, Pol. Sgt-Maj. Winai Kampang, Pol. Snr Sgt-Maj. Wichai Kernumnuay, Pol. Snr Sgt-Maj. Panya Enon, Pol. Sgt. Wasan Mingkwan and Pol. Cpl. Pitak Chamcharas had been removed from duty.

Though the AHRC would welcome this action on the part of Ministry of Justice, it would also highlight the insufficiency of this if after an internal investigation the Royal Thai Police found that the officers identified were responsible for brutal torture. Criminal charges would be the only course of action to take if this were the case.

However, despite Mr Kasivivat’s written guarantees that justice had been served in removing the officers from their duty, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak’s presence as a witness for the prosecution against Mr Anek demonstrates the contrary. Furthermore, when the defense lawyer alleged in court that Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak had tortured his client; the court refused to admit his argument. It did, however, accept the testimony of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak, who also insisted he had not tortured anyone. When asked as to his status as a police officer, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak replied that he was returning to active duty as the case of Mr Ekkawat, which obtained media attention is quiet now.

In light of this we ask that you intervene in this case. Please write to the Minister of Justice to voice your strong condemnation of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak’s court appearance, the Thai government’s inaction in properly investigating the accused officers in this case, and its blatant lie in informing the UN Human Rights Committee that it had investigated and punished the perpetrators, when all evidence suggests that it has not. 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.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Justice and request his intervention in this case.

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SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Mr Suwat

THAILAND: Alleged torturer appears as prosecution witness in criminal case against victim in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Court while Thai government delegation to UN Human Rights Committee declares that the accused have been investigated and punished

I write to voice my strong condemnation that alleged torturer, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak Pinsaeng of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District Police Station, has appeared as the witness for the prosecution in a criminal case against one of his reported victims. I am aware that Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak allegedly led a group of police officers in brutally torturing Mr Anek Yingnuek in an attempt to have him implicate a number of friends in a robbery.

While I would have expected this case to be thoroughly investigated and serious criminal charges laid, the presence of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak as a witness for the prosecution against Mr Anek demonstrates that no such action has taken place. Furthermore, I have learnt that when the defense lawyer alleged in court that Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak had tortured his client, the court refused to admit his argument. It did, however, accept the testimony of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak, who also insisted he had not tortured anyone. When asked as to his status as a police officer, Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak replied that he was returning to active duty as another case allegedly implicating him in further torture, which obtained media attention, is quiet now.

Along with Pol. Lt-Col Suebsak’s apparent return to duty, if indeed he was ever suspended from it, his presence in court strongly contradicts claims made by a delegation of the Government of Thailand to the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva that the alleged torturers had been investigated and punished.

The presence in court of Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak, however, and his admission that he has returned to work, demonstrates that the delegation to the UN and the Ministry of Justice have not told the truth in the actions taken against the police officers. Given the nature of the claims made against these officers, and the brutal torture that took place, failing to investigate these police officers is entirely unacceptable and must be remedied without delay.

Under these circumstances, I write to you calling for your intervention. Pol. Lt-Col. Suebsak’s court appearance, the Thai government’s inaction over the allegations of torture, and its blatant lie in informing the UN Human Rights Committee that it had investigated and punished the perpetrators, when all evidence suggests that it has not, are factors that require your immediate attention. 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 in Thailand. 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. That step would do much to ameliorate the worsening criticism over the situation of human rights in Thailand.

I look to your intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE WRITE TO:

Mr Suwat Liptapanlop
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 2 502 6776/ 8223
Fax: +662 502 6699/ 6734 / 6884

PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. Dr Thaksin Shinawatra
Prime Minister
Government House,
Pissanulok Road, Dusit District,
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +662 280 1404/ 3000
Fax: +662 282 8631/ 280 1589/ 629 8213
Email: thaksin@thaigov.go.thgovspkman@mozart.inet.co.th

2. Pol. Gen. Kowit Wattana
Commissioner-General
Royal Thai Police
1st Bldg, 7th Floor
Rama I , Patumwan,
Bangkok 10330
THAILAND
Tel. +662 205-1313/ 205-220/ 205-1840-9
Fax: +662 251-5956/ 205 3738/ 255 1975-8

3. Professor Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
422 Phya Thai Road
Pathurn Wan District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Fax: +66 2 219 2940
Email: commission@nhrc.or.th

4. Mr Kantathi Suphamongkhon 
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sri Ayudhya Road
Bangkok 10400
THAILAND 
Fax: +662 643 5320
Tel :?(662) 643-5333

5. 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 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type : Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID : UP-88-2005
Countries : Thailand,
Issues : Impunity,