THAILAND: EMBASSY/STATE DEPARTMENT HUMAN RIGHTS

UNCLAS BANGKOK 001901 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, L/PM, PM/ISO, INR AND DRL PACOM FOR FPA HUSO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MASS MARR PREL PHUM TH HUMAN RIGHTS VETTING SUBJECT: THAILAND: EMBASSY/STATE DEPARTMENT HUMAN RIGHTS VETTING FOR EXERCISE BALANCE TORCH (BT) 05-2 REF: A. STATE 042012 ¶B. BANGKOK 1163 ¶C. STATE 021314 - GUIDANCE ¶D. 03 STATE 34981 - GUIDANCE ¶1. As authorized per Ref A, with the exception of the 25 regiment noted in Para 3 below, Embassy verifies that the Department of State possesses no credible information of Gross violations of human rights by the Royal Thai units identified below to participate in Balance Torch 05-2, as of this date. However please note additional comments from Bangkok in Para. 3. Embassy Bangkok's Political Officer Robert J. Clarke is the verifying officer for the Department of State. ¶2. Selected units are: ROYAL THAI ARMY UNITS Special Warfare Command, 1st Special Forces Division, 1st Special Forces Regiment - (Approx. 20 personnel) 1st Army Area, 1st Infantry Division, 1st Infantry Regiment (Approx. 440 personnel) 2nd Army Area, 3rd Infantry Division, 3rd Infantry Regiment (Approx. 220 personnel) 4th Army Area, 5th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Regiment (Approx. 220 personnel) ROYAL THAI NAVY HQ, Special Warfare Group (Approx. 50 personnel) ¶3. Thai media reports indicated that members of the 25th Infantry Regiment were involved in the April 28, 2004 assault upon militants holding the Krue Sae Mosque in Pattani Province. 32 militants who had occupied the mosque and who were part of a series of regional attacks against Thai Government institutions and murders of Thai officials were killed by Thai special forces who stormed and retook the mosque. An independent commission was set up by the Royal Thai Government to investigate the incident and concluded that excessive force was used in retaking the mosque. The investigation did not/not name the 25th Infantry Division as having committed human rights violations. MG Surapun Wongthai, G-3 for the Royal Thai Army, has assured JusmagThai that no members of the 25th Infantry Division have been implicated, or are expected to be implicated, with excesses associated with retaking the mosque. Embassy Bangkok notes that an added feature of the training these units will receive in this exercise is an expanded Human Rights Training Course. BOYCE