PRISONER ABUSE ALLEGATIONS REPORTEDLY ON THE RISE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 000710

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MLS; DRL FOR BUCKLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR KDEM TH
SUBJECT: PRISONER ABUSE ALLEGATIONS REPORTEDLY ON THE RISE
IN SOUTHERN THAILAND

REF: A. BANGKOK 502 (ACTIVISTS FRET)


B. 07 BANGKOK 4201 (PRISONER ABUSE ALLEGATIONS)

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission James F. Entwistle, reason 1.4 (
b) and (d).

SUMMARY
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1. (C) NGO and civil society groups allege military units in
the South abused detained suspected militants on dozens of
occasions since 2007, including the widely-reported alleged
abuse of nine student activists in Yala. While we have yet
to see hard evidence of these abuses, some NGOs claim to have
gathered information and evidence which may prove to be
credible. These NGOs plan to submit this data to the U.N.
Human Rights Council next week. We have encouraged human
rights groups to fairly and thoroughly document any alleged
abuses, and will continue to urge RTG officials to ensure
that their counter-insurgency efforts comply with
international standards. End Summary.

REPORTS OF TORTURE
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2. (C) Human rights NGOs have increasingly alleged lately
that Royal Thai Army units in southern Thailand are abusing
suspects detained on suspicion of involvement in the
insurgency in the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and
Songkhla. While the military has been accused of abusing
and possibly torturing southern detainees in the past (ref
A),in recent weeks, NGOs and civil rights activists have
alleged that military units now abuse detainees with greater
frequency. NGOs have not yet provided hard evidence
documenting an increase in abuses, but there is clearly a
much increased level of concern among normally responsible
NGOs.


3. (C) On February 16, a representative of the Muslim Lawyers
Centre, a group representing Thai Muslim attorneys, told a
seminar that since July 2007 his organization has documented
59 cases in which the security forces had allegedly tortured
suspected insurgents who had been detained under provisions
of the emergency decree or martial law; two of these
incidents reportedly resulted in deaths. The Centre alleged
that in most incidents, security officials abused or tortured
suspected insurgents within three days of their arrest.
Detainees alleged they had been forced to sleep in a cold
room, forced to eat rotten food, and were been beaten,
brutalized, or otherwise assaulted while in detention.
According to media reports, the Centre alleged that the Yala
11th Taskforce of the 41st Paramilitary Regiment, Yala's Wang
Phaya Camp, and Pattani Province's Ingkayut Borihan Camp were
the sources of most of the allegations. (Note: There have
been previous allegations of similar abuse at Ingkayut
Borihan in particular
-- see ref B. End note.)


4. (C) On February 29, a representative of the Muslim Lawyers
Centre told us that the group had documented in a report
these and other abuses by security forces in the South.
According to the Centre, the allegations of abuse have come
directly from the detainees, their lawyers, or their
relatives. (Note: The Centre has agreed to provide us this
report within the next several days. End note.) The Centre
contact told us the organization had received 102 allegations
of abuse in the first two months of 2008 compared with 119
abuse allegations in all of 2007. The Centre plans to join
with other human rights NGOs to present their findings to the
United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva during the week
of March 10-14. On March 3, Human Rights Watch's Sunai
Phasuk told us he would travel to the South in March to also
document government abuses in the region. According to
Sunai, the present human rights situation in the South was
"worse than under the Thaksin government."

STUDENTS ARRESTED, ALLEGEDLY TORTURED

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5. (SBU) In February, the media widely reported allegations
that the Thai military had abused nine students attending the
Yala Commercial School and Yala Rajabhat University.
According to media and NGO reports, on January 27 and 28
plain-clothed army officers raided dormitories and arrested
students who had reportedly provided legal and human rights
education to local villagers. On January 31, relatives who
were permitted to visit some of the arrested students at
Ingkayut Borihan alleged that interrogators "beat the
students with heavy objects and kicked in their faces."
Bruises from their wounds were reportedly clearly visible.
Military officials alleged in a February 4 Bangkok Post
report that four of the students were members of a militant
organization. The students were subsequently released due to
a reported lack of evidence to prosecute them. A Yala
student group and some human rights NGOs allege the students
were, in fact, arrested for their activism in the community.


6. (SBU) In a separate incident, a human rights NGO alleged
that a religious teacher was abused following his detention
on a February 5 raid at the Rungrot Witthaya School in
Songkhla Province. The NGO alleged that members of the Thai
Army's 43rd Special Forces Unit kicked and punched the
teacher with a plastic bag over his head to induce a
confession of involvement with the insurgency. His eardrums
were allegedly punctured as a result of the abuse. The
teacher was reportedly later transported to Ingkayut Borihan,
where interrogators allegedly beat him again before releasing
him on February 7. In all of these cases, there have been no
reports of the military investigating units or soldiers
involved in the alleged abuse.

HUMAN RIGHTS NGOS MOBILIZE
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7. (U) In response to these reports, a National Human Rights
Commissioner issued a statement on February 11 indicating
that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had received
approximately 40 reports of abuse and disappearances since
2007, including reports of four deaths (three of them in the
South) as a result of abuse. The NHRC revealed that most
abuse allegedly takes place within three days of arrest, when
military regulations prevent detainees from meeting with
lawyers or relatives. The NHRC urged the government to
publicly identify arresting units and stressed that the army
should cooperate with relatives and the NHRC to facilitate
visits to arrested individuals. The NHRC urged the
government to promptly investigate allegations of abuse.

COMMENT
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8. (C) Reports of detainee abuse in southern Thailand are not
new; we still have yet to see hard evidence indicating a
measurable increase in the abuse of suspected insurgents
detained in the South. Nevertheless, the perception by
usually reliable NGOs is that the abuse of southern
detainees, if not increasing, is at least undiminished and
taking place with impunity. We have encouraged our contacts
in the human rights community to document alleged abuse
fairly and thoroughly so the veracity of these allegations
can be independently verified to the maximum extent possible.
We will continue to work closely with human rights
organizations to monitor the situation and we will continue
to encourage government officials to ensure their
counterinsurgency efforts meet internationally-accepted human
rights standards.
JOHN