Amnesty International Report 1999 - Thailand

THAILAND

Although Thailand gave refuge to thousands of refugees from neighbouring Cambodia and Myanmar, thousands more Burmese asylum-seekers were denied access. Burmese asylum-seekers and refugees continued to be arrested for "illegal immigration". One Karen refugee was beaten to death by security forces. The security forces ill-treated demonstrators and detainees. Conditions in places of detention amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Thirteen people were sentenced to death; one person was executed.

The coalition government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai remained in power amid a severe economic downturn, which necessitated a substantial loan from the International Monetary Fund. Legislation establishing a National Human Rights Commission, provided for in the 1997 Constitution, had been drafted but not adopted by the end of the year.

Thailand's report to the UN Human Rights Committee on its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was due in January, but the report had not been submitted by the end of the year.

Throughout the year asylum-seekers from the Karen, Karenni and Shan ethnic minorities fled Myanmar into Thailand. In March and April the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Organization, an armed ethnic minority group allied to the Burmese army, attacked three Karen refugee camps in Tak Province, killing five people and leaving thousands homeless. The Ninth Infantry Division of the First Army continued to prevent thousands of Karen asylum-seekers from entering Thailand, who remained at risk of human rights violations in Myanmar. Some 3,000 Karen asylum-seekers at Htee Wah Do village in Myanmar were still denied permission to cross the border into Thailand after almost two years. The government permitted the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to establish a permanent presence on the Thai-Myanmar border to monitor more than 100,000 refugees on the Thai side. By the end of the year the government had agreed five areas of work for UNHCR : to witness the process of refugee admission; to assist the authorities in registration; to assist and advise the authorities on camp relocation; and to assist refugees on their safe return.

Immigration officials and police continued to arrest asylum-seekers and refugees from Myanmar and other countries for "illegal immigration". Detained asylum-seekers were not given an opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention as required by international standards. In January, nine Burmese asylum-seekers, all members of groups opposed to the Myanmar government, were arrested in Sangklaburi, Kanchanaburi Province, and detained for two weeks before being taken to the Myanmar side of the border. In August, 30 Burmese refugees and asylum-seekers were arrested during a prolonged peaceful protest in front of the Myanmar embassy in the capital Bangkok, held in the immigration detention centre for two weeks, and transferred to the Special Detention Centre at Bankhen Police Academy, where they were believed to be still detained without trial at the end of the year. Throughout the year immigration officials and police arrested and sent to the border tens of thousands of Burmese migrant workers, some of whom were asylum-seekers. There continued to be no legal mechanism in Thailand for seeking asylum.

Some asylum-seekers were ill-treated. In January around 20 Karen refugees, including two women aged over 65, were reportedly beaten and kicked by soldiers when they returned to Mae La camp, Tak Province, after foraging for food. In March Nyan Lin, a Karen refugee, was beaten to death by soldiers because he returned to his camp after curfew. No investigation was known to have taken place, although his widow received financial compensation from the security forces.

The security forces also ill-treated demonstrators and detainees. In January police beat and kicked demonstrators who had given themselves up during a violent workers' demonstration in Samut Prakhan Province near Bangkok. Also in January, three Muslims belonging to the Patani United Liberation Organization, an armed ethnic Malay separatist group in southern Thailand, were reportedly severely beaten while handcuffed and bound by security forces during 10 days of interrogation after their arrest. They were still detained and their trial on charges of treason, murder and possession of weapons was continuing at the end of the year.

The case brought by the families of six suspected drug traffickers shot dead by police in November 1996 was brought to Suphan Buri court in October (see Amnesty International Report 1998), and was still being heard at the end of the year.

Conditions in police lock-ups, immigration detention centres and prisons amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Prisoners were shackled continuously for months at a time, held in solitary confinement for extended periods, or held in extremely overcrowded conditions. Adequate medical care, sanitation, food and water were lacking in many places of detention. In Bombat Piset Prison, where people convicted of drugs offences were imprisoned, there was severe overcrowding and routine beatings. In Bangkwang Prison, prisoners were continuously kept for months in shackles weighing between seven and 15 kilo-grams welded to the ankles. Prisoners in Chonburi Prison were also kept in heavy shackles for prolonged periods and severely beaten.

In October Supoj Pengklai, a policeman who had been convicted of murder in 1996, was executed by firing squad. Thirteen people were sentenced to death for rape, rape and murder, and amphetamine trafficking. At least 52 others were believed to be under sentence of death at the end of the year.

In January and February Amnesty International delegates visited Thailand to research its human rights concerns and hold discussions with government officials. Throughout the year Amnesty International appealed to the government not to forcibly return asylum-seekers to Myanmar. In November the organization condemned the execution of Supoj Pengklai and urged the authorities not to carry out any further executions.