THAILAND MUST PROSECUTE SOLDIERS WHO KILLED IMAM

By D.Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Jan 8 (Bernama) -- Prosecuting the soldiers who killed an imam in
army detention in the restive south will be a test of the administration of new
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has vowed to bring justice to
Thailand's conflict-ridden southern border provinces, the Human Rights Watch
(HRW) said.

Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said that on Dec 25 last year the
Narathiwat court ruled after an inquest that Imam Yapa Kaseng, a 56-year-old
Muslim religious leader, was tortured and killed by soldiers while being
interrogated on March 20-21 at the army's 39th Taskforce camp in Rue Soh
district, Narathiwat province.

He said that Abhisit, in a policy statement delivered on Dec 30, stressed
that justice would be integral to resolution of the conflict in the southern
border provinces, which has claimed more than 3,500 lives since January 2004
when suspected separatists resumed their campaign to seek indepedence for the
Muslim-majority provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.

"The court gave a brave and unprecedented verdict in the inquest, putting
its finger on torture and other abuses committed by Thai security forces. This
is not an isolated case of rogue soldiers, but part of a broad pattern," he said
in a report released by the new York-based group today.

Adams said it was Abhisit's turn to show political courage and ensure the
prosecution of the soldiers and officers who had ordered and carried out the
killing.

The inquest determined that the cause of Imam Yapa's death was blunt-force
trauma, including rib fractures from the front, side, and back that punctured
his lungs while bruises and wounds were found all over his body, including his
eyes, forehead, and lips.

HRW said the torture and killing of Imam Yapa highlighted the broader
problem of ill-treatment of Muslims in army custody during operations against
separatist insurgents in the south.

Although every soldier in the southern border provinces carries a
code-of-conduct booklet produced by the Internal Security Operations Command
(ISOC), many former detainees interviewed by HRW said that they were tortured by
interrogators, including soldiers in uniform and in plain clothes, at
district-level camps and at the army's main interrogation centre at
Ingkayuthboriharn Camp in Pattani province.

Human rights abuses have regularly occurred during the government's
counter-insurgency operations since Thaksin Shinawatra, the then prime minister,
ordered the army to use heavy-handed tactics to address attacks on army camps in
2004. Abuses escalated after the army star ted its "Operation
Southern Defender" (Yuttakarn Pitak Daen Tai) in 2007.

Adams said that as a priority, the new government, which came to power last
month, needed to overhaul the counter-insurgency strategy that encouraged
abuses, impose effective civilian control over the army, and provide efficient
redress for victims of abuses.

"By relying on repressive measures and restrictions on fundamental human
rights, the Thai authorities have created a fertile ground for the insurgency to
expand. The daily situation in the south is a tragic replay of abuses and
violence committed by both sides...the lives and rights of people are constantly
at risk in this devastating conflict," he said.
-- BERNAMA