Rights lawyers accuse junta of torturing detainees
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A human rights lawyers' group has accused the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) of torturing and verbally abusing at least 14 of its detainees since the May 22 coup.
NCPO deputy spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree, however, called the allegations “improbable”, saying that those summoned or detained by the junta were in no way treated like people who had done something wrong.
“Most people in society have no doubts. Allegations can be proved through forensic science. It’s only the lawyers’ group that has different information. Are they listening to one-sided data or are they just biased?”
The group, known as the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), said in a report released yesterday that most of the tortured detainees were red-shirt guards. The report was titled “100 Days after the Coup”.
“At least 14 of them have been subjected to both physical torture and verbal abuse, forcing them to confess to allegations that they had a hand in creating unrest in different protest sites or to implicate other persons,” the group stated.
The TLHR also called on the NCPO to introduce an independent and trustworthy fact-finding process under Thailand’s international obligations to look into alleged cases of rights violations. However, the report did not list the names of the alleged victims of torture.
“It is for their safety,” Yaowalak Anuphan, a key member of the group, told The Nation. She said the identities would be revealed if the committee established by the junta to investigate the matter was trustworthy enough.
The report alleged that at least two persons had been tortured using electric wires, while others were kicked and beaten up.
The group also called on the NCPO to stop curbing freedom of expression and urged the junta to revoke martial law as well as to stop putting civilians through military court.
The report stated that though the NCPO had stopped summoning people via television, it still allegedly summoned people on the phone, and though anti-coup protests had subsided, people were still being arrested and prosecuted.
As for those being held on lese majeste charges, the group said the chance for these people to obtain bail under the military regime was slim, and it also predicted more arrests under that law.
The TLHR also issued a warning that the junta might exercise its power under Article 44 of the provisional constitution, making it impossible for checks and balances to exist.
