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Urgent Appeals Desk, Asian Human Rights Commission
During the last week of January 2002 at least 21 persons of Burmese origin were
massacred in a single incident on the Mae Lamao stream, Mae Ramat district,
within the vicinity of Mae Sot, Tak province, Thailand. As none of the victims
were Thai the local authorities initially ignored the case, however were
pressured to act after word of the terrible event spread. The National Human
Rights Commission of Thailand has since became involved.
To date the case has been characterised by a lack of
transparency, inconsistent accounts, and the absence of genuine effort directed
towards capturing and bringing the murderers and masterminds to justice. Since
early February it has virtually disappeared from public view. The Asian Human
Rights Commission has issued an Urgent Appeal to keep attention focused on the
event in an effort to bring pressure to bear on the authorities concerned to
seek and hold responsible all those complicit.
BACKGROUND
Among the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who
have entered Thailand illegally from neighbouring countries, the vast majority
are from Burma. Most of these people enter at various points on the border, and
many again are employed in a multitude of industries and activities in border
areas. These people are extremely vulnerable to all types of human rights
violation, ranging from denial of wages and police extortion to assault, rape
and murder.
Mae Sot region is one of the largest entry points and
areas of employment for Burmese coming to Thailand. It is also an area where
Burmese are murdered routinely: in the five districts around and including Mae
Sot, four to five people of Burmese origin are killed weekly. As the police and
immigration authorities are involved in the trade of Burmese across the border,
as well being active participants in various human rights violations, they do
not pursue the perpetrators of crimes against Burmese victims. The widespread
mentality that crime need not be investigated unless the victims are Thai people
is reinforced by a chauvenist mentality ingrained through distorted history
teaching that Burmese are the historical enemies of Thai people.
CASE DETAILS
In the last days of January 2002, villagers from Wangpha,
Mae Ramat district, came across 14 bodies in the Mae Lamao stream, close to
their village. The bodies were in two groups of seven, and included males and
females aged from around 14 to 45. They were stripped naked, hands tied behind
their backs, with stab wounds to the bodies and necks. After encountering the
first group the village head is understood to have reported the matter to the
local police. As the police were unaware of the unusually large number of bodies
involved they treated it as a “normal?killing of Burmese people, and
suggested the villagers float the bodies away from the village, so that they
would travel downstream into the Moei River. In this area the Moei forms the
border between Thailand and Burma.
The villagers floated the bodies away as suggested,
however due to the large number of victims and nature of their deaths news of
the killings spread, causing the provincial police chief to order the local
police to recover the bodies. Seven corpses were located in the Moei River on
February 2, however contrary to reports that the bodies were subject to autopsy,
it is understood that the police cremated seven bodies there. On February 4 and
6 another three bodies were encountered, and these were in fact sent to the Mae
Sot hospital for autopsy, which is reported to have revealed nothing except that
the people were certainly of Burmese origin and were killed some days before
they were discovered. The three additional bodies brings the total positively
identified to 17. However reliable sources indicate that another four corpses
from the same massacre were found in another nearby stream, bringing the total
to at least 21.
On February 8 a network of local NGOs urged the National
Human Rights Commission of Thailand to take action on the case. A team from the
Commission finally visited the area of the atrocity during the first week of
March. To date it has not issued any public report on the case, however on March
17 the Commissioner who led the mission, Jaran Ditha-apichai, publicly urged the
Ministry of Interior to investigate the deaths in order to lead to the arrests
of those responsible.
Reports of the event have lacked clarity and consistency,
and since early February have virtually ceased altogether. The number of
victims—and circumstances under which they were found—have fluctuated. The
stories given by local officials have lacked consistency and credibility. The
police have focused on emphasising that Thai people were not involved. Media and
official discourse has oriented towards the possible motive for the murders and
speculation that the victims were involved in some kind of illegal activity and
were killed lest they become witnesses. The business of actually catching those
responsible for the killings has taken a back seat to all these subsidiary
issues.
To date no move has been made on the part of the Thai
authorities to seriously identify and apprehend the culprits of this atrocity.
Although the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand has investigated the
case, it has not yet made any formal intervention. The Asian Human Rights
Commission is extremely concerned that with every passing day the likelihood
that the perpetrators of this horror will ever be brought to justice grows
increasingly remote. It therefore calls upon the government of Thailand to
pursue a satisfactory outcome of this case at the nearest possible date. It also
urges a concerted review of Thai government policies for protection of migrant
workers—irrespective of their legal status.
[For
further information on this case see:
Urgent
Appeal UA-12-2002: Massacre on the Mae Lamao
Massacres
in Asia website (Click on link to Mae Lamao)
Posted on 2002-06-04
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