Chronic failure in Thai police: HRW

Seriphusut's statement was made light of a growing number of people who have been stepping forward to accuse the police of abuse and corruption following the arrest of Pol Captain Nat Chonnithiwanit and seven other members of the 41st Border Patrol Police (BPP) unit in Bangkok on January 25.

The officers were arrested for serious offenses committed over the past three years. The charge included criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, forced intrusion, threatening others with weapons, detaining others, and abducting minors under the age of 15. 

Human Rights Watch's Asia director, Brad Adam, said the arrest revealed a chronic failure on the part of the police force and raised the question of accountability.

"The arrest of Police Captain Nat reveals shocking details of systematic police brutality, corruption and abuse of power in anti-drugs operations," Adam said. "This is not just a problem of a few rogue officers; there has been a chronic failure to ensure oversight and accountability for the police."

Moreover, said Adam, "Thailand's national police commissioner-general should be encouraging victims to come forward, not threatening them with legal action. Seriphisut's threats against victims of police abuse further fuel this vicious cycle of abuses and impunity."

To date, 61 people have filed formal complaints with the Justice Ministry alleging that they or their family members were abducted and tortured by members of the BPP under Captain Nat to extract confessions for the possession and trafficking of methamphetamines.

Victims alleged that they were electrocuted, suffocated with plastic bags, and severely beaten by BPP members. Many also claim they were forced to pay bribes in order to be released or to have lesser charges filed against them.

Seriphisut stated that he did not believe that the numbers of victims in this case could be as many as 50 or 60 people.

Despite these complaints about serious human rights violations, Captain Nat had been highly praised for years by the Royal Thai Police as a role model. He had received large amounts of reward money for the arrests he made.

 Police brutality and abuses have characterized government efforts to suppress drugs in Thailand in recent years. HRW documented extrajudicial killings and other serious human rights violations in the context of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's notorious "war on drugs" (see the report at http://hrw.org/reports/2004/thailand0704/).

Despite the killing of more than 2,000 people, to date there have been no criminal prosecutions of the perpetrators, many of whom are believed to include police officers.

In August 2007, the military-installed government of General Surayud Chulanont appointed a special committee chaired by former Attorney General Khanit na Nakhon to investigate the extrajudicial killings that took place in 2003 as part of Thaksin's "war on drugs," but no action has ensued, HRW said.

After five months of inquiries, the committee only gave to the government statistical details about the number and nature of the murders. Its report - which has never been made public - said 2,819 people were killed in 2,559 murder cases between February and April in 2003, HRW said.

Of those killed, 1,370 were related to drug dealing, while 878 of them were not. Another 571 people were killed without apparent reason. Despite many promises to bring those responsible for the murders to justice, this committee has been unable to subject anyone to criminal liability, HRW said.