Victims of Tak Bai tragedy file suit
9 former top officials stand accused
NARATHIWAT: Injured protesters and families of the victims of Tak Bai’s fatal tragedy have filed a lawsuit against nine former top officials, accusing them of murder and other crimes.
The filing took place at the Narathiwat provincial court on Thursday, with several human rights lawyers representing 48 plaintiffs — a rare instance of ordinary people taking legal action against the authorities.
The nine former officials face accusations of murder, unlawful detention and malfeasance.
June 24 was set for the inquiry process before judges will decide on whether or not to accept the lawsuit.
The nine former officials, who held top positions in southern Thailand at the time, will not be classed as defendants until they are indicted.
Their names have not been disclosed to the public, but they reportedly held key positions in the army, police forces, and Interior Ministry.
Adilan Ali-Ishoh, a lawyer with the Muslim Attorney Centre Foundation, said on Tuesday they were named in a fact-finding report by the thenombudsman Pichet Sunthornpipit.
One of them is former Fourth Army Region Commander Lt Gen Pisan Wattanawongkiri, now a party-list MP of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
The decision to pursue legal action by the injured demonstrators and families precedes the 20-year statute of limitations, which expires in October.
The carnage took place on Oct 25, 2004, when security forces resorted to force to disperse a rally in front of Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district.
Seven demonstrators died at the scene, and 78 other detainees died from suffocation or organ failure as they were transported to the Ingkhayutthaborihan Military Camp in Pattani province’s Nong Chik district, 140 kilometres away.
Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director and lawyer of the Cross Cultural Foundation, said on Thursday that the victims and their families decided to handle the case on their own after police and prosecutors failed to act against the authorities involved in the dispersal.
“We cannot let the case expire without taking action [against the authorities] for this historic violence resulting in deaths,” she said.
Lawyers from the Cross Cultural Foundation are among the four organisations representing the villagers in court for this case.
They sued only nine former authorities who were directly responsible for using force to disperse the rally that day.
About 1,500 protesters gathered in front of the police station, calling for the release of six detainees.
“Supervisors who committed wrongdoing should have faced civil, criminal and disciplinary punishment, but we have not seen any accountability,” Ms Pornpen said.
Abdulqahhar Arwaeputeh of the Muslim Attorney Centre expressed confidence in the case proceeding in court, citing the convincing evidence presented by the legal team.
“One of the most important pieces of evidence comes from those who were involved in the incident and are still alive,” the lawyer added.