Army needs to prove it’s not above the law

Ayoung man was tortured to death for failing to show up for work last week. “A crime in a military camp”, as anti-coup critic Sombat Boon-ngamanong put it. “It could have been the result of old habits among soldiers...”, and part of the military’s “black spots”, army chief Chalermchai Sittisat described it as.

Well, whatever reasons are given for the death of 22-year-old Private Yutthakinun Boonniam, it sounds like his brutal killing was carried out in an underground, mafia-run compound, not a military unit financed by taxpayers’ money.

What happened sends a clear message to the army: Clean up your own house, eliminate the brutal and uncivilised traditions and the so-called black spots, and don’t let anyone get away with this and other brutal and fatal assaults.

Pvt Yutthakinun was attacked while being held at a military prison in Surat Thani for a disciplinary offence. He simply failed to show up for a routine exercise because his friend, another private who was asked to wake him up, also overslept, according to a private interviewed by Channel 3’s Ruang Lao Chao Nee morning news programme on Monday.

The offence was as simple as that. But it resulted in a three-day prison detention. Before going to jail, he had suffered no physical injuries. But he was worried about his safety because he had a problem with one of his superiors, said the private.

The fact that someone could commit such a deadly attack against other person without fear of punishment implies they live in a world in which lethal punishment is acceptable and life seen as worthless.

Pvt Yutthakinun is hardly the first victim of the army’s “old habits and black spots”. And none of us, I am sure, is convinced that he will be the last.

Pvt Wichian Phuaksom, for example, was tortured to death during disciplinary action in 2011.

Even though his niece, Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat, has sought justice for her uncle in spite of a defamation charge brought against her by a soldier allegedly involved in the incident, the six-year-old case has failed to make progress.

This horrible news came as the army was handling its annual conscription drive to recruit about 100,000 young men to “serve the nation”.

It is no wonder that some young men fainted on camera when they found out they were chosen by the conscription’s lottery programme.

While the rationale for mandatory conscription is still up for debate, those chosen to become privates against their will should not risk becoming victims of torture or senseless assaults. If the army cannot give them dignified work to do, it should at least guarantee their safety.

In addition to carrying out acts of brutality against its own people, the military has been accused of allowing civilians to be tortured under its command.

For instance, the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) is accused of torturing 54 ethnic Malay Muslim insurgent suspects between 2014 and 2015 in the deep South in a 2016 report authored by three activists.

In a rare decision that deserves praise, Isoc last month decided to drop the defamation cases against the activists and agreed to probe the allegations.

A similar praiseworthy act came from Gen Chalermchai who offered a public apology on Monday over the death of Pvt Yutthakinun.

The army chief also assured the public that physical assaults are forbidden in the army and that those involved in the killing of Pvt Yutthakinun would face legal and disciplinary action.

Hopefully, his words are not part of a short-lived public relations response and the legal action he promised will go beyond “a transfer to inactive posts or other areas”.

The same kind of promise from the army’s boss should have been offered to other pending cases such as the deaths of Pvt Wichian and Pvt Songtham Mudmad who were beaten to death by six soldiers last year.

This is not just about justice for

Pvt Yutthakinun, Pvt Wichian and Pvt Songtham. It points to a much bigger problem: It is about the need to end the culture of impunity in the army.

Once those involved in these deadly assaults and in the alleged torture against 54 Muslim suspects are held responsible and face legal action for the serious crime they committed, Gen Chalermchai can then assure the public that no one is above the law, no matter what colour the uniform is that they are wearing or the position they are holding.