{"id":40626,"date":"2019-08-26T16:23:18","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T16:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=40626"},"modified":"2019-08-26T16:23:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T16:23:18","slug":"rights-activists-seek-justice-after-death-in-thai-army-custody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=40626","title":{"rendered":"Rights activists seek justice after death in Thai army custody"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Human rights activists and relatives have urged the\u00a0government of<\/span>\u00a0Thailand<\/a>\u00a0to investigate the death of a suspected rebel who went into a coma after interrogation at an army camp.<\/p>\n

Abdulloh Esormusor, 34, was arrested on July 20 on suspicion of being a separatist rebel and was found unconscious the next day in his cell at the Ingkhayut army base.<\/span><\/p>\n

He died on Sunday from<\/span>\u00a0severe pneumonia and septic shock, the Songklanagarind Hospital said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on Monday that his death was not caused by the government.<\/p>\n

Abdulloh<\/span>‘s funeral on Sunday, which took place in Pattani, one of several Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand, was attended by hundreds of people.<\/p>\n

\n

Hundreds attended a funeral ceremony for Abdulloh Esormusor, a suspected rebel who was left in a coma after being interrogated at a notorious military camp in Thailand\u2019s restive south. https:\/\/t.co\/xdE4FQiHi7<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/8zlbTmFfmE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sippachai Kunnuwong (@10pachai) August 25, 2019<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The military said it appointed an inquiry panel to investigate accusations of torture in the case, which has stoked widespread anger.<\/p>\n

However, Abdulloh<\/span>‘s family has voiced doubt over the investigation.<\/p>\n

“There has been no progress in the inquiry so far and we want transparency about what happened,” Abdulloh<\/span>‘s cousin, Mohammatrahamat Mamu, told Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n

In a letter to Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha earlier this month, the family pleaded for justice and denied that\u00a0Abdulloh\u00a0<\/span>had any links to armed groups, Mohammatrahamat\u00a0<\/span>added.<\/p>\n

The military has rejected allegations of torture and urged the public to wait for the result of the official inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n

The armed campaign in the Malay-speaking region of the predominantly Buddhist country has killed some 7,000 people over the past 15 years and has flared on and off for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the\u00a0main separatist rebel group fighting in the south\u00a0<\/span>said it met officials from the Thai government and set out conditions for taking part in any peace talks. The government has not confirmed whether the alleged meeting took place.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Calls to investigate<\/h2>\n

Opposition parties have said they plan to ask the government to clarify the facts regarding Abdulloh<\/span>‘s cause of death in parliament this week.<\/p>\n

The Germany director of advocacy group\u00a0Human Rights Watch (HRW<\/a>), Wenzel Michalski, took to Twitter calling on the Thai government to “conduct an independent investigation” into the death.<\/p>\n

\n

#Thailand<\/a>\u2019s authorities should immediately conduct an independent investigation into the death of a suspected insurgent after being interrogated in military custody. Abdulloh Esormusor, 34, died on August 25, 2019, after more than a month-long coma. https:\/\/t.co\/krDpxXgR7p <\/a> pic.twitter.com\/9zvChw2AmG<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Wenzel Michalski (@WenzelMichalski) August 26, 2019<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

HRW’s Asia director Brad Adams said<\/a> in a statement it was an “important test case for the government on whether it is willing to address rights violations in military detention”.<\/p>\n

“The Thai government has repeatedly pledged to get serious about tackling torture, but it repeatedly fails to do anything about it,” Adams said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n SOURCE:
\n Al Jazeera and news agencies<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Human rights activists and relatives have urged the\u00a0government of\u00a0Thailand\u00a0to investigate the death of a suspected rebel who went into a coma after interrogation at an army camp. Abdulloh Esormusor, 34, was arrested on July 20 on suspicion of being a separatist rebel and was found unconscious the next day in his cell at the Ingkhayut…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":40627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}