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BENARNEWS- Authorities in Thailand’s Deep South have charged three human rights activists with criminal defamation over a report that alleged systematic torture of suspected insurgents in Thai military and police custody.
The three activists, who are associated with NGOs that co-published the groundbreaking report six months ago, said they were freed Tuesday after they turned themselves in to police in Pattani province. They went there to answer to charges of defaming the security services and violating Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act in connection with the publication of the joint study, their lawyer said.
“The suspects came to acknowledge the charges and denied all charges. They asked for permission to write a testimony to explain the circumstances around the report. The police approved and released them without bail,” said lawyer Anukul Awaeputeh, who represents activists Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Anchana Heemmina and Somchai Hom-la-or.
In May, officials with the regional branch of Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC 4) – which covers the insurgency-wracked Deep South – filed a complaint with Pattani police. It named Pornpen, director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF); Somchai Hom-la-or, an adviser to CrCF; and Anchana, who is with the Duay Jai (With Heart) Group, as targets of a criminal defamation suit ordered by Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Teerachai Nakwanich.
The 49-page study, co-published by CrCF, Duay Jai and a third local NGO – the Pattani Human Rights Organization (HAP) – detailed allegations of torture of suspected insurgents in custody between 2004 and 2015. The report cited accounts given by 54 people ranging in age from 19 to 48 years old, who alleged that they had been subjected to physical torture, psychological torture, or other inhumane treatment while incarcerated in the Deep South.
More than 6,500 people have been killed in violence associated with a long-running separatist insurgency in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
Officials have questioned the accuracy of the allegations contained in the report and whether it was one-sided.
After an initial investigation gathered evidence against the three, they were charged with defamation and disseminating false information over the internet, according to Pol. Lt. Col. Winyu Tiemraj, deputy superintendent of Pattani police.
The police summoned them to answer to the charges on June 8, but the three defendants only turned themselves in on Tuesday, he said.
“I think ISOC 4 should not have used this method [a legal suit] against us because we did not produce the report on a personal basis but in the capacity of human rights organizations in order to expose cases of torture in the Deep South so that the government, the public and organizations can learn about the problems and solve them together,” Somchai Hom-la-or told reporters outside the police station in Pattani.
A security official who was involved in bringing the complaint against the three also came to meet them. If the three defendants can clarify the allegations of torture that were published in the study or discuss them with senior officials, the military might drop the charges, the official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
“[The case] must go according to the law and the prosecution must go at it full throttle. Nevertheless, if they have information to support the claims or just talk to senior officials about it, [we] can withdraw the suit,” the official said.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the activists were freed on bail.


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