The parents of the Myanmar suspects accused of the murder of two British tourists on Thailand’s Koh Tao island have asked the Thai Department of Investigation to investigate members of the Thai police murder squad after they claim their sons were forced to confess.
Daw Phu Shew Nu, the mother of Ko Zaw Lin Oo and U Tun Tun Htike and Daw May Thein, the father and mother of Ko Win Zaw Htun, four lawyers from the Lawyers Council of Thailand, and six representatives each from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and the Myanmar Embassy team made the plea during a joint press conference on 3rd November in Bangkok.
The Thai police handling of the Koh Tao tourist murders case has increasingly come under the spotlight as they turned down a summons from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand to answer charges that they tortured the two Myanmar suspects to force them to confess.
The two Myanmar migrant workers were arrested on 3rd October in connection with the murders of Ms Hannah Witheridge, 23, and Mr David Miller, 24, on the night of 15th September.
The Lawyers Council of Thailand, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and the Myanmar Embassy team urged the Thai authorities to form a special investigation committee to probe into the case, according to lawyer U Aung Myo Thant from the Myanmar Embassy team.
“There are the commission’s findings about the torture suffered by the two boys and about the facts saying they were threatened into confession. The parents [of the two Myanmar boys] today signed a petition calling for cooperation between the three groups. The Thai side also made a similar suggestion. The Thai side said that an investigation committee is likely to be formed,” he said.
Although the Thai police were invited to the press conference, they did not attend.
Lawyer U Aung Myo Thant said the Thai police attended only two out of four press conferences held so far, which prompted the chairman of the National Human Rights Commissions of Thailand to remark that the Thai police are not cooperating with the relevant organizations concerning the Koh Tao murder case.
The police told media that their refusal to respond to the summons was prompted by a need to avoid compromising the investigation, as well as the short notice given in the summons
Meanwhile, the Thai police are said to be fixing flaws in their report on the investigation into the murders before resubmitting their report to the prosecutor’s office by 8th November.
