Group Blames Thai Army in Cleric's Death

An international rights watchdog said Wednesday that the death and apparent torture of a Muslim cleric in Thai military custody illustrates the army's mistreatment of Muslims in Thailand's restive south.

Human Rights Watch said Yapa Koseng, a 56-year-old Muslim prayer leader, was arrested March 19 for suspected involvement in bombings blamed on insurgents in the southern province of Narathiwat, and two days later relatives who went to visit him were told he had died.

Yapa's body was "covered with bruises and burn marks, and his ribs were fractured," the New York-based rights group said in a statement, citing accounts from family members.

Army spokesman Col. Thanathip Sawangsaeng said Wednesday that an investigation into Yapa's death was under way, but initial examinations indicated he "died from epilepsy."

He said any officers found responsible for the death would face legal action.

"The army will not cover up any wrongdoing if officers are found guilty of misconduct," he said, adding however that nobody appeared to be guilty.

Yapa's daughter, Nomee Kaseng, told The Associated Press that her father was a healthy man without "any known medical condition."

He had been detained in a police truck along with his son, Arming Koseng, she said.

Nomee said he was taken out of the truck to be interrogated three times before he died, citing her 29-year-old brother, who remained under detention at a military camp.

"He asked that they take our father to the hospital but they wouldn't," Nomee said. "Father died in my brother's lap."

Muslims have long complained of mistreatment and discrimination in Thailand's south, where an insurgency has claimed more than 2,900 lives since 2004. Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country.

"Muslims in southern Thailand live in fear of the army storming in to take their men away to be tortured," said Brad Adams, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The army is fighting an insurgency, but that doesn't mean soldiers can abuse people."

Human Rights Watch said it "is deeply concerned about the sincerity" of army pledges that an impartial investigation into the cleric's death will be carried out.

Yapa's family was told that forensic experts had conducted an autopsy but they were not allowed to see the report, Human Rights Watch said.

Drive-by shootings and bombings occur almost daily in Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces, the only Muslim-majority areas in Thailand.