Southern security detainees and the stories they’ll never forget
By Pornpen Khongkachonkiet
The Nation
Published on September 26, 2008
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=3008445
“Bae Aea”, not his real name, is one of 40 detainees being held for offences against national security in Songkhla Central Prison. On our visit to the detention centre, he recounted his experiences since his arrest. First there was the initial confinement at a Pattani police station where he went through various forms of torture. Besides the normal punching and kicking, his captors also used electric shocks. He recalled grasping for breath as authorities took their sweet time removing the black plastic bag that they had put on his head moments earlier.
It was clear why the black bag was used. Perhaps the thought of looking into a victim’s eyes as he gasps for his last breath is too much any human being, even a Thai security official.
After a few days at the station, Bae Aea was sent to the Army-run Ingkhayuth Camp where the wounds on his body were left to heal on their own. No medical assistance was provided.
He recounted the nights and days spent in a cold narrow humid room, with no light and no water. There was no proper place to pray. Sleep deprivation became an instrument of his captors, who never failed to wake him up sometime between 1am-2am for interrogation.
