Inquest into killing of Karenni refugee

General News - Wednesday December 19, 2007

Inquest into killing of Karenni refugee

Shooting prompts transfer of camp chief

CHEEWIN SATTHA & KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI

The Muang Mae Hong Son district chief has been transferred after a 17-year-old Karenni boy was killed and another injured during a brawl with Interior Ministry security guards at Ban Nai Soi refugee camp. Wachira Chotiroserani, who is also the refugee camp commander, was moved to an inactive post at the provincial hall to allow for an investigation into the death of Aie Oo, a secondary school student at the camp, Mae Hong Son governor Thongchai Wongrianthong said yesterday. Aie Oo died on Saturday after he was shot in the face.

The camp, the biggest in the province, houses around 17,000 refugees, mostly from the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups. It is located about 30 kilometres west of Mae Hong Son town and 2km from the Thai-Burmese border.

According to an account compiled by the Mae Hong Son-based Karenni media organisation, Aie Oo was shot by an Interior Ministry security volunteer while the youths at the camp were celebrating student sports day.

They said the students were upset by the ministry's security guards tight inspection at the event.

They also accused a guard of punching one student who was dancing at a concert and disturbing their activities by firing gunshots into the air.

The students asked the security team to leave, but the guards reacted impolitely, they said. Outraged by the guards' actions, more students came to the scene and encircled the guards who tried to flee and return to their base.

As the students followed them, a gunshot was heard and Aie Oo collapsed. His blood-soaked body was taken to the camp committee office where he later died.

Following the teenager's death other students went to the security volunteers' base and destroyed their belongings and living quarters.

Mae Hong Son governor, police and doctors entered the camp on Monday to investigate the case and conduct an autopsy on the victim's body.

The authorities told the refugees that they would complete the investigation within a week.

Mr Wachira, the district chief and also the camp commander, said he had not seen the transfer order and had nearly completed a fact-finding report on the incident.

''I want to ensure that both the refugees and my men are treated fairly in this case,'' he said, adding that the student was possibly killed ''by accident''.

Mr Wachira said the guards' personal belongings and state assets, including 29 motorcycles and two cars worth about two million baht, had been destroyed by the refugees.

The camp commander conceded that tension between the Ban Nai Soi refugees and the Interior Ministry's security volunteers arose after the ministry decided to intervene in the camp management for security reasons.

Tar Gay, an editor of the Mae Hong Son-based Karenni newspaper Kandarawaddy Times, said disputes had erupted between the volunteers and camp residents several times.

''Refugees were abused by the security volunteers in different ways including harassment to young women, torture and abuse of power but the problem has never been solved, leading to rising tension at the camp,'' he said.

Bangkok Post