E/CN.4/1994/31
page 111
suffered a broken nose and jaw and had several teeth knocked out;
Akhmadsho Kamilov had not been allowed to sleep or to sit for long periods.
All four men had reportedly been denied access to medical treatment and to
lawyers.
530. Another urgent appeal was sent to the Government on 15 April 1993
concerning Bozo Sobiron, a poet and, until November 1992, a leading member of
the opposition Democratic Party, who was arrested on about 26 March 1993 at
the airport of Dushanbe by procuracy officials. According to information
received, he was being held at the investigation-isolation prison of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and had been denied access to his lawyer and
family. Fears were expressed that he might be subjected to torture or
ill-treatment.
Thailand
Urgent appeals
531. On 25 June 1993 the Special Rapporteur sent un urgent appeal to the
Government on behalf of Maung Maung Than and Par Pa, two Burmese refugees
recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who
had allegedly been arrested by Thai security forces and were being held at the
immigration detention centre in Bangkok. It was also reported that
Maung Maung Than had been arrested in Bangkok on 19 May 1993 and severely
beaten and Par Pa had been arrested some time after that. Fears were
expressed that they might be subjected to torture or ill-treatment while in
detention.
532. On 8 July and 3 September 1993 the Government replied that in 1990 the
Thai Cabinet had granted Myanmar students permission to stay temporarily in
Thailand on humanitarian grounds on the condition that they did not engage in
political activities while in Thailand. In 1992 the Government had
established a safe area for Myanmar students which would provide them with
adequate housing, food, medical care and access to education and training.
The diplomatic community, UNHCR and private organizations in Thailand had been
briefed on the humanitarian policy towards Myanmar students and details
concerning the safe area; all of them agreed that this would provide the best
protection and assistance to the Myanmar students under the prevailing
circumstances. Despite the above-mentioned efforts, a number of Myanmar
students had not applied to stay in the safe area and remained in hiding in
Bangkok. A few groups of Myanmar students had made known their intention to
engage in political activities against the Government of Myanmar while in
Thailand.
The Ministry of the Interior was therefore compelled to pursue the
arrest of and to bring to trial on charges of illegal entry those Myanmar
students who did not comply with the laws and regulations pertaining to the
terms under which they could stay in Thailand. Maung Maung Than was reported
to be a leader of the Overseas National Student Organization of Burma, which
was engaged in activities against the Government of Myanmar and opposed the
policy to establish the safe area. He was being held at the immigration
detention centre on charges of illegal entry. On 13 July 1993 he had
voluntarily decided to go to the safe area. With respect to the case of
Par Pa, both the Ministry of the Interior and UNHCR had gone through the list
of Myanmar students in Thailand, but had not been able to identify anyone
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