Urgent: Students Hunger Strike in S

[mandalay@xxxxxxxxxx]

Chief Officer
Police Detention Centre, Bangkok

Subject:Request for taking legal action into a matter of inhumane abuse

Date:February 19, 1998

Gentleman,

We are the Burmese students who are being detained here. Since being placed
in the detention centre, we have never violated the detention rules.
Despite that, we are now undergoing an inhumane power abuse by one of the
duty officer. On the morning of  February 18th the officer and a group of
policeman came into our room ordering us to leave the room and stay out and
immediately afterwards we were all taken to another room upstairs while one
of us to a sperated room until now we have no idea why we were taken into
another confinement worse making any mistake. How the previous one without.

However the duty officer promised as that we would be sent back to our
former room in the evening. Although the evening went by he did not appear.
We were very disappointed with his promise and than called him out to come
to our room pounding the iron bars of the door. At last he appeared with
his unit and entered our room using abuse language. Than at five of us were
repeatedly beating and kicking lasted about half an hour. We never thought
the police in a democracy, like Thailand, treated like this the detainees
who were not criminals by using inhumanly abuse power.

This incident eventually prompted us to enter fast to death hunger strike.
We are now on hunger strike regard with the facts, mentioned above, we
would like to appeal to you for the following.

1. To take into the inhumane abuse of power and take legal action on the
person involved.
2. To return us the basic prisoners rights

We will go on trying the fast-to-death hunger strike as soon as our request
are not meet. We also believe you can address the serious problem in your
capacity as the chief officer of the Detention Centre.

Burmese Students detainee

Date:	: February 20, 1998

Release detainees form SDC

Mr. Saw Joseph	Mr. San Oo		Mr. Win Myint
NI 2968		NI 4274		NI 2093