Page 40 - Dignity and justice for all of us our voices are heard in Thailand

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
A woman
Mother of a prisoner who died while in
detention

Voice

“I will continue to The mother of a 19-year-old inmate describes how she confronted the death of her son while

fight to know the he was in detention. “When I first visited my son after he was arrested and accused of robbery, I
discovered that he had been beaten up by a prison official,” she said. “I then brought his case to
truth” the attention of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the National Human Rights Commission and

the Corrections Department at the Ministry of Justice.”

In May 2006, she says that she paid a second visit to her son and realized he had been beaten
up again, allegedly because of her actions in denouncing the earlier beatings. “This time, I
begged the higher prison authorities to relocate my son to a safer place,” she says. On 28 May
2008, she was informed by the prison that her son had been found dead and that he had
committed suicide. “When I was shown my son’s body, I was convinced he was murdered,” she
added. The National Human Rights Commission reportedly asked the Ministry of Justice to open
an investigation. The Ministry delegated the case to the Department of Corrections. “The
outcome was terrible as the result of the investigation stated that my son had committed
suicide. I decided then to file a criminal case against the prison official, accusing him of abuse of
authority and causing harm. I will continue to fight to know the truth about my son’s death,”
she says.

28 Dignity and Justice for All of Us