The Lawyers Council of Thailand has accepted a case filed by Fortify Rights today seeking justice for Myanmar national Aung Ko Ko (37 years old) who died after being tortured to death by Thai soldiers, Fortify Rights said. The president of the Lawyers Council of Thailand said it would push for civil or criminal action. “We don’t know how long the process will take, but we hope that the Lawyers Council will be able to quickly conduct their own investigation and urge the Special Investigation Unit to proceed more quickly. It has been almost 400 days since Aung Ko Ko was killed in Thailand. We hope that the authorities will quickly bring the soldiers responsible for this horrific crime to justice.”
Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith said. On January 12, 2024, at approximately 11:00 a.m., four Thai soldiers arrested Ko Aung Ko Ko, a Myanmar national, near a small wooden bridge in Mae Sot District, Tak Province, Thailand. Three Thai soldiers then severely beat Ko Aung Ko Ko to death with a long wooden stick. The deceased’s body was found to have severe bruises and bleeding, with bruises on his forehead, cheekbones and nose. He had suffered severe injuries to almost his entire back and a deep cut about an inch deep on his right elbow.
Ko Aung Ko Ko, a Myanmar national, was returning to Mae Sot from a clinic in Myawaddy, Myanmar, for malaria when he was picked up by Thai soldiers at a checkpoint and beaten and examined before dying. The Myanmar national killed by the Thai military, Aung Ko Ko, was a former volunteer with the Chor Ror Bor, a community-based security force organized and trained by Thai authorities, and Thai soldiers initially detained and interrogated Aung Ko Ko because he was wearing a chor bor, a traditional Thai-style top.
On September 27, 2024, a Thai court sentenced a Burmese volunteer, Sirat Chek, to three years and four months in prison as an accomplice in Aung Ko Ko’s murder. Like Aung Ko Ko, Sirat Chek was also a member of the local Chor Ror Bor. Thai soldiers arrested and tortured 37-year-old Ko Aung Ko Ko near the Thai-Myanmar border, but Thai authorities have charged and convicted another Burmese national with manslaughter. Fortify Rights urges the Thai government to conduct a thorough, prompt, impartial investigation into the killing of Aung Ko Ko by Thai soldiers and take action.
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