Case History: Muhammad Yaki Salae
On the evening of 7 May 2015, human rights defender Mr Muhammad Yaki Salae was released from detention following the refusal of Yala Provincial Court to permit an extension of his time in confinement.
Muhammad Yaki Salae is the Chairperson of the Justice for Peace Network (JOP), founded in 2006 as a network of human rights and peace activists aiming to strengthen non-violent efforts to protect human rights, promote access to justice, and end impunity in Thailand. The JOP engages in human rights monitoring and advocacy while supporting victims of human rights violations in their fight for justice. Their work is focuses on the empowerment of local communities in the far south of Thailand, to aid them in their struggle for the realisation of their human rights.
On the evening of 7 May 2015, human rights defender Mr Muhammad Yaki Salae was released from detention following the refusal of Yala Provincial Court to permit an extension of his time in confinement.
Muhammad Yaki Salae was released from the Ingkhayuth Boriham Army Camp in Tambon Bor Thong, Nongchik District, Pattani on the evening of 7 May 2015. His release had been ordered by the Yala Provincial Court earlier on the same day, in line with its rejection of an application made by the police investigator for the extension of Muhammad Yaki Salae's detention. The Court ruled that no individual should be detained without clear charge against him or her, and called on law enforcement officers to exercise their duties in full respect of the law and human rights principles, as provided in Announcement No. 98/2014 of the Thai National Peace and Order Maintaining Council. According to this reasoning, the detention of Muhammad Yaki Salae was arbitrary, as police could not provide any charges against him.
Muhammad Yaki Salae's detention for interrogation had been extended on
2 May 2015 by an emergency decree permitting suspects to be held in detention for up to 30 days, subsequent to the expiry of the 7 day period allowed under Martial Law.
On 2 May 2015, the detention of human rights defender Mr Muhammad Yaki Salae was extended by emergency decree. The human rights defender was originally arrested on 24 April 2015. He faces up to 30 days in confinement.
The extension of Muhammad Yaki Salae's detention was ordered under emergency decree, according to which his detention may be extended for a maximum 30 days. The order came following the human rights defender's seventh day in detention, the maximum length of time a suspect may be held for interrogation under Thai Martial Law.
Muhammad Yaki Salae was arrested on 24 April 2015 at the Muang Yala Police Station, and brought to the Ingkhayuth Boriham Army Camp in Tambon Bor Thong, Nongchik District, Pattani, where he currently remains detained. The authorities falsely claimed his involvement in the bomb attack in the city of Yala in March 2012. The human rights defender was present at the police station at the request of authorities, and arrived there with the intention of displaying his innocence and cooperating fully with the police.
Risks faced by human rights defenders working in southern Thailand have grown over recent years. State forces act with impunity in the ongoing military operation targeting the muslim population in the Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala provinces, where human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, are common.
