(BANGKOK, November 22, 2024)—On November 22, 2024, the Thai Parliamentary Committee on Armed Forces held an inquiry into the killing of Myanmar national Aung Ko Ko on the Thailand-Myanmar border. The hearing took place a week after Fortify Rights published the 44-page report, Death at the Thai-Myanmar Border: The Detention, Torture, and Killing of Myanmar National Aung Ko Ko in Thailand, providing a detailed account of how four Thai Army soldiers detained Aung Ko Ko on January 12, 2024 near the Thailand-Myanmar border in Mae Sot District, Tak Province and how three of those soldiers then tortured Aung Ko Ko, who later died from his injuries. The report also highlighted problems with the Thai police investigation into Aung Ko Ko’s death and the trial and conviction of a 24-year-old Myanmar national, Sirachuch, who goes by one name and was an eyewitness to the torture of Aung Ko Ko.
On November 14, 2024, Fortify Rights submitted a letter providing information to the Committee on Armed Forces on Fortify Rights’s yearlong investigation into the involvement of Thai soldiers in the torture and killing of Aung Ko Ko.
Members of the Naresuan Forces and Ratchamanu Task Force—specialized military units operating on the border—and the Mae Sot District police provided testimony to the Committee on Armed Forces. Although the committee invited Fortify Rights to also share testimony, Fortify Rights failed to receive the invitation and was unable to join the proceedings.