CPJ calls for Thai government action on slain TV cameraman

Hiro Muramoto, pictured shortly before he was killed, was one of two journalists who died during armed confrontations between security forces and "red shirt" anti-government protesters over nine weeks in April and May. The other was Fabio Polenghi, an Italian freelance photographer. Nine other reporters and photographers were injured.

Both sides claimed to have exercised restraint in the clashes, in which at least 90 people were killed and more than 1,800 injured. The Thai government has done little to bring anyone to account, the CPJ said on Thursday.

The New York-based journalist safety watchdog said that in several instances troops fired in a random manner into crowds of apparently unarmed demonstrators, frequently in areas where reporters were present. Journalists’ news reports and interviews with CPJ also highlighted the presence of heavily armed, black-clad protesters who fired gunshots and launched grenades at troops deployed in areas where journalists were positioned.

"Preliminary government investigations into the violence have been incomplete and opaque, as have the autopsies of the two journalist victims, CPJ has found. Private investigations launched by concerned news organizations, foreign embassies, and family members of the deceased have been obstructed or denied access to key information in the government’s possession. Thus far, no one has been brought to account for the killings and the other critical injuries."

The CPJ said a recently completed private investigation commissioned by Reuters has moved more swiftly despite official obstruction, according to people familiar with the situation.

Muramoto, 43, based in Tokyo, was shot and killed while covering the first armed clashes on 10 April. "While positioned with the military that evening, Muramoto had captured on film a grenade attack that had killed and severely wounded a number of troops,” the CPJ said. “He was later seen on the side of the protesters, four of whom were photographed by the local Daily News newspaper carrying his limp body away from the frontlines at around 9 p.m.

"Reuters’ investigation, which drew on information from two unnamed eyewitnesses, found that Muramoto 'was shot almost certainly by a high velocity bullet fired at street level while standing in a street between Thai troops and red shirt protesters.’ A summary reviewed by CPJ said that Muramoto 'was not shot at close range' and that 'both troops and protesters had high velocity weapons at the time of Hiro’s death and there were casualties on both sides that night'."

The CPJ said those findings contradict earlier government suggestions that Muramoto may have been shot from above by a sniper positioned on a nearby rooftop. What remains unclear, however, is which direction the fatal bullet was fired, according to Reuters’ Bangkok bureau chief Jason Szep.

"An initial government autopsy revealed only that a bullet fired from a high velocity rifle entered under Muramoto’s right armpit and exited through his back. The veteran reporter most likely died from massive internal bleeding and his pulse had already stopped when he arrived at the hospital, according to Szep,” the CPJ said.

"The bullet, which if found would carry important clues in determining whether Muramoto was shot by troops or protesters, has not been recovered – or least not made available for inspection to outside investigators, according to people familiar with the situation. 

“'Our initial concern was that he was targeted,' Szep said, referring to his bureau’s original fear that Muramoto may have taken footage perceived as sensitive by one side. 'Now, we don’t think he was. All signs point to him being at the wrong place at the wrong time at a very dangerous moment.'"

A CPJ source familiar with one private investigation into Muramoto’s death claimed that the government is “dragging its feet” in finalizing the results of its forensic investigation. He noted that a Bangkok Post report published in late April quoted a forensics official saying that Muramoto was most likely killed by a soldier’s bullet. As of July, the government still had not released the full results of the official autopsy.

Among a series of recommendations the CPJ called on the government of Thailand to complete the official autopsy and police investigation into the death of Muramoto. Where criminal liability is found, file charges and prosecute the perpetrators. Where military forces acted outside accepted standards, subject the individuals to military discipline. It also urged the government to cooperate with independent investigations probing the circumstances surrounding the killing and wounding of journalists. Where no legal impediments exist, disclose the results of official autopsies and police investigations. Make available all closed circuit television footage and other relevant forensic evidence now in the government's possession. ■