Gov't Launches New Phase Of Anti-drug Campaign

[george]

Thai government launches new phase of anti-drug campaign

BANGKOK: -- Justice Minister Somphong Amornvivat has launched a new round of the government's anti-drug campaign with the announcement of setting up a national-level drug-busting committee headed by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

Mr. Sompong, who discussed the matter with Office of the Narcotics Control Board chief Kitti Limchaikit, said the National Committee for Prevention and Suppression of Drug Trafficking will be chaired by the prime minister and consist of several ministers concerned, including himself.

Under the procedures of the new drug war, relatives and close associates of drug dealing suspects may be questioned and have their assets examined by the authorities, including the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Revenue Department.

Funds put away in any banks or other property of those related to or connected with the suspected drug dealers will be thoroughly scanned.

Rewards will be granted to those who may give information leading to the arrest of major drug dealers currently at large, the justice minister added.

More than 2,500 people died during the former Thaksin Administration, sparking criticism from human rights groups in Thailand and abroad.

Thai police and security forces were accused of murdering drug trafficking suspects, but the then government denied this.

--TNA 2008-03-06

[cclub75]

Under the procedures of the new drug war, relatives and close associates of drug dealing suspects may be questioned

It's a serious improvement. "may be questioned" instead of "could be shot on sight"... Without any doubt, we are making progress...

Right ?

[Martin]

An intriguing aspect of the last "rough and ready" drive against drug pushers was that there didn't seem to be a great revulsion amongst the Thai populace that a fair few innocents might lose their lives amongst the sweepout of the evil ones.

But the reaction of people posting on this website has been 100% (as far as I am aware) the other way.

Does this indicate a fundamental cultural difference?

If so, is it that, to Thais, the death of such an innocent person is seen as accidental and not deleterious to their karma?

[seonai]

Not ...

[seonai]

It was NOT just a case of 'evil ones' being shot and killed and Thai people were very aware and very scared Martin, there were many cases of Thai people coming on the national news to shout about the outcry of their relatives being killed

[Tony Clifton]

An intriguing aspect of the last "rough and ready" drive against drug pushers was that there didn't seem to be a great revulsion amongst the Thai populace that a fair few innocents might lose their lives amongst the sweepout of the evil ones.

But the reaction of people posting on this website has been 100% (as far as I am aware) the other way.

Does this indicate a fundamental cultural difference?

If so, is it that, to Thais, the death of such an innocent person is seen as accidental and not deleterious to their karma?

FEAR

Fear of violence that most of us have only ever seen in movies but happens here all the time.

Anyone's name could be added to the death lists.

Hence the silence of the majority.

When the boys in brown and their evil schemes are involved, what can one do? Especially when they are backed by the government and PM?

Even the country's top forensic specialist has had her share of problems with them.

[astral]

Do we really need ANOTHER committee??

[sriracha john]

An intriguing aspect of the last "rough and ready" drive against drug pushers was that there didn't seem to be a great revulsion amongst the Thai populace that a fair few innocents might lose their lives amongst the sweepout of the evil ones.

But the reaction of people posting on this website has been 100% (as far as I am aware) the other way.

Does this indicate a fundamental cultural difference?

If so, is it that, to Thais, the death of such an innocent person is seen as accidental and not deleterious to their karma?

Something that might surprise you about your fellow members:

Can't feel sorry about dead drug dealers ,. if i found a dealer trying to push drugs to my kids , i would also shoot first and ask questions latter,.

I,m with Ray08 on this one. They can drop dealers off the 24th floor of a condo unit for all I care.

Yes, I'm with the above 2 posters on this one - dealers are death dealers, many kids don't have parents who 'steer them right' but every adult has a personal choice as to what they choose to do & who they sell to, even the ones who are screwed up. Guess I'm a nutcase too. Gov't officials picking off 'examples' & sometimes innocents (maybe doing their own drug or other personal thing) are another story.

My opinion FWIT only,

Halydys

Drug dealers and drug street-type sellers disappeared under Dr. Thaksin. Good riddance.

We were hesitant to walk the streets at night prior to Dr. Thaksin's war-on-drugs because of the almost ubiquitous presence of methamphetemine (=ya baa) addicts walking around here. That problem disappeared quickly-- I mean, REAL QUICKLY-- with the remedies employed. Thank God.

They have been warned!! They are from supposed superior countries and should know better.

I and many otheres would support a bullet to the head of the ones involved. Balls to a trial, we, they and the police know who they are but they have the protection of a barrage of well paid (from the public purse) lawyers and liberal thinkers.

Do drugs and die! Som Nam Na

Which culminated in this correspondence between myself and the Prime Minister (with a copy to the Interior Minister)... I'm still waiting to hear back from him, but I understand he's busy cooking in the kitchen...

Memorandum

From: S John

To: S Sundaravej

CC: C Yoobamrung

Subj: Death Squad Staffing

1. As an adjunct to your stated initiative to restart the War on Drugs, might I suggest a method to meet your staffing needs. It is apparent that many foreigners share your view that non-judicial slayings are the best method of dealing with Thailand's drug problem.

2. I would encourage you to consider hiring them as I am aware that the present needs to fully staff the other Death Squads, in the Deep South for example, might result in you running short on shooters for this purpose.

3. I hope this helps and best of luck to you in your efforts to decimate the Thai population.

Cordially yours,

S John

Also, some good related articles... on the current state of mayhem building...

Monsters Retake Thailand's Government and Vow to Resume Mass Drug War Murders

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=1808999

Reuters:

Thai PM vows "rigorous" war on drugs despite outcry

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=1833622

Agence France Presse (AFP):

Thai PM pledges to revive deadly anti-drugs drive

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=1833854

Daily Telegraph (UK):

Thailand threat to shoot 4,000 in drug war

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=1834175

All the above was from the other, other, other, other War on Drugs thread..

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=170971&hl=

War On Drugs To Be Revived

which is not to be confused with other War on Drugs threads... beginning with the biggest of them all:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=92482

Bringing Thaksin To Account, Extra-judicial killings

and also including:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69696

Thaksin To Revitalise War On Drugs

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=49770

Government Has Clear Policy On War On Drugs: Thaksin

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6906

Thaksin To Lead New War On Drugs

[yaketyak]

Yet another "crackdown" on something that can never be eradicated. A battle that year after year , can and has never been won.

Yet Governments around the world spend billions every year on crackdown after crackdown on a battle they know they can't win. Is it worth the money and effort??

Educate people about the dangers of drugs right through their schooling, and through the media, and then if they choose to ignore it , let them get on with it.

Edited March 6, 2008 by yaketyak

[pampal]

The policy of shooting and imprisoning people has yet to show any progress towards winning the "war on drugs".

[freitag1]

First they collect the money then they go out and shoot them to cover up what they have taken.

[jcsmith]

First they collect the money then they go out and shoot them to cover up what they have taken.

Freitag1 hit the nail on the head. That's most likely what happened, and it had nothign to do with killing "evil ones". The police have their hands in the pie everyplace. There are places in every city where everyone knows drugs are being sold. In Chiang Mai for example because I have dreadlocks tourists would often come up to me and ask me if I knew where to get some ganja in town. There were places basically where anyone could walk in, ask for it and get it having never been there before, which were open for years. And I've seen police at those same places during the daytime. Do they not know whats going on? Of course they do. They are being paid off. With the style of those executions a few years ago, I'm fairly positive they just covered their own tracks.

[gunnyd]

You forgot about the few of us with more enlightened prospectives on the "War on Drugs" like me.

An intriguing aspect of the last "rough and ready" drive against drug pushers was that there didn't seem to be a great revulsion amongst the Thai populace that a fair few innocents might lose their lives amongst the sweepout of the evil ones.

But the reaction of people posting on this website has been 100% (as far as I am aware) the other way.

Yes illicit drugs are a scourge and should be treated as such. But as long as you give someone the opportunity to make in 1 day day more than he makes in a year there will always be drugs available. All harsh drug policies have done is fill the prisons in the US, and SEA not to mention fill the fields with dead bodies. Until the "War on Drugs" is treated as a social and health problem there will be no dent made in the sale or use of narcotics.

Not all of us want drug dealers and users to be lined up against the wall and shot.

GunnyD

[freitag1]

If people want to destroy themselves or get addicted to something they will. Alcohol is way more problematic than Marijuana for example. Because of the harsh laws here I wouldn't touch later one in Thailand though.

[Ricardo]

How about a war on illegal/untaxed gambling ? To coincide with the introduction of legal, and presumably taxed (?), gambling in casinos.

[sriracha john]

The unjust war

The Thaksin Shinawatra government will never fully recover from the crushing assault to its name for waging a war on drugs, and this government must think carefully before launching a new drugs offensive. At the cost of 2,500-plus lives, the 2003 campaign was trumpeted by supporters who said it had pulled down the floodgates on the torrents of drugs flowing into the country. In the process, it splattered blood on the country's human rights record, as some human rights advocates have phrased it. Five years on and the new government is all fired up with plans to form a national centre with the PM as Chairman to flush out illicit drugs. The centre is eerily reminiscent of when Thaksin inaugurated his drugs war campaign made sensational by the deadlines handed down for "cleansing" the drugs networks. The drugs fight launched in phases by the Thaksin administration was slammed by opponents as a propagandistic vehicle to purport the government's firm-handedness in dealing with drugs problems. The policy operated on a rather simplistic and frightening assumption that availability of state resources and actions to 'expedite justice' would culminate in the decimation of drugs traders and traffickers. But the equation represented a blatant disrespect of the judicial process because more than 2,500 people finger-pointed as drugs traders or those connected with them were allegedly killed by authorities on sight. Extra-judicial killings are a travesty of justice which any society must not tolerate. Many suspects were judged guilty the moment they were tallied up on the blacklist and the warrants signed for their arrest were essentially licences for them to be executed, families of many of the victims have charged.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.net/topstories/tops...s.php?id=126395

[seonai]

Yet another "crackdown" on something that can never be eradicated. A battle that year after year , can and has never been won.

Yet Governments around the world spend billions every year on crackdown after crackdown on a battle they know they can't win. Is it worth the money and effort??

Educate people about the dangers of drugs right through their schooling, and through the media, and then if they choose to ignore it , let them get on with it.

I am totally with you on education yaketyak, in school, the media etc etc etc but don't just shoot people

[gunnyd]

National Geographic video on the drug problems in Thailand.

Hopefully it won't go back to the days when this footage was shot.

GunnyD

[seonai]

Hey GunnyD thanks for that and it's very sad that a lot of people will be caught up in that scene. It's not Thai or Western... anyone can get mixed up in that sort of thing. I pray (not religious) that all Thai women don't get involved in this and actually all women around the world

[gunnyd]

The full documentary National Geographic - World's Most Dangerous Drug

I know this is not fully on-topic but I figured some TV members would be interested in see the entire show.

Scary stuff.

GunnyD

[sriracha john]

Thailand’s 'War on Drugs'

"Countering the world drug problem...requires an integrated and balanced approach and must be carried out in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and other provisions of international law and in particular, with full respect for…all human rights and fundamental freedoms."

United Nations General Assembly, 2007

"Due respect for universal human rights…and the rule of law is important for effective implementation of the international drug control conventions. Non-respect for them…can lead to discriminatory disproportionate responses to drug offending and can undermine the conventions."

International Narcotics Control Board, 2008

In February 2003, the Thai government, under then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, launched a 'war on drugs', purportedly aimed at the suppression of drug trafficking and the prevention of drug use. In fact, a major outcome of this policy was arbitrary killings. In the first three months of the campaign there were some 2800 extrajudicial killings. In 2007, an official investigation found that more than half of those killed had no connection whatsoever to drugs.[1] Apart from the thousands who lost their lives, thousands more were forced into coercive "treatment" for drug addiction.[2]

HIV prevention and treatment efforts were also seriously compromised with fear of arrest and mistreatment driving people who inject drugs away from essential harm reduction services.[3]

In 2005, the UN Human Rights Committee raised serious concerns about the "extraordinarily large number of killings" that took place during the ‘war’ and recommended that thorough and independent investigations be undertaken.[4] Then UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Asma Jahangir, sent an urgent communication to the Thai government in 2003.[5]

In its response, Thailand said that every unnatural death would be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the law.[6]

To date, none of the perpetrators of arbitrary killings have been brought to justice.

In recent weeks, the government of Thailand has publicly threatened the resumption of killings. On 20 February, Interior Minister, Chalerm Yubamrung, told parliament that

"… For drug dealers if they do not want to die, they had better quit staying on that road... drugs suppression in my time as Interior Minister will follow the approach of [former Prime Minister] Thaksin. If that will lead to 3,000-4,000 deaths of those who break the law, then so be it. That has to be done ... For those of you from the opposition party, I will say you care more about human rights than drug problems in Thailand."

Since this statement by the Interior Minister, Human Rights Watch is aware of at least four killings of alleged drug traffickers across Thailand — two in Chiang Mai, one in Kalasin, and one in Krabi.

Given the events of 2003 and the impunity for perpetrators since then, the Thai government’s plans raise immediate and urgent concerns.

Drug law enforcement must accord with international human rights law, as stated repeatedly by the General Assembly and this year by the International Narcotics Control Board. A resumption of arbitrary killings would be a considerably retrograde step in Thailand's recent progress on human rights, such as its accession to the UN Convention Against Torture in October 2007.

On Human Rights Day 2007, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Thailand reaffirmed at the UN Human Rights Council its "unwavering commitment to the cause of human rights".[7]

There can be no exceptions to this commitment.

The Thai government must be held to its human rights obligations and in particular its duty to prevent extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions.

= All CND member states must unambiguously denounce any resumption of policies in Thailand that violate human rights.

= The Thai government must announce publicly that it will not proceed with a renewal of killings and other human rights violations in the name of a "War on Drugs."

= The Thai government must immediately and fully investigate the killings and other human rights abuses that took place in the context of the 2003 war on drugs and bring the perpetrators of human rights violations to justice.

= The Thai government must adopt integrated and comprehensive drug strategies that comply fully with all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

= All countries with close ties to Thailand should ensure that drug control measures adopted in Thailand are in full conformity with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, including full respect for all human rights.

----------------------------------------------------

[1]

‘Most of those killed in war on drug not involved in drug (sic),’ The Nation, November 27, 2007 (online at http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/r...ewsid=30057578). In August 2007, the military-installed government of General Surayud Chalanont appointed a special committee to investigate the extrajudicial killings during the 2003 war on drugs. The committee’s report – which has never been made public – said that of 2,819 people killed between February and April 2003, more than 1400 were unrelated to drug dealing or had no apparent reason for their killings. Human Rights Watch, ‘Thailand: Prosecute Anti-Drugs Police Identified in Abuses,’ February 7, 2008 (online at http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/07/thaila17993.htm).

[2]

Human Rights Watch, Not Enough Graves: The War on drugs, HIV/AIDS, and Violations of Human Rights, vol. 16, no. 8©, June 2004, http://hrw.org/reports/2004/thailand0704/thailand0704.pdf, pp. 32-33; Tassanai Vongchak et al., “The influence of Thailand’s 2003 ‘war on drugs’ policy on self-reported drug use among injection drug users in Chiang Mai, Thailand,” International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 16, 2005, p. 2.

[3]

‘Not Enough Graves’, pp. 36-40.

[4]

Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Thailand, UN Doc. No. CCPR/CO/84/THA, 8 July 2005, paras 10 & 11.

[5]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions: Summary of cases transmitted to governments and replies received UN Doc. No. E/CN.4/2004/7/Add.1, 24 March 2004, paras 557-558.

[6] ibid., para 558.

[7]

Webcast available online at http://www.un.org/webcast/humanrightsday/archive.html (Accessed 5 March 2008).

- Press Release issued by Human Rights Watch {issued this morning}

Edited March 12, 2008 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Here it comes.... the War starts next week....

Justice Ministry says on war on drugs to be kick started again

Minister of Justice *and Thaksin school-mate* Somphong Amornvivat traveled to deliver policies on drug prevention to the Northern Region with Governor of Chiang Mai Preecha Kamolbutr and other officials attending his speech.

Somphong stated that the drug problem has begun to run rampant once again in the nation, especially in the north, with more than 50 percent of all narcotics making its way into the country through borders.

The Justice Minister said that investigations have found that neighboring countries along the border have an abundance of opium fields and narcotic production facilities, which authorities in the Kingdom must prepare to deal with.

He said that the high amount of drugs coupled with new smuggling methods has posed a problem for the nation.

Somphong said that on the 21st of this month, the war on drugs instituted during the administration of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be restarted. He assured that fears of human rights being abused are unfounded, as the war will be conducted according to law.

- ThaiNews

Edited March 17, 2008 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Bring on the body bags....

[Plus]

http://nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/r...newsid=30068309

Guidelines for the government's next 'war on drugs'campaign

The interior minister has announced he will revive the "War on Drugs" of 2003.

The prime minister has endorsed this proposal. The 2003 campaign resulted in around 3,000 deaths (2,921 according to the panel chaired by former attorney-general Kanit na Nakhon). There are some uncertainties about this figure, but that is the number that the government itself claimed. The current government has promised to be more careful in the execution of the policy, so perhaps it would help to establish some principles.

First, policy-makers should not get involved in incitement to murder. When announcing the policy to governors and police chiefs in 2003, Thaksin referred to the results already achieved in two trial provinces: "Sometimes people were shot dead and had their assets seized as well. I think we have to be equally ruthless. If drug traders don't stop, there is a chance they will be dealt with in every way, both life and limb." He continued, "With the traders, you must use hammer and fist, that is, act decisively and without mercy. If some drug traders die, it will be a common thing."

Seven weeks later, when over a thousand had already died, Thaksin repeated that drug dealers had only two choices - to go to jail or their own funerals.

It makes no difference whether the 3,000 were killed by the police, by other drug dealers or by the tooth fairy. Some people were being incited to kill other people. This should not be repeated this time round. Unfortunately the interior minister has already said it would be "natural" if even more died this time, so maybe it's already too late.

Second, this same murderous intent should not be passed down the administrative chain. On February 21, 2003, The Interior Ministry's National Centre for Drug Suppression issued a document headed, "Policy and operational directives to overcome drug crimes". This document ordered provincial governors and police chiefs to "suppress" 25 per cent of the names, which had already been entered onto blacklists. It specified, "Cases which may be set against the target are suppression of traders and manufacturers in three ways, namely arrest, extraordinary killing, or loss of life (death for various reasons)."

The Thai translated here as "extraordinary killing" is wisaman katakam, which means killing by officials in the course of duty, such as self-defence. However, the term is commonly applied to cases where the police take the law into their own hands (and, for that reason, is often mistranslated as "extrajudicial killing"). For good measure, the document adds the very vague idea of "loss of life" without apparent cause.

Within the culture of the Thai police, it would be hard to avoid the obvious implications of an instruction worded in this fashion. This time round, the authorities should be more precise.

Third, the authorities should avoid the terrible simplicity of blacklists. The local police were encouraged to draw up blacklists as long as possible, and then given incentives (with money rewards) to eliminate as many of them as possible. While some of the names may have been suspected drug dealers, others probably qualified by being enemies of those drawing up the lists, or just simply defenceless. As the English journalist Andrew Marshall found, those at greatest risk were the innocents on these lists. If police pulled them in for questioning, they might prove their innocence and thus reduce the chance of the police reaching their numerical targets. The logical solution, as some police admitted to Marshall, was to kill such innocents without questioning.

Such lists reduce people to anonymous figures, stripped of their humanity. The dead bodies displayed in news reports during the 2003 campaign were anonymous entries on a list rather than real warm people.

Only when a young girl was killed by a stray bullet, and a courageous TV cameraman seized the opportunity to plead for his father's life, was this terrible anonymity breached. Maybe the prime minister and interior minister should ask around Cabinet to find out if any of the ministers had the experience of being on those blacklists.

Fourth, some effort is needed to prevent the emotions surrounding the subject of drugs overriding the principles of justice. Of the 3,000 killed in 2003, around one half seem to have been totally innocent. That is the conclusion of Kanit na Nakhon's investigation.

These killings were patently unjust. Among the other half, none were major traders. Most seem to have been petty dealers at the lowest level of the distribution chain. They may have been guilty, but did not warrant a sentence anywhere near the death penalty. The simple principle behind the campaign was to kill lots of little people in the hope of discouraging some of the big people behind the trade. In short, a deliberate blood sacrifice.

Many people supported the 2003 campaign. They seem to have accepted that this method was justified. But why is this method acceptable in the case of drugs, but not for other crimes?

Suppose for example that the prime minister had applied the same logic to the "War on Corruption" that was announced in parallel with the "War on Drugs". Suppose he had said, "If some corrupt people die, it will be a common thing". Suppose the authorities had drawn up blacklists, and the Interior Ministry sent down an order for 25 per cent of the names to be eliminated by "arrest, extraordinary killing, or loss of life (death for various reasons)". People who then or since then have been accused of major corruption (land deals, hidden assets, fire-truck purchases, airport scandals, wholesale vote-buying, etc, etc) would have appeared on those blacklists. And then...

Of course, that would be horrifying. But somehow the swirl of emotions created around the issue of drug-dealing allowed the police, provincial authorities and ordinary observers to override basic justice and basic human empathy.

It's hard to be optimistic this time round. If the prime minister can imagine away the deaths in 1976...

Chang noi

The Nation

[sriracha john]

Time to stoke the fire up... the War kicks off in a few days...

PM to Chair "War on Drugs" meeting Friday

PM Samak will Chair a meeting to announce the revival of the War on Drugs, according to the Justice Minister. Sompong Amornwiwat underlined the government's intention to seriously crackdown on drugs trafficking in Thailand. He further explained that there will be cash rewards for those able to provide information leading to arrests, but is unable to disclose further details at this point in time. He also assured that there will be no cases of extra-judicial killings. *he'll even swear to it in a extra-judicial court* "What was described as extra-judicial killings in the past were actually silence killings. Those in the drugs ring were getting rid of each other to avoid arrest," he said. *they've gotten someone new to keep still trotting out that same, old, tired, and disproven line.* Sompong declined to comment when asked by reporters if Samak's War on Drugs would be similar to Thaksin's War on Drugs, saying only that it's still early days and that he needs to attend Friday's meeting before knowing more about what is on the agenda.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=126576

[sriracha john]

Fresh War on Drugs to begin Friday

Justice Minister Sompong Amornwiwat said the government's policies on drug suppression would be strict. Details of operational guidelines have yet to be worked out. PM Samak Sundaravej would on Friday chair a meeting on the revival of the war on drugs, he said. It was possible drug suppression would be put on the national agenda. Asked if the People Power Party-led government would follow the former Thai Rak Thai government's guidelines on drugs, he refused to comment. The Thaksin government's war on drugs led to the extra-judicial killing of about 2,500 people.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/19Mar2008_news05.php