Severe Security Measures -

[cojones]

DEEP SOUTH : Severe security decree mulled

Published on December 01, 2004

The government is considering issuing a decree or legislation based upon the draconian internal security acts of Singapore and Malaysia that would permit police to hold indefinitely without charges any suspect linked to the ongoing southern violence, official sources said yesterday.

The Justice Ministry has been instructed to assess the constitutionality of a proposed decree

by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the sources said.

Deputy Prime Minister Vishanu Krua-ngam will be chairing a multi-agency meeting today to examine the proposal.

Thaksin wanted the “the Singaporean and Malaysian examples” to be studied before a Thai version of a national security law is composed, the sources said. While it remained unclear as to what aspects of the neighbouring countries’ anti-terrorism laws might be copied, they give police virtually unchecked power to detain suspects without trial.

Thai police are known to favour longer detention periods when it comes to cases involving violence in the predominantly Muslim border provinces. The government is also said to be looking for strong punishment of people involved in national security crimes.

National Police chief General Kowit Wattana said longer custody of suspected insurgents would be helpful for police work.

Police are under pressure to make considerable headway in cracking the identities of the inner circle of insurgent groups by the end of this month, he said without going into how many groups are at work or what kind of capacity they have.

Thaksin has been frustrated by the authorities’ inability to suppress the violence in the South and called on officials to look into this proposal, sources said.

About 500 people have been killed over this past year in the South.

The decree would likely raise major concerns on top of the severe scrutiny that police have come under in their handling of the southern violence, including the recent Tak Bai incident that ended in the deaths of at least 85 people – 79 of whom were in the custody of police and the Army.

The Constitution allows police to hold a suspect up to 48 hours before they need to seek court approval for an extension of up to 12 days. Police can make three requests before charges must be filed or the suspect released.