Thai Troops Violate Law In Bangkok Action: Amnesty

[webfact]

Thai troops violate law in Bangkok action: Amnesty

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Thailand's army of "reckless use of lethal force" in a campaign to contain anti-government street protests that has left 38 dead and 279 injured.

The London-based rights group said Thai troops were violating the law by firing live ammunition in several areas around Bangkok during five days of violence triggered by attempts to seal the "Red Shirts" protest zone.

"Eyewitness accounts and video recordings show clearly that the military is firing live rounds at unarmed people who pose no threat whatsoever to the soldiers or to others," said Amnesty's Thailand specialist Benjamin Zawacki.

"This is a gross violation of a key human right -- the right to life," he said in a statement.

After two months of protests and sporadic clashes, the violence escalated late last week as the government launched an operation to seal the Red Shirts' vast encampment in an upscale retail and hotel district.

The government has said it is also battling hundreds of "terrorists" hiding among demonstrators who it says are responsible for targeting civilians.

However, Amnesty accused army snipers of killing two medics wearing white medical uniforms as well as a 17-year-old boy.

New York-based Human Rights Watch this week criticised the designation of "live fire zones" by Thai authorities battling anti-government protesters, saying it put them on a "slippery slope" towards serious rights abuses.

The military Saturday declared one area of Bangkok a live fire zone as troops struggled to gain control in street battles.

The two-month crisis has now left 67 people dead and about 1,700 wounded. Twenty-five people died in a failed army crackdown on April 10.

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-05-18

Published with written approval from AFP.

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[george]

Official press release from Amnesty:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=...2010&lang=e

Related article:

Associated Press (AP): "Thai protests expose military rifts, incompetence"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37203123/ns/wo...ws-asiapacific/

[tharae]

Such an important press release from an organisation that has such credibility around the globe. I'm taking my tongue out of my cheek now.

[gemini81]

Oh, these rioters are well armed! Easy to say that when your feet are standing in London.

The live fire zone has warning posted everywhere. as with other public warning signs, if you proceed then.........!!!

[MuayThaiUdonThani]

The London-based rights group need to get their own country in order first!!

[StevieH]

Such an important press release from an organisation that has such credibility around the globe. I'm taking my tongue out of my cheek now.

amnesty international is a widely respected organisation which takes the human side of every conflict and dispute around the world. they're not in the habit of selling wolf tickets.

this situation needs UN involvement soon. don't think it's going to get it though.

[mausplan]

I just emailed these people with the link showing the assault on the army truck driver on May 14 at Din Daeng and the manhandling of the female journalist about 1 hour ago. Will they respond and say opps ,sorry , not a chance.

They have an office here at Lad Prao so they know the truth very well so what they have printed is outright lies for a vested reason. Nice people

http://tweetphoto.com/22910119

[KMUTT]

"Eyewitness accounts and video recordings show clearly that the military is firing live rounds at unarmed people who pose no threat whatsoever to the soldiers or to others," said Amnesty's Thailand specialist Benjamin Zawacki.

Less wacki tobacki for Mr. Zawacki :

[siampolee]

Amnesty International.

Full of waste water and flatulence.

To politely quote the late Sir Winston Churchill.

MuayThaiUdonThani.

Spot on comment. A. I. always supporting those that do not want a free society,

A.I. Woolly minded intellectual sheeple

[yoshiwara]

Amnesty International are damaged goods.

Read how Amnesty rushed to defend a leading Taliban member and you will understand why.

From the London Times:

A SENIOR official at Amnesty International has accused the charity of putting the human rights of Al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of their victims.

Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit at Amnesty’s international secretariat, believes that collaborating with Moazzam Begg, a former British inmate at Guantanamo Bay, “fundamentally damages” the organisation’s reputation.

In an email sent to Amnesty’s top bosses, she suggests the charity has mistakenly allied itself with Begg and his “jihadi” group, Cageprisoners, out of fear of being branded racist and Islamophobic.

Sahgal describes Begg as “Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban”. He has championed the rights of jailed Al-Qaeda members and hate preachers, including Anwar al-Awlaki, the alleged spiritual mentor of the Christmas Day Detroit plane bomber.

Amnesty’s work with Cageprisoners took it to Downing Street last month to demand the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Begg has also embarked on a European tour, hosted by Amnesty, urging countries to offer safe haven to Guantanamo detainees. This is despite concerns about former inmates returning to terrorism.

Sahgal, who has researched religious fundamentalism for 20 years, has decided to go public because she feels Amnesty has ignored her warnings for the past two years about the involvement of Begg in the charity’s Counter Terror With Justice campaign.

“I believe the campaign fundamentally damages Amnesty International’s integrity and, more importantly, constitutes a threat to human rights,” Sahgal wrote in an email to the organisation’s leaders on January 30. “To be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is a gross error of judgment.”

Amnesty is the world’s biggest human rights organisation with 2.2m members and a galaxy of celebrity supporters, including Bono, John Cleese, Yoko Ono, Al Pacino and Sinead O’Connor. Its decision to work with Begg poses liberal backers with a moral dilemma and raises questions about the direction in which Amnesty has travelled since it was set up in 1961 to support “prisoners of conscience”.

“As a former Guantanamo detainee it was legitimate to hear his experiences, but as a supporter of the Taliban it was absolutely wrong to legitimise him as a partner,” Sahgal told The Sunday Times.

Begg, 42, from Birmingham, was held at Guantanamo for three years until 2005 under suspicion of links to Al-Qaeda, which he denies. Prior to his arrest, Begg lived with his family in Kabul and praised the Taliban in his memoirs as “better than anything Afghanistan has had in 20 years”. After his release Begg became the figurehead for Cageprisoners, which describes itself as “a human rights organisation that exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of prisoners ... held as part of the War On Terror”.

Among the Muslim inmates it highlights are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Abu Hamza, the hook-handed cleric facing extradition from Britain to America on terror charges, and Abu Qatada, a preacher described as Osama Bin Laden’s “European ambassador”.

Sahgal, 53, is not the only critic of Begg at Amnesty. In 2008 a board member of its US arm opposed Begg’s appearance, via videolink, at its AGM, but was overruled.

When Begg appeared at Downing Street last month as part of a group delivering a letter to Gordon Brown calling for the release of the last British resident held at Guantanamo, he was accompanied by Kate Allen, head of Amnesty’s UK section since 2000. Allen is a leftwinger who was the girlfriend of Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, for almost 20 years.

This weekend Amnesty said it had launched an internal inquiry after Sahgal raised her concerns with bosses, including Allen and Claudio Cordone, the interim secretary-general.

Anne Fitzgerald, policy director of Amnesty’s international secretariat, said the charity had formed a relationship with Begg because he was a “compelling speaker” on detention. She said he had been paid expenses for his attendance at its events.

Asked if she thought Begg was a human rights advocate, Fitzgerald said: “It’s something you’d have to speak to him about. I don’t have the information to answer that.”

Yesterday Begg dismissed Sahgal’s claims as “ridiculous”. He defended his support for the Taliban and the decision by Cageprisoners to highlight the plight of detainees linked to Al-Qaeda: “We need to be engaging with those people who we find most unpalatable. I don’t consider anybody a terrorist until they have been charged and convicted of terrorism.”

[Rucharee]

I believe Amnesty International has over reacted after been fed by mis-leading information from the RED side.

They should be invited to see first hand that only 1 solider have been killed over the last 5 days or so in Bangkok. This is a fact. I am confirm this.

[CHdiver]

This belongs into Bedlam, could a Moderator please move it? Sounds like a bad joke to me.

[StevieH]

good grief, are people incapable of reading a statement properly on here? amnesty international is not saying that nobody in the red camp is armed. it is saying that SOME of the people in there, specifically women and children, are unarmed and are being fired at with live rounds by a nation state's army. that is a violation of human rights, whether they are in the red camp by choice or not.

[siampolee]

AFP: Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Thailand's army of "reckless use of lethal force"

AFP: Thai troops violate law in Bangkok action according to Amnesty

AFP: The London-based rights group said Thai troops were violating the law by firing live ammunition in several areas around Bangkok

AFP: "Eyewitness accounts and video recordings show clearly that the military is firing live rounds..(1/2)

AFP: ..at unarmed people who pose no threat to the soldiers or to others" said Amnesty's Thailand specialist Benjamin Zawacki (2/2)

AFP: "This is a gross violation of a key human right -- the right to life," he said in a statement.

Let us instil a sense of reality into the current situation

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

QUOTE

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Thailand's army of "reckless use of lethal force"

Let's correct it shall we.

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Thailand's army of "reckless Red Shirts of using lethal force against a defenceless public who are not involved nor interested in their violent protest

The London-based rights group said Red Shirt terrorists were violating the law by firing live ammunition and instigating arson attacks and looting in several areas around Bangkok

Amnesty's London-based Thailand specialist Benjamin Zawacki.

Indeed one has ones finger on the pulse when one is some 9545 KM. away from the troubles.

'Twoud seem as if Amnesty International is but on a nodding acquaintance with the truth concerning Thailand.

[StevieH]

absolutely pointless attempting to discuss and explain then? that one of the parties involved is an official government bound by international laws and rules and supposedly committed to responsible governance of its people while the other is an unelected gang of hotheads not subject to international laws?

sheesh.

[kek]

Amnesty are safe, sitting in comfy offices, watching sensationalist reports from CNN & BBC while drunken Red Shirt mobs are terrorizing residential areas in Bangkok.

When Amnesty have some people on the ground here in Bangkok and witness at first hand what is going on then they might have some credibility.

[A_Traveller]

My understanding is that Benjamin Zawacki is based in Bangkok, he does seem to be the Swiss army penknife though since he's often quoted as AI's expert on Burma, then SE Asia as a whole and recently Thailand itself. By the by, on the press release itself there is a Thai mobile number.

Regards

[yoshiwara]

From Jihad Watch:

Amnesty International suspends women's rights activist who questioned its partnership with Taliban supporter

Dhimmitude, cowardice, craven opportunism, and blind Leftist America-hatred. An update on this story. "Embattled Gender Analyst Leaves Post at Amnesty," from Women's eNews, n.d. (thanks to Morgaan Sinclair):

Gita Sahgal calls her entry into the world of journalism "sort of accidental," but her most recent news appearances have been entirely on purpose.

On Feb. 7, the Sunday Times of London published her sharp critique of Amnesty International's support for former Guantanamo prisoner Moazzam Begg. She went public, the article says, because her internal warnings had been ignored.

Amnesty, the nearly 50-year-old rights group founded to speak on behalf of prisoners of conscience, has hailed Begg as a human rights defender, hosted him on speaking tours and included him in a meeting with politicians at Downing Street.

Sahgal has called him "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban." She points to passages in his 2006 autobiography, Enemy Combatant, where he describes moving to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to "live in an Islamic state--one that was free from the corruption and despotism of the rest of the Muslim world." He also ran a bookstore in Birmingham, England, that sold works by known al-Qaida mentor Abdullah Azzam.

Hours later she was suspended, with pay but without explanation, from her job.

On April 9, she and the organization parted ways. In a statement released that day, the organization cited "irreconcilable differences."

Sahgal served as Amnesty International's top gender specialist since 2002. Two days before her suspension, the organization had promoted her to the newly-created position of interim head of the Gender, Sexuality and Identity division.

"It tells you a lot about where women's rights stand at Amnesty International," Sahgal said in a phone interview in March. "When they had to make the choice between Begg and their most senior discrimination expert who also has researched fundamentalism, they chose Begg."...

[londonthai]

I just emailed these people with the link showing the execution of the army truck driver on May 14 at Din Daeng

so far all 36 shot are civilians, no any military.

the guy on the picture might have been only injured, wounded, knock down or passed out, there is no blood on his uniform

[tonywebster]

good grief, are people incapable of reading a statement properly on here? amnesty international is not saying that nobody in the red camp is armed. it is saying that SOME of the people in there, specifically women and children, are unarmed and are being fired at with live rounds by a nation state's army. that is a violation of human rights, whether they are in the red camp by choice or not.

People on here read what they want to read steve, it is clear that unarmed people that pose no immediate threat are being shot and killed, but some on here think that being in a protest is justification enough to be shot and killed, even the two red cross operative trying to help people were murdered by the army.

I saw this morning on television the army showing only 3 protesters carrying weapons, I would rather see footage of the people they shot and murdered with guns or grenades posing an immediate threat to life, sadly though they don't seem to have any of this footage as the people shot and killed were on the whole unarmed and posing to immediate danger.

Hopefully people will take note of this report, well people that matter and not the usual red shirt haters on here.

[yoshiwara]

I just emailed these people with the link showing the execution of the army truck driver on May 14 at Din Daeng

so far all 36 shot are civilians, no any military.

the guy on the picture might have been only injured, wounded, knock down or passed out, there is no blood on his uniform

You would say that even if his head was seen rolling down the street.

But we digress.

Not civilians dear boy.

Didn't the reds claim this was a civil war.

Not a peaceful demo in Hyde Park.

[A_Traveller]

AI was once a proud and effective voice, today it has become a political minefield of its own making.

I note that the emergency powers do provide wide ranging legal cover for the security services in responding to deemed threats, therefore the headline is at odds with the facts on the ground.

Regards

[xminator]

Wonder how fast Thaivisas member would behead Mother Theresa herself...

Amnesty is a respected organisation. It may not be without flaw, but that is not the point. The point is that Thailands government is breaching major human rights.

I would like to see Amnesty beeing alowed to look at the rights of those that are arrested and given blanket jail penalty. Did they get the right to lawyers? Right to appeal? All experience from western demonstrations shows that most of who get arrested are innocent. Thats also why the penalties for beeing caught in protests in european countries are low.

[Harry2]

Official press release from Amnesty:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=...2010〈=e

Related article:

Associated Press (AP): "Thai protests expose military rifts, incompetence"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37203123/ns/wo...ws-asiapacific/

Excellent, this will begin the process of bringing to trial those civilian leaders responsible - primarily Abhisit, & Suthep - for the massacre of largely unarmed civilians we have just witnessed. If not eventually in Thailand following a change of Government, then perhaps at the Hague.

The next Government will also need to investigate (perhaps using international investigators & accountants for the sake of impartiality) corruption in key ministries, and the improper granting of contracts to companies connected to prominent coalition politicians. Again trials of those presiding over this corruption as well as those specifically involved should begin once the evidence emerges - asset seizure would seem an appropriate partial punishment of those found guilty.

[CHdiver]

good grief, are people incapable of reading a statement properly on here? amnesty international is not saying that nobody in the red camp is armed. it is saying that SOME of the people in there, specifically women and children, are unarmed and are being fired at with live rounds by a nation state's army. that is a violation of human rights, whether they are in the red camp by choice or not.

Press Release Amnesty International

snip

At least 35 unarmed protesters have been killed. The dead include two medics who were wearing white medical uniforms with visible red crosses, shot on 15 and 16 May; and a 17 year-old boy, shot on 15 May. Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawatdiphon (known as "Seh Daeng"), a military advisor for the protesters, was struck by a sniper's bullet on 14 May and died on 17 May. In addition another soldier has been killed.

snap

Now tell me how they know that they all where unarmed? Btw. its not so that Familys with Children have to stay there, they are free to go. Why would responsible Parents take there Children to a Riot like we have at the moment? Brainwashed fanatics do that. They are not responsible Parents. Where are the international Organisations urging this iresponsible Parents to take proper care of there Children?

What is with the People living in that Area? Do they have no rights to have a peacful home, work and go about there daily live? Amnesty International really sounds like a Organisation of blind brainless Idiots.

[d0om4gloom]

absolutely pointless attempting to discuss and explain then? that one of the parties involved is an official government bound by international laws and rules and supposedly committed to responsible governance of its people while the other is an unelected gang of hotheads not subject to international laws?

sheesh.

regardless that you clearly support the government side, this article is about them breaking the law using live fire. Are you saying you support the shooting of unarmed protesters ? Whether or not they are a gang of hotheads is personal opinion but considering TV images regularly show protesters using sling shots against army using bullets I think amnesty have a valid point.

Why are so many people on here so one sidely supporting violence and death ? Personally I'd prefer to see the government stop aimlessly calling everyone terrorists and actually try to sort these long standing issues out. Guns just aren't going to do that

[jucel]

I just emailed these people with the link showing the execution of the army truck driver on May 14 at Din Daeng

so far all 36 shot are civilians, no any military.

the guy on the picture might have been only injured, wounded, knock down or passed out, there is no blood on his uniform

He fell or was pushed from the truck, hence knocked out/injured but not shot/dead! The same people who spread this marmite are the same people who think Abhisit was elected by the people. He was not elected by the PEOPLE. He was elected by MP's that jumped ship after the dissolution. The general public would not have voted for the MP's in the first place if they knew in the future they would have jumped ships to the current coalition. There should have been an election after Thaksin's proxy govt had been dissolved, but the powers from above did not want that. Did they???

[StevieH]

absolutely pointless attempting to discuss and explain then? that one of the parties involved is an official government bound by international laws and rules and supposedly committed to responsible governance of its people while the other is an unelected gang of hotheads not subject to international laws?

sheesh.

regardless that you clearly support the government side, this article is about them breaking the law using live fire. Are you saying you support the shooting of unarmed protesters ? Whether or not they are a gang of hotheads is personal opinion but considering TV images regularly show protesters using sling shots against army using bullets I think amnesty have a valid point.

Why are so many people on here so one sidely supporting violence and death ? Personally I'd prefer to see the government stop aimlessly calling everyone terrorists and actually try to sort these long standing issues out. Guns just aren't going to do that

i think you need to read my posts again. i'm not on anyone's 'side' in this other than that of as peaceful a resolution as can be as soon as possible. amnesty rightly points out that the government of thailand is breaching international human rights laws by firing live rounds on unarmed civilians, a crime in any country on earth.

this doesn't get solved using violence any which way and whoever is holding the guns. it needs UN intervention and diplomacy immediately.

[asiawatcher]

Am- nasty - International - bunch of pencil neck self serving servants and do-good oxygen bandits trying to justify their enormous drain on donated funds and handouts for themselves. Maybe we can offer them to the reds as human shields!

Edited May 18, 2010 by asiawatcher

[StevieH]

good grief, are people incapable of reading a statement properly on here? amnesty international is not saying that nobody in the red camp is armed. it is saying that SOME of the people in there, specifically women and children, are unarmed and are being fired at with live rounds by a nation state's army. that is a violation of human rights, whether they are in the red camp by choice or not.

People on here read what they want to read steve, it is clear that unarmed people that pose no immediate threat are being shot and killed, but some on here think that being in a protest is justification enough to be shot and killed, even the two red cross operative trying to help people were murdered by the army.

I saw this morning on television the army showing only 3 protesters carrying weapons, I would rather see footage of the people they shot and murdered with guns or grenades posing an immediate threat to life, sadly though they don't seem to have any of this footage as the people shot and killed were on the whole unarmed and posing to immediate danger.

Hopefully people will take note of this report, well people that matter and not the usual red shirt haters on here.

i should have known better in all honesty. people on here do read only what they want to read despite the fact that amnesty is a politically neutral organisation concerned only about the human rights of innocent civilians around the world. that some people ignore that in their rush to judge is sad.