Ex-Thai PM Thaksin hires war crimes lawyer

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's legal team said Monday it had hired an international war crimes expert to help investigate a recent army crackdown on protesters in Bangkok.

Dutch professor GJ Alexander Knoops, previously involved in cases on the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, will help attempt to bring the Thai government to court for alleged human rights violations, a statement said.

The statement by Thaksin's legal team accused the Thai government of "flagrantly breaching its obligations as a member of the international community and the United Nations Human Rights Council".

The "Red Shirt" protests, which were broken up May 19 by the army, paralysed central Bangkok and descended into several outbreaks of violence that left 88 people dead since mid-March, mostly civilians, and nearly 1,900 injured.

The statement by Thaksin's lawyers said at least 140 Reds had been arrested, and that most were being held illegally without charge or access to a lawyer.

The government has accused Thaksin of "masterminding" the bloodshed surrounding the anti-government rallies. A Thai court last week approved a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in connection with the protests.

The multimillionaire tycoon, who was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term for corruption, says the charges against him are "politically motivated."

If found guilty, Thaksin could in theory face the death penalty, but the warrant appears aimed at boosting attempts to extradite the ousted premier, who has found sanctuary in several countries.

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-05-31

Published with written approval from AFP.

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

What few marbles he hasn't already lost are surely cracked. The man responsible for mass murder during the war on drugs, Tak Bai, Krue Sae, the bird flu cover up, the disappearance of opposing lawyers, the murder of key witnesses against him, the puppet master behind the proxy government responsible for the Rohingya and Hmong repatriation policies, the caller for revolution, the pay master behind the threats to burn Bangkok down, decides to open a can of worms by investigating the current government of human rights abuses? Let's hope the government stop pussy footing about and abandon the Thai way of leaving your opponent some face. Let's hope they counter attack and show the world the real face of this monster before removing it completely.

Well, no real surprise from the megalomaniac. What never ceases to amaze me is how sordid the legal profession is. It is one of the few professions in the world that is truly without morals..... the irony.

I am sure the Dutch Proff is happy to take the money, but when a Government is held to account on war crimes for protecting it's citizens economy and infrastructure then the whole world is on a slippery slope. TiT

Maybe they can investigate the 3,000 extra-judicial killings that took place under Thaksin's "war on drugs", too.

Good to see someone is doing something about making this government accountable for their crimes.

Thai people just don't need scum like him running the country.

For once I agree with you. Thai people certainly don't need scum like Thaksin running the country.

"The statement by Thaksin's lawyers said at least 140 Reds had been arrested, and that most were being held illegally without charge or access to a lawyer."

Held under the SOE!!!!

Oh my!

The following from:

<H3 style="MARGIN: auto 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt">Liberalism, Authoritarianism and the Politics of Decisionism in Thailand </H3>Connors, Michael K. 'Liberalism, authoritarianism and the politics of decisionism in Thailand', The Pacific Review, 22:3, 355 - 373

"Perhaps most ominous was the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations, gazetted in July 2005 without parliamentary debate and subsequently opposed by the Democrat Party. Thaksin (International Herald Tribute, 26 August 2005) claimed 'This is a decree which makes Thailand a full democracy because we don't use martial law any longer'. While ostensibly designed for the insurgency in the 'deep south', the Decree enabled the prime minister to proclaim an 'emergency situation' when public order or security was endangered. The Decree directly attacked the 1997 Constitution by removing the right to hold accountable, through the Administrative Court, state personnel involved in the prosecution of the Emergency Decree.5 The Decree and the means of its proclamation was simply the highpoint of Thaksin's legal authoritarianism. It granted officials the ability to hold suspects without charge for longer than the martial law it replaced."

Seems that Mr. Thaksin is attepting to give himself a h**d job.

Maybe the dude can investigate the 2500 offings under his new employer too while he is at it.

Maybe they can investigate the 3,000 extra-judicial killings that took place under Thaksin's "war on drugs", too.

If Abhisit (yes, the supposed messiah of thai politics etc),

walks away scot free for the extra-judicial killings under his leadership,

its pretty much a carte blanche for PMs past and present to get away with murder.

Good news here.

The only way to get a true independent investigation is to get some proper international human rights lawyers and investigators to look into this, and if necessary file charges against the government, and certain people who were in the CRES, with the International Criminal Court, and make the UNHRC fully aware of what has happened.

It is very sad to see army snipers allegedly shooting to kill civilians. It is very sad to see many people reported "missing" and the CRES is not willing to post lists of names of people held in detention. We have seen pictures of red shirts and monks blindfolded and handcuffed, and many people have not returned home. Why is the CRES unwilling to release the list of names of all detained people and where they are ?

It has been reported that some death certificates have been filled in incorrectly, with relatives insisting the cause of death is changed to bullet wound to the head as for some reason this was not recorded as the cause of death even though there is a bullet wound directly through the head. No idea why some people appear to be trying to cover up the cause of death ?? Any ideas ?

Media freedoms and basic human rights were allegedly infringed with the cutting off of media access, internet access, web site access and many other forms of basic human rights.

A full, thorough and proper investigation by international rights experts and war crimes lawyers is a good way of ensuring that if there are any breaches here, they will be found out, and it will also ensure such breaches, if they happened, will never happen again.

If anyone here cares about Thai's they will have no objections to this investigation.

sgtpeppers

Most people here are referring to Thailand on the planet Earth. Judging by your avtar and your comments which lack any form of intellectual thought process, you are obviously referring to a place called Thailand a ' long time ago in a galaxy far far away'. Beam back up there and leave those of us with a brain in peace on this planet eh!

Oh the Irony.

Thaksin, the convicted criminal throwing accusations around extra judicial killings.

He should be careful what might be uncovered.

Even Jacques Verges would not defend him.

Expats are at each other necks as much as Thai's on this issue-From the 2006 coup onward. Suffice to say I am not a Thaksin fan, but the government use of force and the deaths incurred needs to be throughly investigated. It is obvious the government cannot be relied upon to investigate itself. You cannot shoot 80 people and then just say "Bangkok is back to normal"

Hi Level Head,

You state that "It has been reported that some death certificates have been filled in incorrectly"

Where has this been reported?

Do you have a link to the original story?

Also stating that cutting off peoples internet access is an infringement of basic human rights, may be a bit of a stretch.

The red shirts were gathered illegally, and the response that they got was a long time coming.

In any other country on earth they would have been moved on with force after hours, not weeks.

Good news here.

The only way to get a true independent investigation is to get some proper international human rights lawyers and investigators to look into this, and if necessary file charges against the government, and certain people who were in the CRES, with the International Criminal Court, and make the UNHRC fully aware of what has happened.

It is very sad to see army snipers allegedly shooting to kill civilians. It is very sad to see many people reported "missing" and the CRES is not willing to post lists of names of people held in detention. We have seen pictures of red shirts and monks blindfolded and handcuffed, and many people have not returned home. Why is the CRES unwilling to release the list of names of all detained people and where they are ?

It has been reported that some death certificates have been filled in incorrectly, with relatives insisting the cause of death is changed to bullet wound to the head as for some reason this was not recorded as the cause of death even though there is a bullet wound directly through the head. No idea why some people appear to be trying to cover up the cause of death ?? Any ideas ?

Media freedoms and basic human rights were allegedly infringed with the cutting off of media access, internet access, web site access and many other forms of basic human rights.

A full, thorough and proper investigation by international rights experts and war crimes lawyers is a good way of ensuring that if there are any breaches here, they will be found out, and it will also ensure such breaches, if they happened, will never happen again.

If anyone here cares about Thai's they will have no objections to this investigation.

Except this is not an independent investigation. It is an investigation paid for by one of those with an interest. It is about as independent as a government investigation;)

Nobody would object to a real independent investigation I am sure, but this is not.

its interesting to watch taksin try and manuver...is it just me or does he not seem to realize that he keeps making his hole deeper...i mean really he could have done 2 years and been out already...seems like he keeps compounding his wowes....

Good to see someone is doing something about making this government accountable for their crimes.

Thai people just don't need scum like him running the country.

[/qu

Get a grip!!

Well, no real surprise from the megalomaniac. What never ceases to amaze me is how sordid the legal profession is. It is one of the few professions in the world that is truly without morals..... the irony.

I am sure the Dutch Proff is happy to take the money, but when a Government is held to account on war crimes for protecting it's citizens economy and infrastructure then the whole world is on a slippery slope. TiT

This is really funny. Doesn't he know what happened to those people accused of the War crim. Even if they had those lawyer they were all convicted

Edited May 31, 201016 yr by givenall

Maybe they can investigate the 3,000 extra-judicial killings that took place under Thaksin's "war on drugs", too.

Totally agree !!!

Expats are at each other necks as much as Thai's on this issue-From the 2006 coup onward. Suffice to say I am not a Thaksin fan, but the government use of force and the deaths incurred needs to be throughly investigated. It is obvious the government cannot be relied upon to investigate itself. You cannot shoot 80 people and then just say "Bangkok is back to normal"

Exactly. PM of a country should have balls to take responsibility and challenge the call, me think.

Hi Level Head,

You state that "It has been reported that some death certificates have been filled in incorrectly"

Where has this been reported?

Do you have a link to the original story?

Also stating that cutting off peoples internet access is an infringement of basic human rights, may be a bit of a stretch.

The red shirts were gathered illegally, and the response that they got was a long time coming.

In any other country on earth they would have been moved on with force after hours, not weeks.

Case in point, Akkaradej Khankaew from Kalasin.

//URL removed by Admin

On your other point the illegal gathering should have been dealt with by police, with tear gas and batons if necessary, as was the case under the PPP government. It should not have been dealt with by the Army, and the use of the army, and using of live ammo by the army is something that is going to be investigated by top human rights and war crimes lawyers, as it should be.

The world is going to ask why the police were not used, why no attempt was made to use them and why the government so quickly brought in the army with the ability to use lethal force against civilians.

If it transpires the government is not in control of its police force due to questions over its legitimacy or whatever, then a government not in control should have made way for elections for a new government that is.

This hypocritic shyster is seriously starting to piss me off !!!!!

Good to see someone is doing something about making this government accountable for their crimes.

Thai people just don't need scum like him running the country.

I agree 100% scum like Thaksin should never be running any country... just running from..........

"The statement by Thaksin's lawyers said at least 140 Reds had been arrested, and that most were being held illegally without charge or access to a lawyer."

Held under the SOE!!!!

Oh my!

The following from:

<H3 style="MARGIN: auto 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt">Liberalism, Authoritarianism and the Politics of Decisionism in Thailand </H3>Connors, Michael K. 'Liberalism, authoritarianism and the politics of decisionism in Thailand', The Pacific Review, 22:3, 355 - 373

"Perhaps most ominous was the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations, gazetted in July 2005 without parliamentary debate and subsequently opposed by the Democrat Party. Thaksin (International Herald Tribute, 26 August 2005) claimed 'This is a decree which makes Thailand a full democracy because we don't use martial law any longer'. While ostensibly designed for the insurgency in the 'deep south', the Decree enabled the prime minister to proclaim an 'emergency situation' when public order or security was endangered. The Decree directly attacked the 1997 Constitution by removing the right to hold accountable, through the Administrative Court, state personnel involved in the prosecution of the Emergency Decree.5 The Decree and the means of its proclamation was simply the highpoint of Thaksin's legal authoritarianism. It granted officials the ability to hold suspects without charge for longer than the martial law it replaced."

Seems that Mr. Thaksin is attepting to give himself a h**d job.

Thanks for this wonderful post.... but looks like old Takki is giving all the Democrats a h**d job.... and paying them for the privilege Rock on Tommy..!

Hi Level Head,

You state that "It has been reported that some death certificates have been filled in incorrectly"

Where has this been reported?

Do you have a link to the original story?

Also stating that cutting off peoples internet access is an infringement of basic human rights, may be a bit of a stretch.

The red shirts were gathered illegally, and the response that they got was a long time coming.

In any other country on earth they would have been moved on with force after hours, not weeks.

Case in point, Akkaradej Khankaew from Kalasin.

//URL removed by Admin

On your other point the illegal gathering should have been dealt with by police, with tear gas and batons if necessary, as was the case under the PPP government. It should not have been dealt with by the Army, and the use of the army, and using of live ammo by the army is something that is going to be investigated by top human rights and war crimes lawyers, as it should be.

The world is going to ask why the police were not used, why no attempt was made to use them and why the government so quickly brought in the army with the ability to use lethal force against civilians.

If it transpires the government is not in control of its police force due to questions over its legitimacy or whatever, then a government not in control should have made way for elections for a new government that is.

That is extremely disingenuous.

The police are a law unto themselves (just like many SOE’s and government agencies and ministries). For the time being, the police are more often than not aligned with Thaksin due the patronage links that he has established there. Added to that, they are plain useless with actual policing (their jobs) and anything that remotely resembles crowd control (unless it is sheparding drivers to pay 200 baht). They have shown some talent at shooting random people accused of being drug dealers though.

Best thing the government could do is lop off the three highest levels of the rank in the police force, and basically start again.

Maybe they can investigate the 3,000 extra-judicial killings that took place under Thaksin's "war on drugs", too.

If Abhisit (yes, the supposed messiah of thai politics etc),

walks away scot free for the extra-judicial killings under his leadership,

its pretty much a carte blanche for PMs past and present to get away with murder.

Yes.... delightfull is`nt it...! and Takki to thank..

Good to see someone is doing something about making this government accountable for their crimes.

Thai people just don't need scum like him running the country.

very well said.....but sad to say many in this forum still do not believe that innocent civilians were killed by the Ahbishit army....

I guess Mr. Amsterdams contradictory answers on the AlJazeera interview didn't go so well for his client.

Anyone that refers to PM Abjisit as "scum" most likely cannot identify with intelligence and/or education.

I don't know why Thaksin hired Amsterdam. The guy looks like a ferret and is a pretty lousy face man. His performance in the Al Jazeera interview was pitiful.

Expats are at each other necks as much as Thai's on this issue-From the 2006 coup onward. Suffice to say I am not a Thaksin fan, but the government use of force and the deaths incurred needs to be throughly investigated. It is obvious the government cannot be relied upon to investigate itself. You cannot shoot 80 people and then just say "Bangkok is back to normal"

Yes you can and,they did.