Thailand’s Rights ‘ Going Downhill’

[george]

Thailand’s rights ‘going downhill’

BANGKOK: -- The human-rights situation in Thailand has deteriorated sharply this year because of the policies of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration, local and international human-rights groups said yesterday.

In a statement to mark International Human Rights Day today and Thai Human Rights Week next week, Thai human-rights networks, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (Thailand) highlighted the 10 worst human-rights violations over the past year.

They were listed as follows:

- The Royal Decree on violence in the South.

-The issue of the 131 Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia.

- Various violations on press freedoms such as the Sondhi phenomenon, interference in the operations of community radio and interference in the ownership of the Bangkok Post and Matichon.

- Failure to make progress in human-rights cases such as the murder of Phra Suphoj Suwajo in Chiang Mai and the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelaphajit.

- Attempts to distort the principle of community forests through the drafting of bills.

- Failure to act on threats of violence against human-rights activists.

- Labour policy that allows peacework rates that lead to payments below minimum wage.

- Allowances for big businessmen to claim ownership of land in tsunami-affected areas.

- Police violations against defendants in jail.

- Failure to protect citizens in general, such as the two marines who were murdered in Tanyonglimor.

The group also highlighted the 10 most positive human-rights events over the year, such as the return of citizens to tribes in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district and the establishment of the National Conciliation Commission.

“Unfortunately, all good things happen due to the improvement of the courts of justice and Administrative Court, not due to the government,” the group stressed.

Inefficient work was seen at many independent bodies affected by government interference, it said.

--The Nation 2005-12-10

[thaibebop]

Did these groups have a report for the US?

[Mali_in_CM]

"Did these groups have a report for the US?"

Paraphrasing Adrian Cronauer: It's not a pretty picture; there's cops everywhere.

[mogoso]

Did these groups have a report for the US?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lets not stop with the US how about Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, France, Cuba, Sudan Venezulua Etc Etc

[Jai Dee]

Did these groups have a report for the US?

Lets not stop with the US how about Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, France, Cuba, Sudan Venezulua Etc Etc

Let's keep this a Thailand related thread (and Forum) please.

[mogoso]

“Unfortunately, all good things happen due to the improvement of the courts of justice and Administrative Court, not due to the government,” the group stressed.

--The Nation 2005-12-10

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well what goverment has been appointing judges to the court? Could it be the present one? Inquiring minds want to know

[haha]

if the "Nation" newspaper wants someone perfect as a leader, they could pray to buddha and see what happens.

..seems to me that thaksin has done a pretty good job especially with all the hard decisions that he has had to make.

the country seems to be prospering...

as for human rights...

chuwit is still alive. wouldn't you call that an inprovement?

[sriracha john]

Thailand’s rights ‘going downhill’

BANGKOK: -- The human-rights situation in Thailand has deteriorated sharply this year because of the policies of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration, local and international human-rights groups said yesterday.

In a statement to mark International Human Rights Day today and Thai Human Rights Week next week, Thai human-rights networks, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (Thailand) highlighted the 10 worst human-rights violations over the past year.

They were listed as follows:

- The Royal Decree on violence in the South.

-The issue of the 131 Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia.

- Various violations on press freedoms such as the Sondhi phenomenon, interference in the operations of community radio and interference in the ownership of the Bangkok Post and Matichon.

- Failure to make progress in human-rights cases such as the murder of Phra Suphoj Suwajo in Chiang Mai and the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelaphajit.

- Attempts to distort the principle of community forests through the drafting of bills.

- Failure to act on threats of violence against human-rights activists.

- Labour policy that allows peacework rates that lead to payments below minimum wage.

- Allowances for big businessmen to claim ownership of land in tsunami-affected areas.

- Police violations against defendants in jail.

- Failure to protect citizens in general, such as the two marines who were murdered in Tanyonglimor.

The group also highlighted the 10 most positive human-rights events over the year, such as the return of citizens to tribes in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district and the establishment of the National Conciliation Commission.

“Unfortunately, all good things happen due to the improvement of the courts of justice and Administrative Court, not due to the government,” the group stressed.

Inefficient work was seen at many independent bodies affected by government interference, it said.

--The Nation 2005-12-10

Updated the following year...

A human rights group demands the resignation of Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Chief Sombat Amornvivat

A human rights group demands Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Chief Sombat Amornvivat resign in a show of responsibility for failure to make progress in two cases which made headlines last year.

The Working Committee on the Protection of Human Rights Crusaders issued a statement calling on Police General Sombat to resign yesterday if he could not convince the public that DSI really wanted to solve the disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit and the murder of Pra Supoj Suwajo.

The committee said DSI should produce proof that it is still working on the two cases. It noted that DSI often was criticized that it was always enthusiastic to solve any case that was in the interest of the powers-that-be but did not pay much attention to cases involving influential figures.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 21 July 2006

============================================================================

SJ Note: DSI Chief (at the time) Sombat Amornvivat (left) is the brother of Thaksin's boyhood chum, Sompong Amornvivat (right), who became Justice Minister (under which the DSI falls) in the Samak Cabinet and who was eventually banned from politics for electoral fraud as a Party executive of the People Power Party.

UPDATE... the case drags on...

DSI slammed over probe into murder of monk

Activists have expressed outrage at the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) citing a sexual affair as the motive for the 2005 murder of social worker and Buddhist monk, Phra Supoj Suwajo.

Democrat Party senior leader Chuan Leekpai has asked an adviser to the Parliament Committee on Police Affairs to re-investigate the murder, which might involve politicians and dark influential figures.

Chairman of Metthatham Foundation Phra Kittisak Kittisopano said the murder happened more than three years ago but the DSI had failed to find the killers. It was only trying to twist the facts to make it seem a sexual affair, which was highly impossible. [likely The Nation actually intended to use the word "improbable"]

He said the evidence cited in a recent announcement, be it the pubic hair or semen stain on tissue papers, were collected in December 2007 after Phra Supoj was murdered in June 2005. This evidence also could not point to the motive of the murder as they could have been natural occurrences. He argued that pubic hair could fall naturally and semen stains could come from a wet dream.

He urged the DSI to place the evidence in court rather than make announcements to confuse the public and tarnish the reputation of the deceased, who could not defend himself.

He also suspected that some evidence might have been added after the monk's death. He said police had kept the computer hard disk for eight months before saying there were pornographic material in the computer.

He said the DSI had announced the motive behind the murder shortly after the activists went to meet senior officials in the government on February 11.

He said the DSI tried to sum up the case, which they could not proceed on probing and which possibly involved local politicians, and to raise the sexual affair to discredit the deceased so as to make the Democrat Party hesitant to push the case investigation forward.

Meanwhile, Phattalung Democrat MP Nipit Intarasombat, Adviser to the Parliament Committee on Police Affairs, said Chuan had asked him to look into Phra Supoj's murder as the monk was an environmentalist who had tried to protect the Suan Pa Metthatham Monastery from being invaded by businessmen and local influential figures.

- The Nation / 2009-02-15

Edited February 16, 2009 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

The deceased victim in the case, Phra Supoj Suwajo

Edited February 16, 2009 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

DSI follows 2 threads in monk murder

Conservationist monk Phra Supoj Suvajo was murdered four years ago either because of conflicts he had with local people or articles he wrote that were critical of the Thaksin government at the time, the Department of Special Investigation believes. DSI Director-General Thawee Sodsong said there was no truth to the rumours that the department had concluded that the monk's murder had stemmed from a love affair. He said the investigators favoured two other theories. The monk may have been embroiled in conflicts with local people as there was evidence Phra Supoj's Suan Metta Dharma Raksa forest monastery in Fang district of Chiang Mai had been raided and damaged by an unknown group of men.

The second theory was that the monk had upset certain people by writing articles attacking the Thaksin administration over the killings of Muslims at the Krue Se mosque in Pattani in April 2004 and its handling of the Tak Bai protesters in Narathiwat in October that year when 78 Muslim protesters suffocated while being transported on military trucks. Col Piyawat Kingket, head of the DSI's special criminal cases, said a number of government officials had been sent to inspect the monastery after Phra Supoj's death.

The monk was stabbed to death at his Suan Metta Dharma Raksa forest monastery on June 18, 2005. The monk's supporters and environmentalists recently expressed their anger at the lack of progress in the DSI investigation.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/1181...-in-monk-murder

[0Mix1up]

the wheels of justice are square.

[Pierrot]

Thailand's rights 'going downhill'

BANGKOK: -- The human-rights situation in Thailand has deteriorated sharply this year because of the policies of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's administration, local and international human-rights groups said yesterday.

In a statement to mark International Human Rights Day today and Thai Human Rights Week next week, Thai human-rights networks, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (Thailand) highlighted the 10 worst human-rights violations over the past year.

They were listed as follows:

- The Royal Decree on violence in the South.

-The issue of the 131 Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia.

- Various violations on press freedoms such as the Sondhi phenomenon, interference in the operations of community radio and interference in the ownership of the Bangkok Post and Matichon.

- Failure to make progress in human-rights cases such as the murder of Phra Suphoj Suwajo in Chiang Mai and the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelaphajit.

- Attempts to distort the principle of community forests through the drafting of bills.

- Failure to act on threats of violence against human-rights activists.

- Labour policy that allows peacework rates that lead to payments below minimum wage.

- Allowances for big businessmen to claim ownership of land in tsunami-affected areas.

- Police violations against defendants in jail.

- Failure to protect citizens in general, such as the two marines who were murdered in Tanyonglimor.

The group also highlighted the 10 most positive human-rights events over the year, such as the return of citizens to tribes in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district and the establishment of the National Conciliation Commission.

"Unfortunately, all good things happen due to the improvement of the courts of justice and Administrative Court, not due to the government," the group stressed.

Inefficient work was seen at many independent bodies affected by government interference, it said.

--The Nation 2005-12-10

Amazing Thailand, it sounds like it as been printed yesterday.

But please, refresh my memory, what was that Sondhi phenomenon about ?

Edited February 19, 2009 by Pierrot

[slapout]

The human rights record of Thailand when it comes to several minority groups is suspect at best. The southern Thai problems, boat people being set adrift, establishing villages for tourists to view hill tribes and others, restriction on travel, work etc of these groups, refusal to acknowledge that minorities born here are even Thai citizens, much less their parents, refusal to register marriage of either of these latter two, raids on the workers camps to impound motorbikes, and the list goes on and on. But as one Thai government official said, this is Thai business, not yours or words to that effect.

[TAWP]

Amazing Thailand, it sounds like it as been printed yesterday.

But please, refresh my memory, what was that Sondhi phenomenon about ?

New to Thailand and happy to proclaim Thaksin was the best ever?

Anyway: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=S...mp;aq=f&oq=

[sriracha john]

Thailand’s rights ‘going downhill’

BANGKOK: -- The human-rights situation in Thailand has deteriorated sharply this year because of the policies of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration, local and international human-rights groups said yesterday.

In a statement to mark International Human Rights Day today and Thai Human Rights Week next week, Thai human-rights networks, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (Thailand) highlighted the 10 worst human-rights violations over the past year.

They were listed as follows:

- Failure to make progress in human-rights cases such as the murder of Phra Suphoj Suwajo in Chiang Mai and the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelaphajit.

--The Nation 2005-12-10

Updated the following year...

A human rights group demands the resignation of Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Chief Sombat Amornvivat

A human rights group demands Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Chief Sombat Amornvivat resign in a show of responsibility for failure to make progress in two cases which made headlines last year.

The Working Committee on the Protection of Human Rights Crusaders issued a statement calling on Police General Sombat to resign yesterday if he could not convince the public that DSI really wanted to solve the disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit and the murder of Pra Supoj Suwajo.

The committee said DSI should produce proof that it is still working on the two cases. It noted that DSI often was criticized that it was always enthusiastic to solve any case that was in the interest of the powers-that-be but did not pay much attention to cases involving influential figures.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 21 July 2006

============================================================================

SJ Note: DSI Chief (at the time) Sombat Amornvivat (left) is the brother of Thaksin's boyhood chum, Sompong Amornvivat (right), who became Justice Minister (under which the DSI falls) in the Samak Cabinet and who was eventually banned from politics for electoral fraud as a Party executive of the People Power Party.

UPDATE... the case drags on...

DSI slammed over probe into murder of monk

Chairman of Metthatham Foundation Phra Kittisak Kittisopano said the murder happened more than three years ago but the DSI had failed to find the killers. It was only trying to twist the facts to make it seem a sexual affair, which was highly impossible. [likely The Nation actually intended to use the word "improbable"]

He urged the DSI to place the evidence in court rather than make announcements to confuse the public and tarnish the reputation of the deceased, who could not defend himself.

Meanwhile, Phattalung Democrat MP Nipit Intarasombat, Adviser to the Parliament Committee on Police Affairs, said Chuan had asked him to look into Phra Supoj's murder as the monk was an environmentalist who had tried to protect the Suan Pa Metthatham Monastery from being invaded by businessmen and local influential figures.

- The Nation / 2009-02-15

Murdered monk Phra Suphote Suwajo

Past Monk Murder Case Still Smolders

On 2 March 2009, media reported on progress related to the murder case of Phra Suwajo, former president of the Mettatham Foundation, located on a 1,500 rai plot in Tambol Sansai, Fang District, Chiang Mai province.

The latest reports were that Phra Kittisakdi Kittisophano disclosed that at approximately eight pm the evening before, reports were received from local villagers that some burning was taking place in a protected forest reserve of about 200 rai.

The villagers said that there was also what appeared to be light from flashlights in the area just before the fires, and that the fires were not likely caused by nature. They also indicated that the burning had affected some 3,000 teak trees, 1,000 planted banana trees and other naturally growing trees. “At the time of the incident, residents, officials and fire fighters all assisted to combat the flames, but the fire spread quickly because of the dry climate, with grass and leaves in the area dry.

The fire resulted in loss of some 200 rai of forestry area, and firefighters had hosed water over the area to keep the fire from spreading further. It was not until around midnight that the fire was finally extinguished,” Phra Kittisakdi said. The monk also stated that the cause of the fire was likely from efforts to resurrect the Phra Suphoj murder case, because before this about two weeks ago there was some shooting, several shots at the temple, and a group of men sitting on a pickup truck who had come in asking villagers about what the temple monks were up to.

The latest is that TV Channel 9 program, “Investigations, the Truth” was broadcast on the air regarding the murder case of Phra Suphoj. After the news was carried, about 7:30 p.m, it was suggested that the cause was that an influential person in the area had encroached onto the forest and was involved in a political conflict.

About an hour after the reported conflict allegations the fires began. “This fire it is thought to be a signal in the area that criminals will still employ violence,” Phra Kittisakdi said.

Colonel Piyyawat Keunghet, commander of the office of Special Criminal Cases of DSI stated that “Reports were received of fires in the Mettatham Forest. Initially it was thought the incited occurred around eight p.m., after the Channel 9 program, where there was some discussion about the murder case of Phra Suphoj that was possibly connected to forest encroachment and political matters.

So at this time DSI staff have been told to speed up investigations and it is expected that the facts of the fire will be known within 1-2 days.”

- Korat Post / 2009-03-03

Edited March 4, 2009 by sriracha john