Further to the Human Rights Watch call for accountability, some disturbing reports from Thailand have emerged.
As Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva moved back to Government House (Bangkok Post, 16 April 2009: “PM tries to restore confidence”), he said that “the state of emergency in the capital is temporary and that constitutional rights would be returned fully to the Thai people when it was lifted.” He is quoted as saying that: “After the lifting of the state of emergency people will be free to express their opinions peacefully, but that must has to be done without any attempt to incite unrest,” Mr Abhisit said.
As HRW noted, the state of emergency permits the Democrat-led government with draconian powers. Abhisit refuses to say when the emergency will be lifted, raising concerns about what exactly is happening behind the scenes.
In a related report, the Bangkok Post (16 April 2009: “Detention extended, new arrest warrants out”) indicates how the emergency decree is being used, with the Criminal Court affirming the right of police to arrest and to continue to detain three UDD leaders. “The court confirmed on Thursday that the declaration of a state of emergency before the three men were arrested gave police the authority to detain them without a court warrant.”
Veera Musigapong, Natthawut Saikua and Weng Tojirakarn were taken away by Border Patrol Police Region 1 officers to Pathum Thani province, where they are being held for further investigation. They can be detained for seven more days.
The courts issued another 22 arrest warrants for red shirt protesters. These included 10 warrants for protesters accused of attacking Prime Minister Abhisit’s motorcade at the Interior Ministry compound and 12 warrants for people who attacked his car in Pattaya. Another 14 warrants were earlier issued for UDD organisers of the raid on the Royal Cliff Hotel in Pattaya during a regional ASEAN summit.
It is clear that the state of emergency is being used to track down and imprison red shirt leaders. It is not immediately evident why the government needs such laws in the cases cited, any of which could be dealt with in the normal legal process, thus raising suspicions about the government’s motives. And, as HRW pointed out, the lack of action against PAD extremists raises concerns regarding even-handedness. It also raises questions about the government’s commitment to the rule of law that it so often touts.
Meanwhile, two bodies have turned up floating in the river in Bangkok (Bangkok Post, 16 April 2009: “Police probe claim dead men were red-shirts”). Police are said to be “investigating claims that two men whose bodies were found gagged and bound in the Chao Phraya river were red-shirt protesters.”
The bodies of Chaiyaporn Kanthang, 29, and Nattapong Poongdee, 23, were found to have “suffered head injuries and apparently been hit with a hard object. They were gagged and their hands were tied behind their backs…”. The story continues by citing a police investigator: “The official investigation has not yet found their deaths are related to the political rally…. One of their friends told reporters that they went to join the red-shirt rally…”. He added that “the man had not repeated his claim to police.” However, the police say there “was no confirmation the pair were at the rally and that robbery was a more likely motive, as their motorcycle was missing.”
Presumably Bangkok’s robbers usually bind and gag their victims, kill them and throw them into the river.
Update: In addition, recent reports indicate that community radio stations in the North have been closed (Nation, 16 April 2009 : “Community radio stations ordered to close temporarily”). It is particularly concerning that in this climate of repression — and murky, incomplete news — that any media sources are being closed down.
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