Pubdate: Mon, 17 Feb 2003
Source: Nation, The (Thailand)
Copyright: 2003 Nation Multimedia Group
Contact: 66-2-317-2071
Website: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963
Author: Kavi Chongkittavorn

THAILAND'S 'BANG-BANG FEVER' SYNDROME

As the death toll of drug suspects continues to rise throughout Thailand, 
so does the country's dilemma in the international arena become more 
obvious. When the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Geneva starts its 
session on March 17, Thailand will be the target of the world's criticism. 
In past years, its human-rights record has been debated by CHR members 
regarding inhumane treatment of foreign inmates and illegal migrants. That 
was a small matter.

This time debate will be for a different reason. The gangland-style 
executions - popularly known as "bang-bang fever" - of over three hundred 
drug suspects over the past 17 days following the government's anti-drug 
campaign has rattled the international community, which had witnessed a 
steady improvement in respect for human rights and the rule of law in 
Thailand over the last decade.

Leading human-rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human 
Rights Watch have expressed concern over the government's drug war. They 
say that extrajudicial police executions are a violation of human rights. 
There is also growing concern within the country that innocent people may 
have been killed, thereby depriving them of the opportunity to prove their 
innocence in court.

Lest Thais are caught by surprise, every human-rights reports abroad has 
highlighted dubious killings here for years. The Thai National Commission 
on Human Rights, which is preparing its annual report, is recording these 
fatal incidents and seeking an explanation from the government. The 
commission fears that Thai society is becoming indifferent to the use of force.

Thailand is currently serving the last year of its three-year CHR 
membership. Previously the country had distinguished itself from other 
developing countries by a foreign policy of respect for human rights and by 
democracy as the pillar of its diplomacy. The government was hopeful it 
could bridge the different approaches to human rights of the West and the East.

Thailand joined the CHR in 2000 to promote human rights in the 
international environment - not to defend its own human-rights record as 
other countries have done. For a developing country this was a very 
ambitious task, but it was worth trying.

Gone obviously are the days of euphoria when the Thai government was proud 
of its human-rights record. A different mood prevails now. The government 
of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will have to decide soon whether to 
reapply for CHR membership. One thing is certain: the Thai representatives 
to the United Nations in Geneva will have to answer international enquiries 
about its gross violation of human rights in the form of extrajudicial 
killings.

The standard answer will be that the police just performed their duty and 
killed suspected drug dealers in self-defence. Another answer will be that 
drug suspects killed each other to avoid mutual exposure. The government 
has admitted there were a dozen cases of so-called no-red-tape killing 
involving the plainclothes police shooting at blacklisted drug dealers.

Under Thaksin, the government is paying attention to the demands of the 
community, especially those related to the drug menace, but the campaign 
has been detrimental to individual and group rights. The government has 
failed to point out which person or group in authority is going to 
interpret those rights.

The carte-blanche order by Thaksin to all law-enforcers and the country's 
77 governors to meet targets set by the anti-drug campaign can easily lead 
to gross violations of human rights.

Given the country's reputation now, some policy-makers strongly recommend 
that Thailand just let its CHR term lapse. As early as 2001 the government 
planned to pull out of the CHR but subsequently changed it mind. After all, 
it argued, Thailand has overexposed itself and made more enemies in the 
process by taking part in the CHR. It has been subjected to foreign pressure.

The latest was in the case of Libya, which was chosen as president of the 
CHR. The US, which has made a comeback at the CHR this year, did not wish 
to see Libya in that position and tried unsuccessfully to lobby other CHR 
members for another candidate country. Washington urged Bangkok to vote 
against Libya, but Bangkok did not comply.

Proponents of continued CHR membership reason that it would serve the 
country's interest. After all, Thailand is a democratic country with a more 
decent human-rights record than many other CHR members. It says the 
shoot-to-kill policy is a necessary measure to halt drug proliferation 
during the three-month campaign. Policy-makers who back CHR membership view 
the move as pivotal for Thailand's reputation, for all it has been 
tarnished recently. The country needs international support and cannot live 
in isolation, even though from time to time the government likes to whip up 
nationalism.

It is ironic while the government is trying to accede to more international 
instruments of human rights, it has chosen to ignore the same fundamental 
rights at home.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom