Pubdate: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 Source: Nation, The (Thailand) Copyright: 2003 Nation Multimedia Group Contact: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963 DECLINE IN KILLING RATE 'SUSPICIOUS' Points To Official Involvement In Deaths, Says Chuan Opposition leader Chuan Leekpai said yesterday that the slowdown in the "silencings" of drug suspects in the past week could be an indication that authorities were behind most of the killings, not drug gangs as reported by the government. In his weekly Chuan Online programme, Chuan said the number of reported "silencings" of drug dealers, allegedly by nervous drug gangs, had decreased dramatically since the government toned down its stand on the killings, which it had initially reported as a positive development. The programme was carried on the Democrat Party's website. The Thaksin government launched its three-month war on drugs to much fanfare last month. During the first month, the government and police boasted of the high number of drug suspects killed, saying most of the slayings were ordered by drug bosses in an effort to erase any links with them. The way the spiralling death toll was announced appeared to show that the government and police considered it to be a major achievement of the war on drugs, while police apparently showed no interest in investigating the murders, Chuan said. This prompted many critics to suspect that authorities were behind the killings, he said. Following this criticism, the government toned down its stand and "corrected" the figures, saying most of the murders were unrelated to the drug war, he said. "It is worth noticing here that had the 'silencings' been ordered by the drug bosses as claimed by the government, the high rate of killings reported over the past month should have continued over the past week," Chuan said. "The criminals [reportedly behind the killings] should not have acted as if they were taking orders from the government. But the facts show, as many have said, that the silencings - although some really were committed by drug gangs - were carried out by police, who were given a green light by the government. That green light has resulted in the loss of more than 1,500 lives in a short period of time," he said. Chuan also said the government should stop saying that critics of the "silencings" are siding with drug traffickers. The Democrat Party leader said he disagreed with the use of violence, but pointed out that it was a Democrat-led government that passed the Anti-Money Laundering Act that the current administration was using to seize the assets of drug traffickers. "Had we sided with drug traffickers, this law would never have been enacted," Chuan said. In another development, a police source said the police general identified by Privy Councillor Phichit Kullayavanijaya as being involved in drug trafficking was retired and had been blacklisted by anti-narcotics officersand that police were gathering evidence to take action against him. The source added that the retired general had close connections to several political parties. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom