Pubdate: Sun, 21 Nov 2004
Source: Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Copyright: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2004
Contact:  http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/39
Author: Thongbai Thongpao

LONG WAIT FOR JUSTICE

Although the war on drugs ended almost two years ago with the government 
proudly announcing it a big success, the operation has left indelible 
wounds on many people who have been searching in despair for justice and 
the answers to their misery.

Thai-language Kom Chad Luek daily recently published a touching plea from 
the daughter and niece of a victim in Phetchaburi. With the murder of the 
head of their family, no government agency has been able to solve the 
mystery of the case or take any responsibility for it.

Somjit Kwuanyooyuen was shot in cold blood in her own house, which also 
served as a grocery shop in Ban Laem, Phetchaburi. Hers was a small shop 
with a few items for sale and the structure was so old and in such a bad 
shape that it could hardly support the police's charge that the family was 
"unusually rich".

Nonkran Klindee, Somjit's daughter, said that around 4 p.m. on the day of 
the murder, her mother, her daughter and she, who was pregnant then, were 
watching TV at home as usual. A car with four men wearing black clothes, 
caps and sunglasses pulled over in front of the shop. Two of them got out 
of the car and asked to buy some beer. While Mrs Nongkran was about to hand 
over the beer to them, one of the two men pulled out a gun and shot her 
mother. The man then came closer and shot Somjit at close range seven times 
until she died, before her 7-year-old granddaughter who rushed to her side. 
After making sure she was dead, the men slowly walked out and drove off as 
if nothing had happened.

A half hour later, the police in charge of the area came. They did not 
appear to be very attentive, given the serious nature of the crime, and 
took little notice of the shells that were scattered all over the place. 
Worse, they came up with a quick assumption that Somjit had dealt drugs and 
was murdered by her gang, who wanted to cut any link to them.

And that was it. The police could not find any suspects and the case 
appeared to have reached a dead end. Ms Nongkran said she had appealed to 
various agencies, but no action has been taken.

For her part, Ms Nongkran said her family had struggled since the murder. 
She has to raise her daughter and the young baby and has had to sell off 
some assets to repay debts of over 100,000 baht for her mother. "If we (had 
dealt drugs and) were really well-to-do, we would not have had to sell bits 
and pieces to repay debts like this," she said.

Mrs Nongkran said with understandable frustration that what had happened 
was very unfair and questioned why her mother had been killed when she had 
done nothing illegal. She then pleaded with the government to at least make 
some efforts to bring the murderers to justice.

Kwanruen Kaewkrajang, Somjit's niece, insisted that her aunt had never been 
involved with drugs. However, she did not know how her name came up on the 
black list.

"As we don't know much about laws, we signed whatever the police told us 
to. They said then that if we had nothing to do with drugs, we must sign to 
express our innocence and our names would be taken off the list," she said. 
The police summoned her two times for interrogation and then the whole 
issue died down.

Ironically, Somjit and her relatives had been strong proponents of the 
government's move to suppress drugs and never dreamt that the innocent and 
poor would have to pay for the success of the operation. "We believe it was 
the work of police who sought to boost their performance but could not find 
scapegoats," she said.

Many more are suffering the same fate. They are waiting for clarifications 
or responsibility from the government for what had happened to their loved 
ones.

Suppressing drug trafficking is the right move and the people support it. 
However, most found hard to swallow the claim that the murders had all been 
the work of drugs dealers.

Not only are relatives of the victims waiting for the answers and clear 
explanations from the government, the National Human Rights Commission is 
also looking forward to them, as is United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights. The international agency even sent representatives to look 
into the mysterious deaths of Thais in the hand of unknown assassins whose 
lethal skills are so overpowering that the Thai police and government have 
not been able to handle the cases.
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