Thailand: NHRC slates Govt for October 7 violence

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says the government must accept responsibility for ordering police who used excessive action to disperse anti-government protesters last week which saw two people dead and nearly 500 others injured.

The NHRC has no power to enforce its rulings, and it remains to be seen how the government will treat the report.

NHRC chairman Saneh Chamarik and chairman Surasee Kosolnavin of the NHRC sub-committee investigating the police crowd dispersal operation on October 7, together told a press conference that their initial investigation, obtained from questioning protesters from the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), police and eyewitnesses, found that police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds three times, causing two deaths and the loss of many hands and legs.

Mr Surasee said police fired tear gas without warning at demonstrators who gathered at parliament on Tuesday.

The government convened a meeting late on October 6 and mapped out plans to disperse the protesters who planned to obstruct cabinet ministers and members of parliament from attending a policy statement reading given by the government the next day.

The NHRC has found that the police-conducted dispersal operation was "excessive, violated human rights and the law", said Mr Surasee, and the government must take responsibility for ordering police to take action against the protesters while the police themselves must accept responsibility for how the order was carried out.

The committee chairman said the NHRC members would speed up the identification of those officers who had violated human rights and that their results would be forwarded to the government for its consideration.

Date: 18 October 2008

Source: Bangkok Post