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| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand: Amnesty report rejected |
| 2009-01-15 |
| THAI Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday rejected accusations by Amnesty International that security forces had engaged in 'systematic' torture in the country's insurgency-hit south. The rights group said in a report released on Tuesday that four people had died during torture by the army and police in the Muslim-majority south, where separatist violence has raged since 2004. 'I want to reassure you that it's not government policy and it was not carried out systematically. The Thai government does not support extra-judicial power,' he told reporters. The Amnesty report said it had identified 34 cases of torture, adding that while Thai authorities officially condemned torture, the number of incidents meant they could not be dismissed as the work of a 'few errant subordinates'. Mr Abhisit said he would investigate whether there were any extrajudicial practices by security forces combating the insurgency, but he also questioned the accuracy of the Amnesty report. He cited the case of an inquest last month - which ruled that a Muslim leader died after beatings by soldiers during interrogation - as being an example of how Thai authorities do not tolerate or cover up torture. More than 3,500 people have been killed since separatist unrest erupted in early 2004 in southern Thailand. Tensions have simmered since Thailand annexed the mainly Malay sultanate in 1902. Mr Abhisit is due on Saturday to make his first visit to the south since coming to power in December, and he has already called for an increase in economic and cultural solutions to the unrest. 'We must win the hearts and the cooperation of the locals, otherwise we will merely stay with the same situation,' he said. The army commander for the southern region, Lieutenant General Pichet Visaichorn, also rejected the report, saying that the army wanted to solve the unrest peacefully and by respecting human rights. 'Since October 1, 2008 there has been no report of irregular practice by the authorities,' he said in statement released Wednesday. 'If anyone is found guilty, they would be prosecuted both under army discipline and civilian law,' he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |