PM Abhisit: Human Rights Watch allegations may contain inaccuracies
BANGKOK, Jan 24 (TNA) -- Defending his government over recent charges by New York-based Human Rights Watch that Thailand violated several human rights principles last year, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that some information in the NGO’s report might contain inaccuracies.
Speaking during his weekly television and radio address, Mr Abhisit said his government has always respected the observance of human rights as well as trying to resolve the ongoing bloody violence in the three southern provinces. In addition the government has been dealing with alleged lese majeste offenders legally and prudently.
He said the report published by Human Rights Watch may have been written before “special mechanisms” were established by the government to oversee these issues.
“I’m confident regarding the protection of human rights (in Thailand), otherwise we wouldn’t apply as a candidate for UN Human Rights Committee in which the Cabinet has already approved,” said Mr Abhisit.
In its World Report 2010 released last Wednesday, Brad Adams, the NGO’s Asia director, said: “While Prime Minister Abhisit sometimes said the right things about human rights in 2009, his actions didn’t match his words. The government continually undermined respect for human rights and due process of law in Thailand.”
The report charged Mr Abhisit with “not honour[ing] his pledge to uphold human rights principles and international law in 2009. Getting Thailand back on track as a rights-respecting nation in 2010 is crucial both for the country and the region.”
Vimon Kidchob, director-general of Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Information Department, said Saturday that Human Rights Watch report on problems of human rights abuses were “over-dramatised and over-generalised isolated events and failed to take into account all the facts and the many positive achievements made over the past year”.
“As a result, it unfairly paints a biased picture, giving the wrong impression that Thailand is backsliding,” she said, adding that the report contained “several exaggerations”. (TNA)
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Abhisit is a complete joke. A
Abhisit is a complete joke. A practical joke being played on the Thai people by Prem and Anupong and those others who support them in their iniquity.
it's almost disgusting.
Nothing further needs to be said.
This is surely the difference
This is surely the difference between the judiciary in Thailand and the judiciary in a civilised country:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7004263.ece
It's hard for me to consider
It's hard for me to consider either pole of the Anglo-American Axis to be civilized at the present time, in the midst of their Serial Wars of Aggression Against Islamic Countries; and as for the past... well we probably don't want to go there if we're assessing civilized behavior.
Or perhaps we have to reparse the word civilized. My Merriam-Webster (actually the internet version) says that the root of civilized is civis or civilis, and words tells me that civis means citizen and civilis means of or relating to a citizen. And of course the kind of citizen we're talking about is an imperial Roman citizen... or an imperial British citizen, or an imperial American citizen... and they were all "more equal" than the rest in their hay days because their states were more capable of bloody murder than the rest. Civlized, they were.
Hurray for the British Supremes in this case. Let's see if "The Treasury" gains the "cross-party support to pass emergency legislation before the election" in this case. The US government has been seizing assets of anyone or anything seeking to help the Palestinians in the face of their slow-motion extermination by the US/Israeli condominium, while dealing out tax-deductions to those funding the Israeli Wehrmacht, for years. Britain has been the rubber stamp for US/Israeli fiat since Toney B. See if Gordon Brown's nose is.
The US Supremes appointed George Bush POTUS ten years ago and just last week reaffirmed the identities of corporations and people, of money and free speech.
Gangsters, civilized or un-, are to be found in power all over the world, certainly not just in Thailand.
Thanks Anonymous2 for an apt
Thanks Anonymous2 for an apt reference.
"...the government has been dealing with alleged lese majeste offenders legally and prudently." Interesting to have PM Opposite's views on what is legal &, more especially, what is prudent. I wonder what he means by “special mechanisms”. Is that a reference to the new spy force set up by the government, which anyone over the age of 15 may join, & of which he is Member Number 1?
Kh Vimon's idea of 'isolated' is similarly interesting, as is her use of the expression “over-dramatised and over-generalised" to refer to a report which very specifically lists the facts, and without embroidery. Indeed, her rebuttal may be characterised as wholly generalised, since she gives no evidence to support it. Does anyone have any idea what " the many positive achievements made over the past year" were? Is she referring to the composition of the govt's new HR body, for example?
US congressmen visit Hmong
US congressmen visit Hmong returnees in Laos
Could this possibly be one of the 'achievements' you're looking for? Someone in Prachatai(Thai) gave me the link while debating the same issue.
Still I had some doubts in this 'achievement'. If the Thai gov. was so sure of their transparency in the process of repatriation, why refused all requests from those third parties observers eg:- UNHCR rep, NGO, local and foreign correspondents.
The Thai style of promoting HR is mysterious as always.