by Herogeneral on 2010-08-26 - 10.53 am
Ref: IPSnews
"THAILAND Jails Fill Up with Political Prisoners - Critics"
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Aug 23, 2010 (IPS) - The jails in Thailand are filling up with political prisoners, critics say, but how many political dissidents have been incarcerated since a military crackdown on an anti-government protest movement ended on May 19 remains shrouded in mystery.
One estimate by Thai human rights activists put it close to 470 political prisoners, but that is only from records documented in Bangkok’s sprawling jail north of the capital and central jails in five north-east provinces.
"We are aware of 333 people arrested for their political activity since May 19 and imprisoned in Bangkok," says Kwanravee Wangudom, coordinator of the People’s Information Centre (PIC), an ad-hoc group of activists and academics formed in mid-July to monitor the human rights status of those detained in the crackdown. "There are 136 protesters in five jails in the north-east."
In the rice-growing province of Udon Thani, where support for the anti- government protest movement runs deep, the central prison hold 55 protesters, 44 of who are men, reveals the PIC. Similarly, the prisons in Ubon Ratchathani hold 45 protesters with the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), and Mukdaharn hold 23, most of who are men.
All of them have been arrested under Thailand’s emergency decree, which was invoked in 23 provinces and in Bangkok as political tension rose in the wake of the anti-government street protests in the commercial heartland of the Thai capital in March. The decree, which gives authorities wide arresting powers, still remains in force in Bangkok and six provinces. What worries those like the PIC is that "the arresting has not stopped" for charges ranging from arson, carrying firearms and violating of traffic laws to violating the emergency law. "The government has still not declared the true numbers of those arrested for political activity in all the jails," Kwanravee told IPS. "Arrests are still continuing."
The official numbers of the arrested anti-government protesters is much lower. There are 241 suspected red shirts, as the protesters were called because of the UDD’s colour, who have been arrested, reveals Panitan Wattanayagorn, a government spokesman. "At least 372 suspects remain at large."
Investigations by the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) have already resulted in 145 cases on terrorism charges, 21 cases for "threatening the government" and close to 80 cases for "causing injury to the general public and officials," Panitan said in an interview. "They (DSI) are still working on the other cases."
At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has permitted the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to have its representatives visit prisons where the red shirts are jailed. Such visits have included prisons in over 10 provinces in the rural north-east and the north.
"Many of the protesters in provincial prisons were involved in demonstrations in front of the city halls in May where public buildings were burnt down," says Porpen Khongkachonkiet, a member of the NHRC subcommittee keeping track of the political prisoners. "Some were arrested on the day of the burning; some days later."
These acts of arson in the provinces mirrored similar torching in Bangkok that followed the military suppression in mid-May of the red shirt street protests. The red shirts, drawn largely from working class backgrounds in the provinces and cities, had occupied two iconic parts of the capital since mid- March to demand that the Abhisit government dissolve parliament and call an early election.
Two crackdowns in April and May resulted in 91 deaths, 84 of who were civilians, and 1,800 injured following the use of gunfire by the Thai military and a shadowy group called the Black Shirts who fired on advancing troops.
The streets of the Thai capital are calm once again, but the government’s seeming victory in restoring political peace and reconciliation has been dogged by reports of excesses committed by officials under the cover of the emergency law.
The Mirror Foundation, another local group of activists, had compiled a list of 88 red shirts who reportedly had ‘disappeared’ in the first few weeks after the crackdown. By its count, that number has since dropped to 27.
Many of the initial 88 red shirts on that list had been arrested and jailed without reports made to their families, revealing a legal loophole under the emergency law. Similarly, groups like the PIC point to other disturbing trends in the arrest of the political dissidents: "Police coerced people to confess, telling them that the punishment will be much more severe if they didn’t confess. Some said they were tortured to admit to the crimes."
"To be locked up in prison is very stressful," a 40-year-old male red shirt dissident jailed in a provincial prison has confessed to PIC. "We have to share our days with those convicted for drugs, smuggling and murder."
"This is against international standards of justice and law about the arresting process and the nature of detention," says Sunai Phasuk, the Thai researcher for Human Rights Watch, the New York-based global rights lobby. "There is only one standard in due process in law; you cannot have double standards."
"The government has not revealed how the emergency decree has been enforced and how it has infringed on basic rights," he told IPS. "This is the crux of the erosion of democracy and human rights in Thailand." (END)
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