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US a âuseless friendâ, says Thaksin
I think Thaksin has a point.Thailandâs Prime Minister, a key American ally in the war on terror, blasted the United States yesterday as a âuseless friendâ after a State Department report criticised his governmentâs human rights record. âI am very upset and annoyed by the report,â said Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, when asked by reporters for his response to the US departmentâs annual report on the state of human rights. Released on Thursday, the report noted that Thailandâs record had âworsenedâ last year, with regard to extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests. It cited the killing of drug suspects during confrontations with police after the Prime Minister declared a war on narcotics. Mr Thaksin yesterday criticised the departmentâs research methods and said that he was personally hurt by what the US had done. âWhat kind of friends are they? They are friends who damage the reputation of their friends every year. What would they do if Thailand issued the same report annually? These kind of friends are useless friends,â he said. The Thai government yesterday summoned US Ambassador Darryl Johnson to the Foreign Ministry to receive a formal protest note. Thailand said Washington should avoid future mistakes or risk harming bilateral ties. It also insisted that the US correct what it said were inaccuracies in the report, including the number of extrajudicial killings. The State Departmentâs findings cited news reports that more than 2,000 alleged drug suspects had been killed between February and April last year. âThe government failed to investigate and prosecute vigorously those who committed such abuses, contributing to a climate of impunity,â it added. Mr Thaksin said it was inappropriate to base the findings simply on local media reports. âMany of the killings were the work of big drug bosses who feared they could be implicated after their men were arrested.â According to Thai government statistics, of 1,383 narcotics-related deaths during that period, only 42 people were shot by the police, mostly in self-defence. Thailand has steadily strengthened its ties with Washington since the Sept 11 terror attacks, ties that were further bolstered last year after it sent troops to war-torn Iraq. In December, US President George W. Bush designated Thailand a major US non-Nato ally. Thailand does have a major drug problem and the criminality that goes along with it. Iâve looked into this and while doubtless there were extra-judical killings, reports of thousands killed by the police are an invention of the media. Posted by: phil_b 2004-02-27 |
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