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| US a ’useless friend’, says Thaksin |
| 2004-02-27 |
| I think Thaksin has a point. Thailand’s Prime Minister, a key American ally in the war on terror, blasted the United States yesterday as a ’useless friend’ after a State Department report criticised his government’s human rights record. ’I am very upset and annoyed by the report,’ said Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, when asked by reporters for his response to the US department’s annual report on the state of human rights. Released on Thursday, the report noted that Thailand’s record had ’worsened’ 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 department’s research methods and said that he was personally hurt by what the US had done. ’What 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,’ 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 Department’s findings cited news reports that more than 2,000 alleged drug suspects had been killed between February and April last year. ’The government failed to investigate and prosecute vigorously those who committed such abuses, contributing to a climate of impunity,’ it added. Mr Thaksin said it was inappropriate to base the findings simply on local media reports. ’Many of the killings were the work of big drug bosses who feared they could be implicated after their men were arrested.’ 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. I’ve 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 |
| #4 I looked at the linked report. What's wrong with it? It looks reasonable and well-informed to me. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-2-27 11:51:11 PM |
| #3 This is typical State Department Dog S--t. They need a short leash with a choke collar. They can do more unfixable damage in one statement than anyone. Here is the index for the 2003 Dept. of State Human Rights reports. And here is the report for Thailand. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-2-27 9:24:12 PM |
| #2 My first impression is that this is our good old renegade State Dept doing a little foreign policy adjustment. And, regardless of whether the report itself wasn't cooked a bit, the very public release of it is undermining and destructive. These guys caught Hambali. They were productive. Asia. Face. Thais. Land of Smiles. No Public Criticism. Ever. Both ways. Anyone who's been there for more than a 72-hour drunk knows. State asshats, if they wanted to torpedo Thai help in WoT and give Dubya a black eye, would do something like this and then play innocent and do the wink, wink, nudge, nudge routine with each other. I'm sure there will more to follow and we'll see where this originated. Somebody needs lead shoes and a swimming trip. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-27 8:56:55 PM |
| #1 What idiot would compile a report based on media reports? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-27 7:44:05 PM |