US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK1454

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001454 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL; HQ USPACOM FOR FPA HUSO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, TH, HUMAN RIGHTS 
SUBJECT: THAILAND: NGO HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ASIA HIGHLIGHTS 
NEGATIVE TREND 
 
REF: A) BANGKOK 1280 B) 04 BANGKOK 5360 C) BANGKOK 1375 
 
Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Robert J. Clarke, Reas 
on: 1.4 (d) 
 
 1. (C) SUMMARY:  At a hard hitting press conference on 
February 24, Brad Adams, executive director of the 
non-government organization Human Rights Watch Asia 
(HRW-Asia), described the trend for human rights in Thailand 
as "unambiguously negative."  Poloff attended the press 
conference, as did the international and Thai media, many of 
which reported prominently on his comments.  Adams urged the 
Royal Thai Government (RTG) to rebuild trust by revealing the 
classified contents of official investigations into the Krue 
Se and Tak Bai incidents in the deep South, events in 2004 
where evidence is strong of human rights abuses by security 
forces against Thai Muslims.  He also called for the RTG to 
bring to justice those responsible for the death of Somchai 
Neelapaijit, a noted Muslim human rights lawyer whom he 
described as a "folk hero" in the South.  Adams separately 
told the Ambassador that the President of the Privy Council 
has initiated a discreet dialogue with prominent academics 
critical of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's approach to 
the South.  PM Thaksin responded sharply to criticism by the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) of on-going 
violence in the South.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U)  On February 24, 2005, Brad Adams, executive director 
of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW), gave a 
press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of 
Thailand (FCCT).  Adams pulled no punches and summarized the 
trend in human rights in Thailand as "clearly and 
unambiguously negative."  He noted this as a particular 
disappointment after the optimism generated following 
Thailand's adoption of the 1997 Constitution, which contained 
many provisions for improved civil and democratic rights for 
the Thai people.  He said the first four-year Thaksin 
administration had seen a gradual erosion of democratic gains 
from the previous Chuan Leekpai administration.  Adams, 
commenting negatively on a recently announced security zoning 
plan for the three Muslim majority provinces in Thailand's 
deep South (Ref A), stated that PM Thaksin needs to move from 
"CEO mode to listening mode." 
 
NEVER FORGET: FOUR AREAS THE RTG COULD ADDRESS TO BUILD TRUST 
 
3. (U) Adams outlined four issues that he said, if addressed 
squarely by the RTG, might lower tensions in Southern 
Thailand.  First, he urged public release of the complete 
report form the Independent Commission (IC) that investigated 
the attack on Krue Se Mosque on April 28, 2004 in which 32 
separatist militants were killed.  Adams said that, while it 
is no mystery who was in command and what happened on the 
ground that day, the question is open whether those 
responsible be held criminally responsible for their actions. 
 (Note: Although not mentioned by name, Adams was referring 
to General Phanlop Pinmani, Deputy Directory of the Internal 
Security Operations Command (ISOC) (Ref B) End Note.) 
 
TAK BAI SHOOTINGS 
 
4. (U) Second, Adams recommended as a confidence building 
measure release of the entire report of another Independent 
Commission that investigated the October 28, 2004 incident at 
Tak Bai, Narathiwat.  While Adams deemed the work of this 
commission as "a reasonably good job", he said that the 
callous treatment of prisoners (80 of whom died by 
suffocation while being transported) and the blatant firing 
by security forces into the crowd, resulting in 6 known 
deaths, must be addressed.  He stated that the IC's 
description of the use of force at Tak Bai as "reasonable" 
cannot be accepted under UN or even Thai criminal procedures 
for the use of force if one views the video of the 
demonstrations, widely available in Thailand. 
 
2003 DRUG WAR REPORTED EJKs 
 
5. (U) Third, Adams warned that the issue of extra-judicial 
killings (EJKs) in the 2003 war on drugs must not be allowed 
to slip from the public conscience and debate on human 
rights.  He recalled that many international observers, when 
first hearing estimates as high as 3,000 deaths during the 
height of the anti-narcotics campaign, felt a sense of 
cognitive dissonance--how could such a peaceful and 
relatively developed country as Thailand have such a high 
death toll?  Adams noted that what is more alarming is the 
absence of any real official investigation.  He emphasized 
that this permissive environment cannot be allowed to 
continue.  (Note: Embassy estimates of drug-related EJK 
killings in the 2003 drug war are approximately 1,300.  The 
RTG claims to have the files open for investigating these 
cases, but there is no evidence of follow up.  End note.) 
Adams said that, while many pointed out that PM Thaksin's 
re-election was in part a vote of confidence in his ability 
to deal with the drug problem and the popularity of the war 
on drugs, there were no excuses for the government to ignore 
the rule of law in order to expeditiously solve the drug 
problem. 
 
SOMCHAI: JUSTICE FOR A SOUTHERN FOLK HERO 
 
6.  (U) Lastly, Adams stated that Somchai Neelapaijit, the 
missing Muslim lawyer and human rights activist (now presumed 
dead), has become "something of a folk hero" in southern 
Thailand.  If the RTG wants to build trust in the southern 
people, particularly southern Muslims, it must be able to 
reveal the identity of and charge those responsible for his 
kidnapping and death, he said.  Five policemen are currently 
charged with robbery and kidnapping and are free while 
awaiting trial (scheduled for August 2005).  Adams claimed 
that clearly the RTG knows who killed Somchai, and they must 
reveal this and bring them to justice. 
 
7.  (C) On the margins of the press conference, HRW staffers 
told Poloff of their plans to issue a more revealing report 
about the situation in southern Thailand in late March or 
early April 2005.  They estimated that "hundreds" are being 
held as suspects in violence against civilians and government 
officials, and that many are subject to mistreatment they 
characterized as "torture".  Asked if HRW had names of people 
who may have been "disappeared", the HRW staff expressed 
frustration over the difficulties of persuading victims of 
abuses and their relatives to talk at that level of detail. 
Adams publicly reiterated a similar feeling during the press 
conference, describing a sense in affected communities that 
"If they can just be quiet, then this will pass."  Adams 
opined that RTG security plans for the south that rely on 
more military deployments and higher profile government 
presence are not allowing the situation to pass and would not 
work.  Reflecting further on the general silence of Muslim 
villagers, Adams noted,  "I wonder if the government realizes 
what's being offered to them" (i.e., as an low-cost 
opportunity for an end to violence). 
 
PRESIDENT OF PRIVY COUNCIL REACHES OUT DISCREETLY TO THAKSIN 
CRITICS 
 
8. (C)  In a separate meeting with the Ambassador on February 
23, Adams reported that some academics and human rights 
activists had been approached by General Prem Tinsulanond, 
former prime minister and current President of the Privy 
Council, to engage in dialogue and consultations on southern 
Thailand.  Embassy Poloff confirmed that Professor Suricahi 
Wankaew, political science professor at Chulalonkorn 
University, had been approached by Prem to discuss issues in 
the south confidentially, along with other members of the 
Peace and Reconciliation Network.  (Comment:  This 
development, as well as public statements by other members of 
the Privy Council last week, (Ref C), are unusual for members 
of this secretive royal council. End Comment.) 
 
THAI REACTION TO OIC STATEMENT CRITICAL OF VIOLENCE IN DEEP 
SOUTH 
 
9.  (U) During his weekly radio address on Saturday, February 
26, Thaksin had tough remarks seemingly directed at foreign 
critics of his policies.  In an apparent reference to 
HRW-Asia's Adams press conference and to concerns raised by 
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) following a 
meeting between Malaysian Prime Minister Abdulla Badawi and 
OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Thaksin said, "I 
didn't ask them for rice to eat" and "these people are more 
sympathetic towards the insurgents than the innocent 
victims."  The OIC Secretary General had issued a press 
statement on February 21 expressing "serious dissatisfaction 
at the persisting bloody acts of violence perpetrated against 
Muslims in Southern Thailand."  Thai Foreign Minister 
Surakiart Sathirathai separately replied to the OIC statement 
that Thailand would never use force to resolve problems in 
the South.  He was quoted as saying that the RTG would send a 
copy of the Tak Bai IC report to the OIC. 
 
10. (C) COMMENT:  A team chosen by PM Thaksin has a chance to 
test some of the recommendations of critics of the RTG 
security approach to the deep South.  On February 28, 25 
members of parliament (MP) from the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) 
party, led by Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptaphanlop, will 
make a one-day fact-finding trip to Pattani, Yala and 
Narathiwat provinces.  According to press reports, they will 
divide into three separate groups and meet with villagers 
without the participation of local government and security 
officials. This trip is part of a three-month "survey" of 
Southern Muslim sentiments that is supposed to influence RTG 
policies.  It remains to be seen whether these MPs will take 
Adams' advice and really shift to listening mode.  They would 
do a great service to Thailand if they return to the PM with 
an honest assessment of villagers' concerns and persuade him 
to open a meaningful dialogue with Muslims in the South, most 
of whom are deeply angry over recent events stemming from 
Thaksin's policies, but probably not yet radicalized.  END 
COMMENT. 
BOYCE