Talk of joining ICC 'won't affect 2010 probes'

The ICC has authority on crimes against humanity or genocide, but the anti-graft body is examining if there was any official misconduct in the suppression of the red-shirt protests, Wicha said. “These are different issues and we will continue our work over the case,” he said.

Asked if it was suitable for Thailand to be a member of the ICC and allow it jurisdiction over such matters, Wicha said opinions should be sought from all parties.

Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul met with ICC officials last Thursday to assess if world court, based in The Hague, may have jurisdiction to look into or rule on deaths during the 2010 protests in Bangkok, as well as the Thaksin Shinawatra government’s “War on Drugs” in 2003. Surapong said he would hold a press conference on the matter tomorrow. However, he thought the 2,500 or so deaths during Thaksin’s “War on Drugs” would not qualify for ICC jurisdiction. 

The foreign minister said the ICC accepts cases involving genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes. It will also consider crimes of aggression from 2017.

Some 121 states have joined the court, but Thai governments have declined previous approaches to join. The ICC has reviewed seven matters in Africa since it opened in 2002, but never a case in Asia.

In a related move, Pol Major Sa-ngiam Samranrat, a “red” leader in Chumpon, submitted a letter to the Speaker calling for an inquiry into claims by red-shirt chairperson Thida Thavornseth and husband Pheu Thai MP Weng Tojirakarn that the ICC would consider 98 deaths in mid-2010. He accused Thida and Weng of giving reds false hope as the case could not be forwarded to the ICC.