No amnesty for rights abusers : HRW
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A proposed amnesty law should not include people who ordered or carried out human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.
"The Thai government should affirm that prosecuting those responsible for rights abuses, regardless of rank or affiliation, is critical to promoting human rights, the rule of law, and lasting reconciliation in Thailand," the New York-based agency said in its statement issued today.
“The ruling party’s amnesty bill lets both soldiers and militants responsible for deaths during the 2010 upheaval off the hook,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“To ensure justice for the victims of violence and to end Thailand’s longstanding culture of impunity, the amnesty bill should exclude perpetrators of abuses and instead make them accountable for their crimes.”
The parliament will begin the first reading of an amnesty bill proposed by Worachai Hema, a member of parliament from the ruling Pheu Thai party of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on August 7.
The bill broadly promises a full amnesty for all protesters who have been charged, prosecuted, and convicted for their actions against the state from the period since the coup that ousted Yingluck’s brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, on September 19, 2006, to May 10, 2011.
The amnesty would include people whose actions may have affected the lives and property of others but does not include protest leaders.
Worachai told Human Rights Watch on August 2, 2013, that his bill does not mention an amnesty for members of the military because not one soldier has been charged or prosecuted for the political violence from 2006 to 2011.
Worachai’s proposal fails to address the need to hold both military personnel and elements of the UDD, particularly armed “Black Shirt” militants, accountable for violence and serious abuses in 2010.
“Worachai’s amnesty bill is an insult to the victims and families of the 2010 violence,” Adams said. “It is totally unacceptable that those who committed serious abuses, including soldiers who pulled the triggers and commanders who gave the orders, would remain untouchable through an amnesty.”
