Political unrest victims seek quick action

The reconciliation study committee of the National Reform Council (NRC) and the Office of Healthy Society and Coordinating yesterday co-hosted a special forum for people affected by political protests, with around 80 attending. Losses suffered by these people ranged from physical disabilities to deaths of their loved ones.

The forum’s session was held as a closed-door meeting, as organisers claimed the media’s presence could disrupt participants from expressing their thoughts freely.

A briefing document was released after the forum, concluding that participants agreed the government should treat every affected person equally and introduce a well-organised healing process to achieve national reconciliation. They also agreed the government should speed up the investigation into incidents such as the role of the so-called “men in black” during the 2010 political unrest. Facts discovered by such an investigation would create a common understanding among people on every side.

It would also allow wrongdoers to admit guilt and eventually seek forgiveness from victims, the document added. Participants urged wrongdoers to come forward and accept responsibility for their actions.

One participant, Payao Akkahad, mother of slain volunteer nurse Kamolkaed Akkahad, – who died from bullet shots from an unknown gunman during the 2010 political unrest – pointed out that when it came to affected people, there was no political side as they all shared and suffered from the losses.

“The government has an important role in this and needs to manage things transparently,” she said, implying many losses could possibly be linked to the Army.

Boonlert Khachayutthadech, vice president of the NRC committee, agreed that the government could exercise its authority to facilitate the healing process. He also asked lawmakers to uphold the principle of equal treatment by, for example, granting fair compensation to those affected by either the 2010 or 2013-14 political unrest.

“That can be quite tough, as compensation approved by the former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government could be determined as breaching bureaucratic procedures. That’s why I would like to request the government to use its power wisely this time,” said Boonlert., who also asked the government to cover those victims “falling off the radar.”

One key recommendation in the report was a conditional amnesty, aimed to pardon those not found to have committed serious criminal offences or severe human rights violations, corruption or lese majeste.