Army needs to get in line
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I fully support the mother of Private Wichian Puaksom, who died after being beaten in a Narathiwat military camp in 2011, for she refuses to drop criminal charges against his alleged killers, even though she's accepted Bt7 million to settle civil charges
The Human Rights Commission has said Wichian was beaten over the course of two days and denied medical treatment by the Army while fighting for his life.
For decades the military has been above the law: witness that no senior officer has been even charged for the atrocities at Krue Se (32 bodies), Tak Bai (73 bodies) or Nong Chik (4 bodies). Worse, the civilian governments, who in a democracy should be the bosses of the armed forces, have not only gone along with, but encouraged, this lack of accountability. Both the Thaksin and Democrat-led governments have repeatedly renewed the emergency decree, which UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial Killing Philip Ashton says could be used to justify murder.
But, as former US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay said, “Justice is indiscriminately due to all, without regard to numbers, wealth or rank.” In the case of Wichian, the emergency decree cannot be used, because his killers were presumably not acting under orders. Hopefully justice will not only be done but be seen to be done, thus benefiting other rank-and-file soldiers and marking the first step towards making even generals subject to the rule of law.
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok
