(SEAPA/IFEX) – SEAPA is gravely troubled by an escalation of heavy-handed tactics by Thai authorities to sanitise news and information about ongoing violence in southern Thailand, especially in the lead up to the general election of 6 February 2005. SEAPA believes these tactics are designed to benefit the electoral campaign of the incumbent coalition government, […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – SEAPA is gravely troubled by an escalation of heavy-handed tactics by Thai authorities to sanitise news and information about ongoing violence in southern Thailand, especially in the lead up to the general election of 6 February 2005.
SEAPA believes these tactics are designed to benefit the electoral campaign of the incumbent coalition government, whose dominant Thai Rak Thai party, led by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is making efforts to recapture a majority vote in the coming election.
On 22 December 2004, Thaksin backtracked on his promise to release a full report of the investigation into the 25 October violence in the Muslim-dominated province of Narathiwat that left at least 85 Muslim protesters dead, including 78 who died from suffocation while packed in military trucks.
Thaksin was quoted in Thai newspapers as saying it would not be appropriate to release the full report since it contained sensitive materials. The findings included an observation that the anti-riot operation had gone wrong partly because senior officials left the scene and delegated junior staff to supervise the transport of detained protesters.
On 20 December, Thaksin blamed the local and foreign press for causing diplomatic rows between his government and those of Indonesia and Malaysia over his 18 December radio address about ongoing violence in Thailand’s south.
Thaksin was quoted by most of the local press and foreign wire news agencies on 19 December as saying some Thai Muslim militants who are causing the present trouble were indoctrinated by Muslim extremist groups in Indonesia and have been trained at jungle camps in Malaysia’s northern state of Kelatan.
A local English-language daily, “The Nation”, reported on 20 December that opposition Member of Parliament Thanin Jaisamut was called in for questioning by police for airing a video compact disc (VCD) showing security forces suppressing the riot during the 25 October incident. Thai authorities have urged opposition politicians to stop showing the VCD, saying the images could provoke violence.
Police said Thanin could be arrested and jailed for up to seven years for violating national security laws.
Earlier in December, two radio news hosts were ordered suspended from their regular programmes on the Military Supreme Command’s FM101 MHZ station for making comments deemed sensitive by the government.
The order, which came from a broadcasting company that received its operating licence from the Supreme Command, remains effective for Boonyord Sukthinthai, while his colleague Termsak Jarupran has already reported back to work after being suspended from his programme for two days.
“These heavy-handed tactics violate the public’s right to free expression and should cease. It is important that the public, who will vote for their crucial future in the 6 February election, have the right to receive information uncensored so that they can properly judge their choice of candidates,” said the statement.
