In defense of the CDR
US cautions Thai generals against taking politically-motivated actions
WASHINGTON - The United States Monday urged military generals who seized power in Thailand to avoid politically-motivated actions, as the junta launched a probe into corruption in the ousted government.
The message came as the military leaders set up a high-powered committee at the weekend to look into the books and tax records of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his cabinet members and their relatives, with a possibility of seizing any ill-gotten assets.
"Certainly, what we want to see happen as this process moves forward is a quick handover to civilian authorities and that any investigations or other activities that are done again be done in accordance with the law rather than being done for political purposes," deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
The United States is following the situation in Thailand "very closely" and "would not look favorably upon any kind of movement that was politically motivated," he said
Washington has condemned last Tuesday's military coup and called for a quick return to civilian rule and elections. It is also studying the possibility of reviewing military and other assistance to Thailand, a key Southeast Asian ally.
Since taking power, the new regime has issued a raft of decrees and instructions, banning gatherings of more than five people and placing limits on the media, enforced by armed guards in some televisions stations.
Some 300 community radio stations in the country's rural north, the heartland of Thaksin's support, have been closed down, and all grassroots political activity banned at the village, district and provincial levels.
US officials are talking to the military rulers on the restrictions, Casey said,a dding that elections was a critical benchmark for the return of democracy.
"Ultimately, it's through holding the elections that we believe you can return Thailand to a situation where you clearly have a government that represents the will of the people," he said.
"Anything that happens in between that time needs to be done in accordance with Thai law," he added.
Agence France-Presse
UN says Thai coup violating human rights
New York (dpa) - Actions taken by Thailand's Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) after the coup d'etat have contravened human rights conventions, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Monday.
But the report made at least one serious error and is likely to come under strong criticism today in Thailand.
The military council disbanded the National Human Rights Council even though the country is party to a number of international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN said.
In fact, the CDRM specifically said the National Human Rights Commission was one of several "independent organisations (which) have not been terminated and still functioned as usual."
The military-led coup d'etat that overthrew a democratically elected government in Thailand last Tuesday "raised important human rights concerns," Louise Arbour said in a statement issued from her Geneva office.
"The various decrees issued by the CDRM restrict a number of basic human rights, such as the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention," Ms. Arbour said, urging the new authorities to restore the maximum exercise of such rights.
Arbour urged CDRM, the military council that now governs the country until new elections, "to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and reinstate the country's human rights commission."
She said CDRM has unconstitutionally replaced an elected government, imposed martial law, abolished the 1997 constitution, dissolved parliament and cabinet as well as the constitutional court.
Other decrees issued by CDRM restrict a number of basic human rights, including right to freedom of assembly, opinion and expression, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention.
Arbour called on CDRM "to restore the maximum exercise of these rights," the statement said.
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Now that you OUTSIDERS have finished your critiques, I will now let you know the truth and give answers to your own crooked views.
It is easy for you to say, the US and Mr. Casey, and the UN and Ms. Arbour. Where were you when Thaksin and his men BOUGHT and CHEATED their way into power and ISSUED LAWS that benefited their power empire and fortified their business conglomerates? And if you are so KEEN ON PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS, where were you when the Thaksin regime killed 3,000 on drug-related accusations/suspicions, the 3,000 deaths in southern insurgence, and the suppressed freedom of expression in both the media and the people??
I love you, the US, I always have. But your double standards when it comes to taking the Tyrant and traitors' side begin to corrode my admiration for and my trust in you.
I can only wish you saw our point.
Can't you realize and see Thaksin for what he really is--a thoroughly corrupt, brutally bloodthirsty, indiscrimatorily gluttonous, foolishly arrogant, and compulsively lying bastard?
Don't assume that your kind of democracy is the same as their kind of democracy. Your people are educated and know their rights; ours aren't. Money cannot buy votes from American voters, but it can from uneducated Thais. Your media are not oppressed and are free to present opposing views; ours are just the opposite. Most military coups serve the leaders' own agendas; this one in Thailand does not.
Where else in the world are people happier about the coup? Which coup team is more polite and considerate and has the interests of the people and the country at heart?
Inquiries into ill-gotten assets and wealth are what we Thais have been looking forward to for the longest time. Do you have any idea how extensive the corruption network of Thaksin was? Do you know how much they have robbed Thailand? Marcos and Suharto are amateurs when compared with Thaksin. And we think this time we will see something. Ask yourself if you were robbed, wouldn't you want your money and treasures back?
If you all have problems with the military regime of Myanmar, why didn't you say anything about Thaksin's intimate personal business dealings with Myanmar leaders' family members?? Thaksin had never asked about Aung San Suu Kyi. Thaksin had defended the Myanmar Junta regime throughout his terms. What's your say about this, the US and the UN??
Why don't you WAIT and SEE what the CDR is trying to do, whether they stick to their promises, and whether they keep those promises.
They have promised a civilian government within 2 weeks. The suppression on several human rights is only temporary. They just want to get our home in order without Thaksin's evil cronies confusing uninformed people upcountry. We support this decision because we don't want to see people killing people in a bloody civil war.
I get sick and tired of those outside Thailand who do not know the true nature of the situation but still proceed to voice their ignorant views/comments/opinions without consideration for the real feeling of the Thais.
Why don't you shut up for a while and see the development? We Thais have been through many nightmares where politicians and military leaders turned back on their words and began abusing the privileges. We dealt with them in our own way and without the help from anyone outside.
Those outside have been helping and sheltering the enemies of the people.
That speaks volumes for your involvement. So really, whose side are you on?
I have been defending the US government all my life, but this case has revealed your true color that you do not really care about us the people. You only care about and protect your interests. Your insincerity and self-serving attitudes make me revisit my view of the US' international roles.
The US has NEVER come out and admitted how bad Thaksin is. Yet, the self-proclaimed Leader of the Free World rushes into judgment and comes out blasting the pro-democracy coup.
This reminds me of how helpful the US had been to Ferdinand Marcos and many South American dictators. I often wondered why. Now I am willing to suspect the US to get something in return from these crooks. Maybe it is all the strategic information that these traitors are willing to barf out in exchange for the shelter and safe keeping of their money on the US soils.
You claim yourself to be the protector of freedom; I am finding this hilarious. Your facade is cracking, and I am very disappointed in what I see. You are turning me from an admirer into a skeptic, and eventually a non-believer. It saddens me to admit now that I am beginning to lose my faith in you. I will take a close look at the accusations your political enemies, such as Mr. Chavez and Mr. Ahmadinejad, are presenting. There might be some truth in those.
To the UN, you have no say in any of this. You can NEVER help anyone or do anything when you are needed. You are either too late or too weak. You are nothing but a paper tiger and a referee who gets no respect.
WASHINGTON - The United States Monday urged military generals who seized power in Thailand to avoid politically-motivated actions, as the junta launched a probe into corruption in the ousted government.
The message came as the military leaders set up a high-powered committee at the weekend to look into the books and tax records of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his cabinet members and their relatives, with a possibility of seizing any ill-gotten assets.
"Certainly, what we want to see happen as this process moves forward is a quick handover to civilian authorities and that any investigations or other activities that are done again be done in accordance with the law rather than being done for political purposes," deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
The United States is following the situation in Thailand "very closely" and "would not look favorably upon any kind of movement that was politically motivated," he said
Washington has condemned last Tuesday's military coup and called for a quick return to civilian rule and elections. It is also studying the possibility of reviewing military and other assistance to Thailand, a key Southeast Asian ally.
Since taking power, the new regime has issued a raft of decrees and instructions, banning gatherings of more than five people and placing limits on the media, enforced by armed guards in some televisions stations.
Some 300 community radio stations in the country's rural north, the heartland of Thaksin's support, have been closed down, and all grassroots political activity banned at the village, district and provincial levels.
US officials are talking to the military rulers on the restrictions, Casey said,a dding that elections was a critical benchmark for the return of democracy.
"Ultimately, it's through holding the elections that we believe you can return Thailand to a situation where you clearly have a government that represents the will of the people," he said.
"Anything that happens in between that time needs to be done in accordance with Thai law," he added.
Agence France-Presse
UN says Thai coup violating human rights
New York (dpa) - Actions taken by Thailand's Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) after the coup d'etat have contravened human rights conventions, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Monday.
But the report made at least one serious error and is likely to come under strong criticism today in Thailand.
The military council disbanded the National Human Rights Council even though the country is party to a number of international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN said.
In fact, the CDRM specifically said the National Human Rights Commission was one of several "independent organisations (which) have not been terminated and still functioned as usual."
The military-led coup d'etat that overthrew a democratically elected government in Thailand last Tuesday "raised important human rights concerns," Louise Arbour said in a statement issued from her Geneva office.
"The various decrees issued by the CDRM restrict a number of basic human rights, such as the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention," Ms. Arbour said, urging the new authorities to restore the maximum exercise of such rights.
Arbour urged CDRM, the military council that now governs the country until new elections, "to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and reinstate the country's human rights commission."
She said CDRM has unconstitutionally replaced an elected government, imposed martial law, abolished the 1997 constitution, dissolved parliament and cabinet as well as the constitutional court.
Other decrees issued by CDRM restrict a number of basic human rights, including right to freedom of assembly, opinion and expression, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention.
Arbour called on CDRM "to restore the maximum exercise of these rights," the statement said.
************************************
Now that you OUTSIDERS have finished your critiques, I will now let you know the truth and give answers to your own crooked views.
It is easy for you to say, the US and Mr. Casey, and the UN and Ms. Arbour. Where were you when Thaksin and his men BOUGHT and CHEATED their way into power and ISSUED LAWS that benefited their power empire and fortified their business conglomerates? And if you are so KEEN ON PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS, where were you when the Thaksin regime killed 3,000 on drug-related accusations/suspicions, the 3,000 deaths in southern insurgence, and the suppressed freedom of expression in both the media and the people??
I love you, the US, I always have. But your double standards when it comes to taking the Tyrant and traitors' side begin to corrode my admiration for and my trust in you.
I can only wish you saw our point.
Can't you realize and see Thaksin for what he really is--a thoroughly corrupt, brutally bloodthirsty, indiscrimatorily gluttonous, foolishly arrogant, and compulsively lying bastard?
Don't assume that your kind of democracy is the same as their kind of democracy. Your people are educated and know their rights; ours aren't. Money cannot buy votes from American voters, but it can from uneducated Thais. Your media are not oppressed and are free to present opposing views; ours are just the opposite. Most military coups serve the leaders' own agendas; this one in Thailand does not.
Where else in the world are people happier about the coup? Which coup team is more polite and considerate and has the interests of the people and the country at heart?
Inquiries into ill-gotten assets and wealth are what we Thais have been looking forward to for the longest time. Do you have any idea how extensive the corruption network of Thaksin was? Do you know how much they have robbed Thailand? Marcos and Suharto are amateurs when compared with Thaksin. And we think this time we will see something. Ask yourself if you were robbed, wouldn't you want your money and treasures back?
If you all have problems with the military regime of Myanmar, why didn't you say anything about Thaksin's intimate personal business dealings with Myanmar leaders' family members?? Thaksin had never asked about Aung San Suu Kyi. Thaksin had defended the Myanmar Junta regime throughout his terms. What's your say about this, the US and the UN??
Why don't you WAIT and SEE what the CDR is trying to do, whether they stick to their promises, and whether they keep those promises.
They have promised a civilian government within 2 weeks. The suppression on several human rights is only temporary. They just want to get our home in order without Thaksin's evil cronies confusing uninformed people upcountry. We support this decision because we don't want to see people killing people in a bloody civil war.
I get sick and tired of those outside Thailand who do not know the true nature of the situation but still proceed to voice their ignorant views/comments/opinions without consideration for the real feeling of the Thais.
Why don't you shut up for a while and see the development? We Thais have been through many nightmares where politicians and military leaders turned back on their words and began abusing the privileges. We dealt with them in our own way and without the help from anyone outside.
Those outside have been helping and sheltering the enemies of the people.
That speaks volumes for your involvement. So really, whose side are you on?
I have been defending the US government all my life, but this case has revealed your true color that you do not really care about us the people. You only care about and protect your interests. Your insincerity and self-serving attitudes make me revisit my view of the US' international roles.
The US has NEVER come out and admitted how bad Thaksin is. Yet, the self-proclaimed Leader of the Free World rushes into judgment and comes out blasting the pro-democracy coup.
This reminds me of how helpful the US had been to Ferdinand Marcos and many South American dictators. I often wondered why. Now I am willing to suspect the US to get something in return from these crooks. Maybe it is all the strategic information that these traitors are willing to barf out in exchange for the shelter and safe keeping of their money on the US soils.
You claim yourself to be the protector of freedom; I am finding this hilarious. Your facade is cracking, and I am very disappointed in what I see. You are turning me from an admirer into a skeptic, and eventually a non-believer. It saddens me to admit now that I am beginning to lose my faith in you. I will take a close look at the accusations your political enemies, such as Mr. Chavez and Mr. Ahmadinejad, are presenting. There might be some truth in those.
To the UN, you have no say in any of this. You can NEVER help anyone or do anything when you are needed. You are either too late or too weak. You are nothing but a paper tiger and a referee who gets no respect.
posted by A Desperate Seeker at
7:17 PM
