Thai elections revive drug war controversy
KALASIN, Thailand — Five years after he was toppled from power, the legacy of Thaksin Shinawatra's "War on Drugs" still haunts relatives of the dead who are horrified at the idea…
KALASIN, Thailand — Five years after he was toppled from power, the legacy of Thaksin Shinawatra's "War on Drugs" still haunts relatives of the dead who are horrified at the idea of his return."I wish I could kill them," food vendor Somporn said of the former prime minister and the policemen he blames for the death of his son, found tied to a tree in a public park in the northeastern town of Kalasin.Pravit Sattawut died seven years ago, aged 21 -- killed, rights groups suspect, by the town's police as part of Thaksin's notorious crackdown on drugs, which outraged critics for its alleged extrajudicial murders and abuses.The anger of Pravit's father goes against the grain here in the Thai northeast.This is the heartland of support for Thaksin, a tycoon-turned-premier who now lives in exile but has said he hopes to return to Thailand by the end of the year if his political allies win a July 3 election.Before a coup deposed him in 2006, Thaksin won over rural hearts with his populist platform. His get-tough approach to tackling the searing trade in drugs, particularly methamphetamines, was also hugely popular.Now his youngest sister is running to be premier, and widely seen as his political proxy.Yingluck Shinawatra told AFP in a recent interview that she would "handle the drugs policy with care (for) human rights" -- but some fear abuses could resume if her party wins with Thaksin as its de facto leader.Thailand saw an 88 percent jump in murder cases during the main phase of Thaksin's drugs campaign, from February to April 2003, according to a 2008 report by a Thai special committee on anti-drugs policy.The report said there were 2,873 murders in the period, 1,370 of them drugs-related.Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Thailand researcher, said it was "quite frightening" to think that those behind the drugs war could soon return to the frontline of Thai politics."As the same political actors look like they're going to come back to relevance, it becomes more relevant again -- not just the last 'War on
last modification 2011-06-24 05:45:47
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