SOCIETY 'ACCEPTANCE' OF AUTHORITARIANISM

Jon Says Future's Bleak For Human Rights Here

Human rights in Thailand will not improve with an elected government
back in power as there are structural flaws embedded with
authoritarianism, a rights advocate said yesterday. Jon Ungphakorn, a
well-known rights activist and former senator, said bureaucracy as
well as police and army officers were at the core of human rights
problems in Thailand.

The Thaksin administration gave the nod to extrajudicial killings in
its notorious war on drugs, there were forced disappearances and
extensive use of force, while the Council of National Security also
curbed conventional and alternative media, Mr Jon said.

"The Samak government will be more or less like the Thaksin
government in its anti-drug suppression and the violation of freedom
of expression. We might see the use of force against drugs as
Minister Chalerm [Yubamrung] made a pledge to fight the problem,
while Minister Jakrapob's [Penkair] comments on creating a neutral
media is a threat to the media," he said.

The underlying problem, he said, was the public acceptance of
authoritarianism.

"The public therefore allows the authorities and the majority to
undermine the rights of the minority wherever they are in Thailand,"
he said.

Saneh Chamarik, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission,
said activists were facing challenges working under the Samak government.

Somchai Homla-or, of the Foundation for Human Rights and Development,
said the root cause of Thailand's human rights problem was a judicial
process which included abuse of power and negligence on the part of
authorities to protect human rights.

"People, as well as human rights defenders, including lawyers, have
been alienated and isolated from the judicial system, and this was
also the case in the far South where forced disappearances and
extrajudicial killings have been rampant in the past few years," he
said.

He said that instead of pinning their hopes on the government, people
should concentrate on the empowerment of civil society.

"That's the way for meaningful reform of the justice system. We
realise the Surayud government's attempt to push for police reform
went nowhere and now the Samak government doesn't seem to be
providing any hope on the issue."