DRUG DEATHS DEMAND EXTRA ATTENTION

Few things can keep Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont from chairing the
meeting on extra-judicial killings at the Department of Special
Investigation on Friday. His show of interest in the issue has raised
the hopes of relatives of the victims of deposed Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra's war on drugs, and human rights defenders across
the country.

The meeting of the DSI's committee on special cases, which Gen Surayud
chairs in his capacity as prime minister, is due to decide which of
the extra-judicial killings it should take on.

Justice Minister Charnchai Likhitjitta has confirmed that the meeting
would discuss the case of a young couple from Khon Buri district in
Nakhon Ratchasima who were gunned down on March 2003.

Relatives say Nikom Unkaew, 31, and his wife Kanya, 27, were
construction workers who won the lottery jackpot in May 2001 but
police suspected their remarkable change of fortune was linked to drugs.

An estimated 2,500 people are believed to have died in extra-judicial
killings during the anti-drug campaigns which began in February 2003
and resumed in 2005.

Forty of these people, say the Lawyers Council of Thailand and the
National Human Rights Commission, had nothing to do with drugs.

Under public pressure, the Thaksin government launched an
investigation into the killings.

But investigators examined only about 1,600 cases and on grounds of
lack of evidence classified the rest as common crimes, according to
Kitti Limchaikij, secretary-general of the Office of Narcotics Control
Board.

Gen Surayud inspired the push for a new investigation into the
killings by reportedly instructing Mr Kitti to find out how many of
them were related to drugs, and how many were not.

That was in early November and the momentum has built up ever
since.

In mid-November, Kraisak Choonhavan, the former senator for Nakhon
Ratchasima who is a veteran human rights defender, met with Jarun
Pukditanakul, permanent secretary for Justice and brought his
attention to cases in Nakhon Ratchasima and Narathiwat.

A week later, the National Human Rights Commission and the Lawyers
Council of Thailand called on the government to ratify the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court, saying this would enable
prosecution of Mr Thaksin for crimes against humanity and in all
countries that were signatories.

Last Monday, Mr Kraisak conferred with the prime minister and reported
that he had promised to re-open an investigation into the
extra-judicial killings.

Hence the delight of Mr Kraisak and other human rights defenders when
the justice minister reported that the prime minister had promised to
chair the meeting on Dec 8.

But Justice Minister Charnchai's suggestion that the prime minister's
presence was conditional on his not being taken up by something more
pressing raised some concern. For relatives of victims, and human
rights defenders campaigning for justice in the matter , nothing can
be more important.

Though the field is wider for Gen Surayud, and his caution is
understandable, he cannot fail to meet the expectation that he will be
there and do his utmost to solve the problem.

The prime minister after all has called for reform of the justice
system, the flaws in which have enabled politicians to interfere in
law enforcement for their own gain.

Hence his leading role in seeing to it that justice is done in the
case of extra-judicial killings is imperative. That means ensuring
punishment of the killers and their masterminds, and help for the
bereaved to cope with irreplaceable losses of life.

To the chagrin of the deposed prime minister's critics and defenders
of human rights, the long arm of the law may not be long enough to
incriminate him. But Gen Surayud can do much to bring out the truth by
assuring relatives, state officials and other witnesses that they will
be protected for speaking out.

Anuraj Manibhandu is News Editor, Bangkok Post