KIN OF DEAD MAY REQUEST UN INQUIRIES

Relatives of victims of drug-related murders are entitled to petition the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate the
killings, Vithit Muntabhorn, of Chulalongkorn University's law faculty,
said yesterday.

In a discussion on violence in drug suppression at the university, Prof
Vithit said human rights issues were borderless. Even people of nations not
in the UN could ask for justice from the UN.

He urged people whose loved ones had died in the government campaign
against drugs to petition the commission.

The petition could be addressed to a special rapporteur of the commission
who could then step in to investigate.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in his radio programme on Saturday,
implied Pradit Charoenthaithawee, the national human rights commissioner,
overstepped his authority by talking to the the UN regarding the campaign.

Prof Vithit said the government should invite the special rapporteur here,
and explain its policy at a UN human rights conference in Geneva this month.

Drug production in Burma and Laos was the main cause of the problem, and
the government should tackle these first.

Gothom Arya, a former election commissioner, said the government should
nail the masterminds of drug-related killings and bring all murder cases to
the justice system.