CONCERN AT THAI DRUG CRACKDOWN

Thai Police Are Accused Of Operating Outside The Law

Diplomats in Thailand say there is growing international concern over the
rising death toll since the government announced an all-out campaign
against drug dealers at the beginning of this month.

It has been three weeks since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra vowed to
stamp out drugs in Thailand, and the killing seems to be getting out of hand.

Every day newspapers and television programmes show grisly pictures of
alleged drug dealers lying in pools of blood, all with guns and bags of
methamphetamine pills in their hands.

Official figures put the death toll at more than 600, although the police
say that only 300 of these were on an official black list and that nearly
all were killed by their rivals.

Suspicious

But the striking similarity among the victims- all shot execution-style-
and the fact that no investigations of their deaths have taken place, has
led many Thais to suspect that there is an official shoot-to-kill policy in
place.

Several ministers have suggested that drug dealers should be wiped out, and
local police forces are under strong pressure to show quick results in the
fight against drugs.

International human rights organisations have already expressed their deep
concern over the killings, which they say have cast a shadow over
Thailand's relatively favourable human rights record.