HUNDREDS KILLED IN CRACKDOWN ON DRUG USE IN THAILAND

Human rights groups expressed concern yesterday about the unexplained death
of more than 300 people during the first fortnight of a Thai government
crackdown on drug use.

The police said yesterday that during the first 15 days of the operation
319 suspects had been killed, almost 5,000 had been arrested and 33,000 had
surrendered. But only "a handful" of the dead had been shot by the police,
all in self-defence, its spokesman Major-General Pongsaphat Pongcharoen said.

Unamed officials were quoted as putting the death toll at 397. The
remaining deaths are being attributed to fighting between drug gangs.

Six million methamphetamine pills and #4m of drug dealers' assets had also
been seized.

The authorities called the operation, due to last three months, "satisfactory".

The general said senior commanders were "happy" with the results, because
the cost of one methamphetamine pill had risen from 80 baht (#1.15) to 300
baht.

But no killer has been arrested, and with regional police commanders and
governors threatened with dismissal if they fail to show results, there is
increasing concern that extra-judicial executions are being carried out.

Jaran Ditapichai, a member of the national human rights commission, said
yesterday that the public's initial approval of the prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra's policy was waning as the rising death toll raised the fear of
creeping authoritarianism.

"The public see death tolls rising, but they don't know who killed those
people," he said.

The doubts have been exacerbated by the government's sudden decision to
postpone a visit by Hina Jilani, a representative of the UN secretary
general, who was due to arrive Thailand at the end of the month to gather
information on the situation facing human rights activists.

No new date has been set for her visit, even though extra-judicial killing
would not officially be part of her mandate.

Saturday's editorial in the Bangkok Post said the government's assurances
that officers were not breaking the law were difficult believe.

"Such assurances ring hollow, given the poor records of the police, where
scapegoats abound and unexplained deaths of prisoners in detention cells
are all too frequent," it said.

"If Mr Thaksin is not careful we will be taken back to those dark days when
suspects are presumed guilty until proven innocent."

Mr Thaksin, whose majority in parliament allows him to act at will, has
backed the police.

But the justice minister, Pongthep Thepkanchana, has urged the police to
investigate the allegations.