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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/210006/ministry-hatches-scheme-for-thaksin-extradition
Ministry hatches scheme for Thaksin's extradition
Attorney General needs to back request to US
* Published: 7/12/2010 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: News
Thailand is setting the wheels in motion to pounce on Thaksin Shinawatra should he travel to the US to appear next week before a human rights commission.
Thaksin: US trip to give speech confirmed
The Foreign Affairs Ministry says it will seek the help of Washington to extradite the ousted prime minister if he turns up in the US.
Deputy spokesman for foreign affairs Thani Thongpakdi said yesterday it was very possible a request for Thaksin's return would be put to Washington as the two countries have an extradition treaty signed in 1983.
The process has to start with the Office of the Attorney-General which has not yet revealed its position.
"The Foreign Ministry is ready to use diplomatic channels to submit a request for the extradition of former prime minister Thaksin [to the US] once the Office of the Attorney-General signs the request and passes it on to us," Mr Thani said.
Thaksin, who was toppled by a coup in 2006, faces several outstanding charges. He was also convicted and sentenced in his absence to two years in prison by the Supreme Court for conflict of interest in relation to his consent for his then-wife to purchase a large block of land from a government agency.
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe wrote to Thaksin on Nov23 to invite him to address a forum titled "Thailand: Democracy, Governance and Human Rights" in Washington on Dec 16. The commission asked him in the invitation to give his perspective on the human rights situation in Thailand including freedom of the press and freedom of expression, and the Thai government's efforts to calm the insurgency in the South.
The commission, set up to promote human rights, democracy and military cooperation, is made up of nine members from the Senate, nine from the House of Representatives and one member each from the departments of State, Defence and Commerce.
Mr Thani said the Foreign Affairs Ministry was not worried about the address to be given by Thaksin at the forum because it kept updating both the US government and Congress on the situation in Thailand. Thai ambassador to the US Kittipong na Ranong was also ready to rebut Thaksin if he wrongly criticised Thailand.
Thaksin's adviser, Noppadon Pattama, confirmed the former prime minister would go to the US, saying he would give his perspective on human rights violations in Thailand, especially the military dispersal of the red shirt protests in April and May which resulted in the deaths of 92 people and more than 1,400 being injured.
He would also raise problems of the lack of press freedom in Thailand under the emergency decree.
Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd yesterday shrugged off what Thaksin might say about the dispersal of the protests by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship.
"He can do whatever he wants," Col Sansern said. "He has the right to give his account of events. But we have been confident all along that there were no human rights violations. Most people here and other countries know that.
"The clashes at the rally were due to the fact that the protest went beyond the law and authorities were bound by the law to carry out their duty, which did not violate human rights."
Human rights defenders in Thailand questioned the US commission's motives.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, chairwoman of the Working Group on Justice and Peace, said the commission should invite local human rights defenders, government agents involved and victims of human rights violations to take part in the forum to counter Thaksin's statement to provide fair and balanced information.
Thaksin has been accused of ordering the drugs war in 2003 in which over 2,600 drugs suspects were killed, and of overseeing the escalation of violence in the deep South since 2004 that has claimed about 4,000 lives.
Somboon Ahmad Bualuang, a former member of the now-dissolved National Reconciliation Commission for the South, said Thaksin would use the forum to defend himself against all allegations that involve violence and human rights situations in Thailand.
"Let him go if he wants to speak," Mr Somboon said. "Everyone knows what type of person he is. He can't escape the truth."

Ministry hatches scheme for Thaksin's extradition
Attorney General needs to back request to US
* Published: 7/12/2010 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: News
Thailand is setting the wheels in motion to pounce on Thaksin Shinawatra should he travel to the US to appear next week before a human rights commission.
Thaksin: US trip to give speech confirmed
The Foreign Affairs Ministry says it will seek the help of Washington to extradite the ousted prime minister if he turns up in the US.
Deputy spokesman for foreign affairs Thani Thongpakdi said yesterday it was very possible a request for Thaksin's return would be put to Washington as the two countries have an extradition treaty signed in 1983.
The process has to start with the Office of the Attorney-General which has not yet revealed its position.
"The Foreign Ministry is ready to use diplomatic channels to submit a request for the extradition of former prime minister Thaksin [to the US] once the Office of the Attorney-General signs the request and passes it on to us," Mr Thani said.
Thaksin, who was toppled by a coup in 2006, faces several outstanding charges. He was also convicted and sentenced in his absence to two years in prison by the Supreme Court for conflict of interest in relation to his consent for his then-wife to purchase a large block of land from a government agency.
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe wrote to Thaksin on Nov23 to invite him to address a forum titled "Thailand: Democracy, Governance and Human Rights" in Washington on Dec 16. The commission asked him in the invitation to give his perspective on the human rights situation in Thailand including freedom of the press and freedom of expression, and the Thai government's efforts to calm the insurgency in the South.
The commission, set up to promote human rights, democracy and military cooperation, is made up of nine members from the Senate, nine from the House of Representatives and one member each from the departments of State, Defence and Commerce.
Mr Thani said the Foreign Affairs Ministry was not worried about the address to be given by Thaksin at the forum because it kept updating both the US government and Congress on the situation in Thailand. Thai ambassador to the US Kittipong na Ranong was also ready to rebut Thaksin if he wrongly criticised Thailand.
Thaksin's adviser, Noppadon Pattama, confirmed the former prime minister would go to the US, saying he would give his perspective on human rights violations in Thailand, especially the military dispersal of the red shirt protests in April and May which resulted in the deaths of 92 people and more than 1,400 being injured.
He would also raise problems of the lack of press freedom in Thailand under the emergency decree.
Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd yesterday shrugged off what Thaksin might say about the dispersal of the protests by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship.
"He can do whatever he wants," Col Sansern said. "He has the right to give his account of events. But we have been confident all along that there were no human rights violations. Most people here and other countries know that.
"The clashes at the rally were due to the fact that the protest went beyond the law and authorities were bound by the law to carry out their duty, which did not violate human rights."
Human rights defenders in Thailand questioned the US commission's motives.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, chairwoman of the Working Group on Justice and Peace, said the commission should invite local human rights defenders, government agents involved and victims of human rights violations to take part in the forum to counter Thaksin's statement to provide fair and balanced information.
Thaksin has been accused of ordering the drugs war in 2003 in which over 2,600 drugs suspects were killed, and of overseeing the escalation of violence in the deep South since 2004 that has claimed about 4,000 lives.
Somboon Ahmad Bualuang, a former member of the now-dissolved National Reconciliation Commission for the South, said Thaksin would use the forum to defend himself against all allegations that involve violence and human rights situations in Thailand.
"Let him go if he wants to speak," Mr Somboon said. "Everyone knows what type of person he is. He can't escape the truth."