Thai govt makes first payouts to violence victims today | Bangkok Post

Thai govt makes first payouts to violence victims today | Bangkok Post
Achara Ashayagachat, Bangkok Post, May 24, 2012

The government makes the first compensation payouts to victims of political violence today, ushering in an era of reconciliation which has drawn mixed reactions even from its red shirt supporters.

Under the package, 522 people from both colour-coded groups have been deemed entitled to receive payments.

The ceremony will be held at Government House this afternoon, when those eligible will receive a compensation package from the hand of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The first tranche of payments, totalling more than 577 million baht, is for a total of 44 deaths, 56 severe injuries, 177 less severe injuries, and 239 minor injuries, and six disabilities.

The government in January approved the compensation package for victims of political unrest which took place between 2005 and the 2010 Bangkok violence.

Under the package, which is based on suggestions by the Truth for Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the family of each slain victim will be entitled to 7.7 million baht (257,000 USD), while the injured will receive different amounts of compensation depending on the severity of their injuries.

Elisabetta Polenghi, younger sister of Italian journalist Fabio who was killed on May 19, expects to receive the full amount of 7.7 million baht.

The compensation for Reuters cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto will not be handed out today as his family and the Japanese embassy would like to keep the matter low-key.

Former premier Thaksin said during his phone-in to the red shirt rally to mark the second anniversary of the crackdown last Saturday that the compensation would pave the way for national reconciliation. Some relatives of fallen red shirts, however, do not agree.

"I understand and sympathise with Khun Thaksin but I'm quite disappointed too since it's people like our family who had to sacrifice for justice and for reconciliation," said Waranid Asawasirimunkhong, wife of Thanuthat who was shot in the Bon Kai area on May 14, 2010 and died in March this year.

Mrs Waranid, who is entitled to compensation but whose name is not among the first lot, said she would not withdraw a civil suit she has filed against the government until she gets full compensation.

Red shirts who are still in jail have a more immediate concern than national reconciliation. "This issue [reconciliation] is too big for me. What worries me most is how to get bail. We need freedom," said Buarien, from Udon Thani, speaking from the temporary prison in Lak Si.

Somsak Prasansap, 52, from Ubon Ratchathani, who was jailed for 33 years for torching the provincial hall said: "We have fought this hard just to get him [Thaksin] back. Now everyone must sacrifice so we can get a great leader."

Assange Fate to Be Determined Next Week | Common Dreams

Assange Fate to Be Determined Next Week | Common Dreams
Common Dreams staff, May 23, 2012 by Common Dreams

Julian Assange will find out next Wednesday whether he will be extradited to Sweden to face sex crime allegations.


Assange talking to Occupy LSX. (photo: Matthew Taylor)

The UK's Supreme Court will make the announcement May 30.

Lawyers for Assange say the original arrest warrant is not valid, and Assange has maintained that the allegations are politically motivated.

* * *

The Guardian: Julian Assange extradition verdict due next week

The supreme court will deliver its verdict next Wednesday on whether or not the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, should be deported to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.

The short judgment on 30 May will include an explanation of the decision the seven-strong panel of justices reaches. It is expected to focus on the narrow issue of whether or not a European arrest warrant (EAW) issued by a prosecutor is valid.

* * *

RT: Extradition showdown: UK Supreme Court to rule on Assange

Assange’s lawyers are calling on judges to block the extradition. They say that the initial European warrant that put Assange under house arrest in Britain over 500 days ago was “invalid and unenforceable” and that Swedish prosecutor had no authority to issue it. [...]

Julian Assange claims that the legal case against him is politically motivated and fabricated by governments outraged by their dirty secrets being published on the notorious whistleblowing WikiLeaks website.

UK govt expresses concern about death of Ah Kong, calls for LM review | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

UK govt expresses concern about death of Ah Kong, calls for LM review | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
Andrew Spooner, May 23, 2012

Last week I blogged about questions raised in the UK Parliament by the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kerry McCarthy MP (Bristol East, Labour Party) regarding Thailand’s use of its infamous lese majeste laws and the treatment/death of Ampon Tangnoppakul aka Ah Kong (a Thai political prisoner who died on May 8, 2012). My original posting, with Kerry McCarthy MP’s questions, can be found here.




Yesterday, the Minister of State (South East Asia/Far East, Caribbean, Central/South America, Australasia and Pacific) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Jeremy Browne MP (Taunton Deane, Liberal Democrat) published the UK government’s response to these questions (the full answers can be found here, here, here and here).

What is clear from these responses is that the UK is very uneasy about the lese majeste law itself, the disproportionate sentences meted out by the courts for those found guilty of LM and the general treatment of prisoners.

What is also becoming evident is that the USA is increasingly isolated in its continued and persistent failure to hold Thailand – an important military ally of the USA – to account for its human rights breaches. Given that the USA have been long-term backers of Thailand’s most powerful and least democratic element and biggest supporter of the lese majeste law – the Thai Army – this should come as no surprise to commentators.

Furthermore, a US citizen, Joe Gordon, remains imprisoned in Thailand on lese majeste charges for comments he posted online whilst he was resident in the USA. The USA’s Bangkok mission has been noted for its lack of  response to the imprisonment of one its nationals under one of the most draconian censorship laws on earth and the UK’s statement further underlines US failures on this issue.

On Ah Kong the UK Minister of State responded that:

With our European Union partners, the UK expressed concern last year at the conviction and imprisonment for 20 years of Ampon Tangnoppakul for violating the lese-majeste laws.

And:

[This] statement reiterated the importance attached by the EU [the UK were co-signatories of an EU statement] to the rule of law, democracy and respect for human rights.

On lese majeste the Minister stated:

We are closely following the development of freedom of expression in Thailand and are concerned by the significant increase of lese-majeste cases in the country and the application of the laws and length of sentences in recent cases.

And:

Our embassy in Bangkok continues to monitor the ongoing trials of high-profile lese-majeste and freedom of expression on the internet cases. We have urged the Thai Government to ensure that the rule of law is applied in a non-discriminatory and proportionate manner consistent with upholding basic human rights, and will continue to take appropriate opportunities to do so.

More importantly the UK government also makes clear its call for Thailand to review the lese majeste laws:

In October 2011 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the human rights situation in Thailand was reviewed as part of the Universal Periodic Review process. The UK played an active role, including raising our concerns about freedom of expression and specifically recommending that the Thai Government seek to review its lese-majeste laws.

What impact these comments will have is, of course, debatable.

The wider international community – with the exception of the USA – is now explicit in its eagerness for Thailand to make more headway in meeting its legal obligations under international law. To do this it would seem that the democratically elected Thai government will need to bring the Thai Army – the biggest supporters of lese majeste – under civilian control. This civilian control is also unlikely to be achieved without US assistance and the longer the US fail to act to bring their clients in the Thai Army to heel the longer Thailand’s slide away from democracy will be.

It can also be said that since the death of Ah Kong Thai domestic opinion has hardened at both ends of the lese majeste debate. Such hardening will likely only lead to more conflict, something only those who benefit from a widening of Thailand’s political crisis would seek. It’s time for the US to step-up and  demand the Thai Army allow for proper reform to take place.

All I can say is – don’t hold your breath.

UPDATE

Couple of claims here in the comments that the US has actually made an equivalent formal call for Thailand’s lese majeste laws to be reformed. They haven’t. What actually happened is that Kristie Kenney made a couple of very bland comments on twitter, while the Embassy made one short statement about the imprisonment of Joe Gordon. Then there was a strange and almost orchestrated over-reaction to these very banal comments by various Thai neo-fascist patriot groups.  Since then the US has been mostly silent, despite one of their citizens remaining in prison after what can only be called a deeply flawed trial.

As pointed out by myself in the comments below when the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council was conducted last year in Geneva – the moment when LM came under the closest international scrutiny – the US refused to sign a statement, something a number of other governments did, which called for Thailand’s 112 law to be reformed. If the USA had done it would have given considerable more weight to the statement. The US didn’t. Question is, why? 

http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/2761/en/un:-spotlight-on-thailand’s-l
What the US govt have actually said formally was they were  “troubled by recent prosecutions and court decisions that are not consistent with international standards of freedom of expression.”

This is a relatively bland and meaningless statement and when set against the UK, EU and other governments’ calls for reform of LM, increasingly isolates the US in their one-eyed stance on lese majeste.

Magazine wins rare court ruling for Burma media | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

Magazine wins rare court ruling for Burma media | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
AP News, May 23, 2012

YANGON, Burma (AP) — A private news magazine in Burma won a rare court victory Wednesday and will not have to reveal the name of a reporter who wrote about corruption at government ministries.

“The Voice” weekly still faces a defamation suit over the article published in March. The initial court ruling means it will be allowed to protect its reporter’s name, lawyer Win Shwe told The Associated Press.

Lawsuits involving the media are a new development in Burma and part of an easing of censorship under the reform-minded government that took office last year.

Under the previous military regime, strict media censorship determined what was fit to print and violators faced severe penalties.

Despite the new freedoms, publications still follow their old policy of writing anonymously on sensitive subjects.

In the article published in March, The Voice wrote about misappropriation and irregularities in the accounts of several ministries including information, agriculture, industry and mines from 2009-2011. The article cited a report from the auditor general’s office to the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

The Mines Ministry filed a defamation suit in response to the article and demanded that editor-in-chief Kyaw Min Swe reveal the article’s author. The defamation hearing will continue June 6.

A weekly publication “The Modern” faced an earlier defamation case over an article that alleged truck drivers had bribed engineers at the Construction Ministry to let them use a certain bridge even though their vehicles exceeded the weight limit. One of the engineers sued the publication, but the two sides settled after the magazine printed a correction.

Burma’s Press Scrutiny Board has ended censorship on subjects such as health, entertainment, fashion and sports but many in the media say the arrival of lawsuits is a new threat to media freedom.

Articles on general news and religion are still required to go through censors prior to publication, but the Press Scrutiny Board says it will end all forms of censorship in June.

Philippines accuses China anew of flaring tensions | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

Philippines accuses China anew of flaring tensions | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
AP News, May 23, 2012

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines accused China on Wednesday of sending more government and fishing vessels to a contested shoal in the South China Sea despite ongoing talks to resolve a 2-month-old naval standoff.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the number of Chinese vessels at Scarborough Shoal increased to 96 on Tuesday. They included four government ships, fishing boats and dinghies.

He said the Philippines has only two vessels in the area.

Hernandez said that despite a seasonal fishing ban imposed by both countries to prevent overfishing, Chinese vessels were observed fishing and collecting protected corals.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said about 20 fishing vessels were working in waters near the shoal, roughly the same number as in previous years.

“Their fishing activities are in line with Chinese law and the fishing ban,” he said.
He added that “the Filipino side recently carried out some provocations in the area and China took actions in response.”

Hernandez said Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing was handed a diplomatic note Monday to protest the presence on that day of 77 Chinese vessels — five government ships, 16 fishing boats and 56 dinghies used to load fish or corals.

Manila demanded an immediate pullout of the vessels, saying they violate Philippine sovereignty and a nonbinding Declaration of Conduct on the South China Sea signed by China and Southeast Asian Countries.

“It is regrettable that these actions occurred at a time when China has been articulating for a de-escalation of tensions and while the two sides have been discussing how to defuse the situation in the area,” Hernandez added.

Both sides claim the uninhabited, horseshoe-shaped shoal, which is 230 kilometers (124 nautical miles) from Zambales province, the nearest Philippine coast.

Rare protests in Burma against power cuts | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

Rare protests in Burma against power cuts | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
AP News, May 22, 2012

YANGON, Burma (AP) — Chronic power cuts in Burma have set off rare protests in the Southeast Asian country and an even more rare government plea for the public’s understanding.

Peaceful protests started over the weekend in Mandalay and were called for later Tuesday in Yangon at City Hall.

A statement from the Electric Power Ministry carried in all three state-run newspapers Tuesday explained that electricity rationing was under way to cope with greater demand and decreased supply during the hot summer months.

Burma was led by an oppressive military junta until last year. Protests and government admissions of mismanagement remain uncommon.

Read in-depth analysis from Francis Wade on this story here: Burma: Speaking the truth to power(cuts)

Philippine Chief Justice Corona denies charges, blames Aquino | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

Philippine Chief Justice Corona denies charges, blames Aquino | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
AP News May 22, 2012

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The head of the Philippine Supreme Court has denied charges that he stole from the country’s coffers and accuses President Benigno Aquino III of conspiring to remove him from office.

Chief Justice Renato Corona testified Tuesday in his impeachment trial that has become the main focus of Aquino’s anti-corruption effort. The anti-graft prosecutor testified last week that Corona failed to declare $10 million to $12 million recorded in 82 bank accounts under his name.

Corona said he has four dollar accounts and invoked bank secrecy laws that protect the confidentiality of foreign deposits. He said he made his wealth as a successful lawyer before joining the government and from the sale of his wife’s property.
If convicted in the Senate, he must resign.