ID :
134331
Fri, 07/23/2010 - 19:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/134331
The shortlink copeid
Emergency decree to be gradually lifted: PM Abhisit
BANGKOK, July 23 -- Thailand's Emergency Decree currently imposed in 16 provinces will be gradually lifted with possible revocation in some provinces next week, according to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Mr Abhisit said the government shared a common view with former prime minister and National Reform Committee chairman Anand Panyarachun that the emergency decree should be lifted at all provinces as enforcement of the security law will negatively affect the national reconciliation process.
However, he said, the process must be done by steps and next week the law would be lifted in some provinces. He could not say which provinces, but the lifting did not need a Cabinet resolution.
If the security-concerned agencies reported that the situation was normal, he could exercise his authority to lift the law's imposition, said the premier.
The emergency decree has been imposed in the capital since early April to maintain law and order during the anti-government Red Shirt demonstrations, followed by the enforcement of a similar law in other 23 provinces, mostly in the North and Northeast, which are strongholds of the Red Shirt movement.
The government later revoked the decree in eight provinces, saying the situation there was under control, but the law remains in place in Bangkok and 15 other provinces.
Mr Anand said on Thursday that the committee fears that the emergency decree would have a negative rather than positive effect for the national reconciliation and such law was incoherent with the democracy principles.
He added that lifting the law would also be useful for the government's problem-solving, saying that political conflict remains despite the reduced violence, but that time was needed to solve the problems.
Mr Abhisit said lifting the law would have no impact on the legal process of cases violating the emergency decree, but would affect the search procedures of the authorities.
Commenting on documents released by Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer for fugitive ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Mr Abhisit said that most people, particularly the international community, understood that Mr Amsterdam was hired so he had to do everything for his employer.
He said it was sad that a foreigner was hired by a Thai man to hurt his country.
An 80-page white paper entitled "The Bangkok Massacres: A Call for Accountability" was released by international lawyer Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Peroff.
The document claimed that the Thai government and army may be responsible for human rights abuses and possible crimes against humanity in connection with the bloody suppression of protests in Bangkok in April and May, which resulted in the deaths of 89 people.
In response to Japan's call that the Thai authorities to give more details on the death of a Japanese journalist during the protest, Mr Abhisit said the investigation team had regularly informed the Japanese government about the progress of the case through its embassy.
"I understand that the Japanese government wanted to see progress in the case," he said. " I also understand it is not an easy job for the Thai authorities who are now working on the case."
The concerned officials would try to give more information and facts to give better understanding to Japanese authorities about the process and progress, he said.
Japan's deputy press secretary Hidenobu Sobashima told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) security dialogue in Vietnam on Thursday that Japan hoped to receive further information from Thailand about the death of a Japanese cameraman shot more than three months ago during protests in Bangkok.
Hiroyuki Muramoto, 43, of the Thomson Reuters news agency, was shot in the chest by an unknown gunman on April 10 while covering unrest involving Thai troops and Red Shirt protesters.
The clashes between the army and protesters at Khok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Road on that day left 25 people dead and more than 800 persons, including soldiers, were wounded in the day-long confrontation. (MCOT online news)
Mr Abhisit said the government shared a common view with former prime minister and National Reform Committee chairman Anand Panyarachun that the emergency decree should be lifted at all provinces as enforcement of the security law will negatively affect the national reconciliation process.
However, he said, the process must be done by steps and next week the law would be lifted in some provinces. He could not say which provinces, but the lifting did not need a Cabinet resolution.
If the security-concerned agencies reported that the situation was normal, he could exercise his authority to lift the law's imposition, said the premier.
The emergency decree has been imposed in the capital since early April to maintain law and order during the anti-government Red Shirt demonstrations, followed by the enforcement of a similar law in other 23 provinces, mostly in the North and Northeast, which are strongholds of the Red Shirt movement.
The government later revoked the decree in eight provinces, saying the situation there was under control, but the law remains in place in Bangkok and 15 other provinces.
Mr Anand said on Thursday that the committee fears that the emergency decree would have a negative rather than positive effect for the national reconciliation and such law was incoherent with the democracy principles.
He added that lifting the law would also be useful for the government's problem-solving, saying that political conflict remains despite the reduced violence, but that time was needed to solve the problems.
Mr Abhisit said lifting the law would have no impact on the legal process of cases violating the emergency decree, but would affect the search procedures of the authorities.
Commenting on documents released by Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer for fugitive ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Mr Abhisit said that most people, particularly the international community, understood that Mr Amsterdam was hired so he had to do everything for his employer.
He said it was sad that a foreigner was hired by a Thai man to hurt his country.
An 80-page white paper entitled "The Bangkok Massacres: A Call for Accountability" was released by international lawyer Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Peroff.
The document claimed that the Thai government and army may be responsible for human rights abuses and possible crimes against humanity in connection with the bloody suppression of protests in Bangkok in April and May, which resulted in the deaths of 89 people.
In response to Japan's call that the Thai authorities to give more details on the death of a Japanese journalist during the protest, Mr Abhisit said the investigation team had regularly informed the Japanese government about the progress of the case through its embassy.
"I understand that the Japanese government wanted to see progress in the case," he said. " I also understand it is not an easy job for the Thai authorities who are now working on the case."
The concerned officials would try to give more information and facts to give better understanding to Japanese authorities about the process and progress, he said.
Japan's deputy press secretary Hidenobu Sobashima told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) security dialogue in Vietnam on Thursday that Japan hoped to receive further information from Thailand about the death of a Japanese cameraman shot more than three months ago during protests in Bangkok.
Hiroyuki Muramoto, 43, of the Thomson Reuters news agency, was shot in the chest by an unknown gunman on April 10 while covering unrest involving Thai troops and Red Shirt protesters.
The clashes between the army and protesters at Khok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Road on that day left 25 people dead and more than 800 persons, including soldiers, were wounded in the day-long confrontation. (MCOT online news)
