During a panel at the Student Christian Centre this week, relatives of the victims of extra-judicial killings in Thailand demanded justice and transparency for those who did the killings, not money for their losses.
The majority of extra-judicial killings in Thailand involve ethnic minorities–primarily activists–who are often seen as a threat to society and associated with deforestation and drug dealing by Thai authorities and some segments of Thailand’s population.
“Their ethnicity is used to create hatred. As a result, the state can abuse its power and use violence against these people and the public ignores the injustice,” said Malee Sittikreangkrai of Chiang Mai University’s Centre for Ethnic Studies and Development.
A Mee Ma, whose son, an ethnic Lisu youth living in Chiang Dao, was shot dead by military officials last year. The shooters claimed they acted in self-defense after the victim attempted to throw a bomb at them.
Ma’s son was found holding a drug packet in his left hand and a bomb in his right hand. But Ma and the Lisu village chief said her son was left-handed and a motorcyclist who passed the scene said the youth had no weapons on his body.
Just a month later, a Lahu youth activist was shot dead under similar circumstances by military at a checkpoint. The authorities claimed once again that the boy possessed drugs and attempted to throw a bomb at them. Mysteriously, though, CCTV footage of the event went missing.
According to the panelists and other activists, Thailand should adopt the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death, which dictates that authorities investigating extra-judicial killings must not be associated with the same agency accused of the killing.
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