Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Thursday his government would review its controversial drugs blitz, which has led to the killings of around 1 000 people across the country.
In particular, the widely criticised policy of measuring the performance of provincial governors and police commanders in the campaign by how far they reduce controversial suspect blacklists could change, Thaksin told reporters.
”Next week I will call a meeting to review the strategy of suppression,” Thaksin said.
”We could evaluate (the strategy’s success) by looking at the reduction in the severity of drugs use in an area instead of judging by statistics because figures could be indefinite.”
Provincial governors and police commanders across the country have been ordered by the interior ministry to reduce the numbers on their lists by 25% by February 28, the end of the first month of the crackdown. The accuracy of the ministry’s list of 46 177 names has been widely questioned in the media, with the national police chief Sant Saratunond distancing himself from it.
Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission has received complaints from around 50 people who say they have mistakenly been included. Thaksin also said the government would step up its focus on capturing major traffickers, admitting that they were not among the 993 suspects shot dead in the first 24 days of the war.
Drugs gangs members have allegedly been responsible for 977 of the deaths, with the remainder killed by police, according to the interior ministry.
”The murders were medium-size traffickers killing retail drug dealers. Most of the large traffickers have cut themselves out of the system, thus the government will now emphasise asset confiscation to curb major traffickers,” Thaksin said.
Wan Muhamad Nor Matha, the interior minister, told reporters the switch to focus on major traffickers followed their ability to evade the crackdown so far.
”They have realised that authorities will get to them so they have used every possible measure to avoid the government’s measures,” he said. Concern about the bloodshed and extra-judicial killings has mounted since the start of the crackdown, which is focused on methamphetamines flooding into the country.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions expressed concern this week, urging Thailand to ensure officials ”carry out their duties in strict compliance with national and international human rights standards”. – Sapa-AFP