Human-rights Abuse on the Rise in Thailand by Phairath Khampha 18 February 2003 Human-rights violations seriously increased in the past between 2002 and 2003 under Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's administration, human-rights groups declared on February 9, 2003. The conclusion was drawn from a special forum organised by prominent human-rights groups in Thailand to evaluate the government's track record. "In the past year we have seen the number of complaints about human-rights violations increase to 357 with 32 per cent involving police," Human Rights Commissioner Doctor Pradit Chaorenthaithawee said. The groups expressed concern over the "authoritarian" Thaksin administration with a trend towards a worsening human-rights situation. "His administration is anti-political reform. He is good at using both government- and privately owned media to manipulate public opinion any way he wants. He can make the public fear non-governmental organisations for no rational reasons as people used to fear communism," said Thammasat University's Kasian Techapheera, a well-known social critic and key speaker at the forum. "He reduces human rights to just words in the Constitution," Kasian stated. With regard to the government's current aggressive drug-suppression policy, Kasian said it could easily lead to violations of suspect's human rights as it gave full authority to police to do whatever they wanted, including carrying out extra-judicial executions. It may make the public happy to see immediate arrests and executions, but it would ultimately fail to solve the drug problem as the root of the problem remained, he added. Pipob Dhongchai of the Campaign for Democracy Group said Thaksin had tried to build an image as a strong leader but it had gone too far and was moving towards a dictatorship of the kind that had led to the "Bloody May" violence in 1992, in which Thai civilians were mowed down by thousands of soldiers in the street of Bangkok in a pro-democracy protest more bloody than the one in Tianamen Square. "Many in his administration have violated the Constitution. They denied the public any participation in the controversial gas-pipeline project in the South," Activist Pipob|said. Boonthan Tansuthepweera-wong, Director of the Human Rights Information Centre, said a number of social activists and community leaders around the country had faced threats after they opposed state-funded projects. In 2002, 15 cases were reported, he said.