Thursday, December 23, 2010

UK training Bangladesh 'death squad'

22 December 2010 Last updated at 10:01 ET Share this pageFacebookTwitter ShareEmail Print UK training Bangladesh 'death squad'
The Rapid Action Battalion was set up in 2004 to combat crime and terrorism Continue reading the main story
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British officials in Bangladesh have confirmed Wikileaks reports that the UK is training a police force in the country accused of being a death squad.

Rapid Action Battalion members have been taught "interviewing techniques" and "rules of engagement" by the UK authorities, said the leaked cables.

One message says the US would not offer tactical training to the RAB because of its alleged human rights violations.

UK officials told the BBC the focus of the training was on human rights.

Set up in 2004, the 9,000-strong RAB is accused of more than 550 killings.

The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks has obtained a cache of about 250,000 US diplomatic cables, which it has released to several newspapers, including the Guardian.

In a cable dating from May 2009 published by the Guardian, the US ambassador to Dhaka, James Moriarty, writes: "The US and UK representatives reviewed our ongoing training to make the RAB a more transparent, accountable and human-rights compliant paramilitary force.

"The British have been training RAB for 18 months in areas such as investigative interviewing techniques and rules of engagement."

In another cable, Mr Moriarty notes it would be illegal for the US to offer anything other than human rights training to the RAB because of the force's alleged crimes.

Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Sabir Mustafa
BBC Bengali editor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The British and US governments have been working closely with the Bangladeshi security forces, with a view to strengthening their abilities to combat Islamist militancy.

The RAB played a high-profile role in the arrest of the top leadership of the country's most notorious Islamist militant outfit, the Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.

The RAB was formed for quick deployment to emergencies. But in effect it became a roving unit searching out all sorts of suspected criminals - from petty muggers to banned left-wing militants.

There are strong grounds to doubt RAB claims that the hundreds of suspects it has killed died in "encounters" or "cross-fire". No RAB personnel have been tried for any of these fatalities, creating the impression of impunity.

On the other hand, it is fair to point out that killings by the RAB have been declining since 2008, though they have not stopped completely.
He also notes that despite its record, the RAB had become Bangladesh's "most respected police unit".

However, Human Rights Watch says the force is a government death squad.

In a report last year, it said the paramilitary unit had an "operating culture" of extrajudicial killings, which its members perpetrated with impunity.

British High Commission officials in Dhaka told the BBC that the UK training programme for the RAB had begun in early 2008 and was due to finish in March 2011.

"The focus is on human rights. It concentrated on providing the RAB with the skill-set to conduct law enforcement duties in an ethical manner," said an official, who did not want to be named.

"The areas covered basically include basic human rights training, interview skills, investigation skills, basic scene of crime skills, inclusion on a range of legal and human rights focused events."

The official declined to comment on whether this training was part of any counter-terrorism effort in Bangladesh.

The Guardian reports that the UK's National Policing Improvement Agency provided training to the RAB on crime scene management and investigation, via officers from West Mercia Police and Humberside Police.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

WikiLeaks cable reveals US role in 2006 Thai coup

WikiLeaks cable reveals US role in 2006 Thai coup
By John Chan
18 December 2010
Diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks reveal that the US essentially approved the military coup that toppled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on September 19, 2006, while publicly distancing itself from the takeover. The cables shed further light on the anti-democratic activities of the US and other major powers behind the cloak of secret diplomacy.


The documents also show that US officials have worked closely with the military and the Thai monarchy in the period since the 2006 coup, discussing how to deal with subsequent pro-Thaksin governments.


Within Thailand, the revelations are so damaging for the royal family that the present military-backed government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has sought to block their publication. Yesterday an article on the web site of the Bangkok Post was removed within hours of being posted. The cables shatter the long-cultivated myth that the monarchy is neutral and above politics—a myth that has enabled the monarchy to directly intervene in crucial periods of political crisis.


A cable from the US Embassy in Bangkok on September 20, 2006 recorded a conversation between US Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce and General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the army chief who carried out the coup. They met “privately” just after Thai troops and tanks had moved into the capital and overturned Thaksin’s government during the afternoon of September 19.


Boyce asked who had attended the coup leader’s audience with the King Bhumibol Adulyadej “last night”. Sonthi replied that Prem Tinsykanonda, the president of the king’s advisory Privy Council had brought him and other military heads to the palace. Boyce’s cable said Sonthi had commented that “the king was relaxed and happy, smiling throughout. He provided no further details.” The reference to a “happy” king indicated that the monarch backed the military’s actions.


Deep divisions had emerged within Thai ruling circles. Sections of business and the traditional political establishment centred on the monarchy, the military and the state apparatus had turned against Thaksin. The prime minister, a billionaire business tycoon himself, had backed away from his earlier promises to protect Thai businesses from the restructuring measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund following the Asian economic crisis of 1997-1998.


Business people threatened by Thaksin’s policies established the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to unseat his government. Posturing as opponents of Thaksin’s autocratic rule, PAD organised mass “Yellow Shirt” demonstrations in Bangkok that helped create the conditions for the military coup.


The leaked cable indicates that the Bush administration knew well in advance of the coup of the preparations and had given a nod of approval. The US public expressions of “concern” had already been worked out in advance with the coup leader.


Boyce wrote: “Turning to the US reaction, I reminded him [Sonthi] of our conversation, August 31, when I told him any military action would result in immediate suspension of assistance programs … I told him he could expect us to announce such a measure shortly. He understood.” Boyce continued: “I added that the restoration of such assistance could only come after a democratically elected government took office.”


Sonthi had already announced, before attending the US embassy, that an interim constitution would be drafted and a civilian government installed within two weeks. Clearly, the planned “civilian” administration would be nothing more than a front for the military. Nevertheless, Boyce approvingly commented that this was a “good example”.


The Bush White House suspended military aid and joint exercises with Thailand to show its “concern”, but soon restored business as usual with the Thai military. The junta held elections in late 2007 under a new anti-democratic constitution and the pro-Thaksin Peoples Power Party (PPP) was formed in February 2008. While Washington hailed the result as “a return to democracy”, a PPP government was certainly not its intended outcome.


Having failed to prevent the return of a pro-Thaksin government, the traditional establishment launched a concerted campaign to remove it from power. PAD demonstrations quickly resumed. In September 2008, the Thai Constitutional Court, dismissed Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on the flimsy pretext that he had breached the law by participating in a TV cooking show.


According to a further leaked cable, Samak told US Ambassador Eric John in October 2008 that the king’s wife, Queen Sirikit, was “responsible for the 2006 coup d’etat, as well as the ongoing turmoil generated by PAD protests.” At the time, PAD continued its demonstrations, besieging government buildings, to force Samak’s successor, Somchai Wongsuwat, to step down. The US, however, made no public comment.


Another US memo, dated November 2008, confirms that discussion was taking place in ruling circles about another military coup. The queen publicly identified with PAD by appearing at the funeral of a PAD Yellow Shirt demonstrator killed in clashes with police. But the cable reported: “King Bhumibol explicitly told Army Commander Anupong Paojinda not to launch a coup,” citing an unnamed advisor to Queen Sirikit. The US, which again had inside information, raised no opposition.


Just a month later, in December 2008, PAD’s occupation of Bangkok’s two airports helped create conditions of chaos in which the Constitutional Court dissolved the PPP on trumped-up charges of electoral fraud. The military then persuaded the PPP’s coalition partners and a dissident faction to join Abhisit’s Democrats and form a new government.


The cables confirm what was evident at the time: the muted US response to the 2006 coup was guided purely by US economic and strategic interests. The US has longstanding connections to the Thai military going back to the 1960s and 1970s when Washington backed military dictatorships and used the country as a base for US operations during the Vietnam War.


Whether the US condemns or condones a junta is based on political expediency. Over the border in neighbouring Burma, the US had maintained an economic blockade of the military dictatorship and postures as a defender of the democratic rights of the Burmese people. What Washington objects to is not the suppression of basic democratic rights but the close ties between the Burmese junta and China, the main US rival in the region.


The installation of the unelected Abhisit government in Thailand triggered mass protests led by the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). This “Red Shirt” movement threatened to unleash a broader social movement, as sections of farmers, small business people and urban workers began to voice their social grievances. Abhisit responded with state repression culminating in a bloody military crackdown on May 19, in which heavily armed troops fired on protesters. At least 91 people were killed in clashes in April and May.


As in September 2006, the US did not condemn the actions of the Abhisit government or the military.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

และแล้วกระทู้สุดท้ายของอาข่าก็โดนแบนจนได้ ลาก่อนเพื่อนๆทนดูบ่ไหว

และแล้วกระทู้สุดท้ายของอาข่าก็โดนแบนจนได้ ลาก่อนเพื่อนๆทนดูบ่ไหว
บอร์ดนี้ควรสิมีแต่ความสงบเรียบร้อยเป็นอันดี น้ำหนึ่งใจเดียวกันทุกผู้
บ่ต้องควรมีไผโต้แย้งกับไผ เพราะมันบ่แม่นอินเตอร์เนท ฟรีดอม
ฟรีดอมคืออีหยัง
คือการที่เฮาทุกผู้เดินตรงไปทางเดียวกัน
หันหน้าไปทางเดียวกัน
โค้งคำนับให้พร้อมๆกัน อันนี้จึงสิเป็นอินเตอร์เนทฟรีดอม

อาข่าคือเพื่อนเฮา เฮาบ่ฮู้จักเขา หากเฮาบ่ไว้วางใจเขา
เฮาก็บ่ไว้วางใจผู้ใด๋ได้คือกัน เพราะเฮาบ่ฮู้จั๊กไผ
คือกัน อ้ายริชาร์ด
เจ้าสิเฮ็ด อินเตอร์เนทฟรีดอมให้ซัคเซสโดยเหยียบลงบนความบาดหมางของผู้อื่นขึ้นไป เจ้าอาจทำได้หากเจ้าให้เกียรติเขา
แต่เจ้าสิเหยียบขึ้นไปแล้วขยี้เขาทิ้งไว้กับความด่างพร้อยโดยไม่เปิดโอกาสให้เขาชี้แ​จงโต้แย้งอีหยังเด็ดขาดเลยนั้น
ทั้งๆที่เขาพยายามโอบอุ้มให้ที่แห่งนี้งามดีนั้น
เจ้าบ่แฟร์
หากเจ้าสิบอกว่าข้อยบ่ฮู้ ข้อยก็สิว่าอิท ดัสเซิ่น แมทเทอร์
แต่ข้อยว่าเจ้าฮู้ดีอีหลีตั้ว อ้ายริชาร์ด
เฮียสุริยาโดนแบนไปนั่นก็กฏหมายอเมริกา อาข่ารับเละผู้เดียว
แฟนนีกะกระทู้เพื่อนๆโดนลบโดนแบนนั่นก็กฏของบอร์ด เพื่อความสงบเรียบร้อยอันดี อาข่ารับเละคือกัน อาข่าบ่ได้ลบจั๊กหน่อย เจ้าก็ฮู้ดี
คนที่ควบคุมความสงบเรียบร้อยอันดีของอินเตอร์เนทฟรีดอมคือเจ้า อ้ายริชาร์ด
เปลี่ยนก๊่โหมดก็ยังสงบคือเก่า แม่นบ่
pragก็ลบ โจรเหนือก็ลบ เป็นอีหยังให้อาข่าเพิ่นเน่าแต่ผู้เดียว โจรเหนือยังกล้าบอกว่าเผ่นละตรู แต่pragบ่พูดบ่ชี้แจงอันหยังจั๊กคำ
แล้วเจ้าอยู่เหนือสรรพสิ่งทั้งเหมิด
ฮ่วย อาข่าโกรธกันกะเพื่อนทั้งเหมิด เจ้ามีแต่คนซูฮก


คนก่อเรื่องไว้เจ้ากลับคอยบังให้โดยปิดปากผู้พยายามตะโกนบอก เจ้าต่างอันหยังกะพวกอำมาตยาหากินกับกฏหมายหมิ่น

ข้อยเป็นเพื่อนเจ้า และข้อยจำเป็นต้องพูด ข้อยบ่พูดก็จะบ่มีไผกล้าเอ่ยปากกับเจ้าแล้ว
เพิ่นพากันซูฮกยกยอเจ้าเหมิด เพราะที่นี่มันบ้านเจ้า

เจ้าจะแบนข้อยอีกคนก็เซิน ข้อยสิออกไปจากที่นี่คือกัน




ไม่ต้องตามมาด่าผมนะครับ สำหรับคนที่ไม่เข้าใจ ผมขอลาก่อนเวปนี้
เจอกันที่อื่นครับ การต่อสู้กับอำมาตยาไม่มีวันเลิกราจนกว่าประชาชนจะชนะเด็ดขาด
ปล..ใครก๊อปกระทู้นี้ได้ ก๊อปเก็บไว้นะครับ