prcscct wrote:Thailand's latest judicial faux pas
By The Nation
Published on August 15, 2009
By refusing to extradite Victor Bout, the Bangkok court has not just legitimised terrorist groups; it has also violated UN resolutions
On the surface, the court decision earlier this week to deny the extradition of world-famous mercenary Viktor Bout seemed to be a logical one. Bout had done Thailand no harm, the court argued. He might be a bad guy somewhere out there, arming rebels, outlawed groups and political organisations, except these people have never hurt Thailand.
However, upon deeper scrutiny, the ruling was faulty on every count and will end up having huge ramifications on the Thai national interest, especially on issues pertaining to security in the South as well as arms-smuggling and drug-trafficking among other things. Sooner or later, the country may end up having to pay a high price for this verdict.
It is unbelievable that the court could see the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) as anything but criminal. The judges must have been naive to think Farc a political organisation, not a criminal group that kidnaps, kills, bombs and terrorises.
In Latin America, Farc is considered a narco-terrorist group, outlawed by the United Nations and the West. Entertaining this reckless interpretation could imply that in the future a person or organisation, such as the Pattani United Liberation Organisation or Barisan Revolusi Nasional, could get away with openly supporting and arming insurgent groups in Thailand's southern provinces.
Furthermore, the court's decision also completely ignored the fact that Farc is one of the most famous drug-trafficking rings in Latin America and has tight control on parts of Colombia, where its operations are currently based. The Colombian government's full-scale war against Farc seems not to have touched it.
In a similar circumstance, along the Thai border, especially the porous Thai-Burmese border, many drug-trafficking armies, such as the United Wa State Army, have been a menace to Thailand. The ruling suggested, sadly in a rather straightforward manner, that doing business with such groups is also legitimate.
Again, when it comes to the notion of "dual criminality", the court also seems to be rather confused. Dual criminality is underlined in all extradition treaties to ensure that the reasons for extradition are serious, not frivolous, and that it comes under the jurisdiction of the Thai court.
Unfortunately, this court thinks that an act is only a crime if it takes place in Thailand, making irrelevant its jurisdiction over a crime committed elsewhere. Under the restricted nature of this ruling, it has made extradition essentially impossible.
So we are creating a new messy situation for ourselves. At the moment, the government is actively pursuing fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and is trying to set up extradition agreements with other countries. Now that it has more or less legitimised Farc, it seems that the Thai government has no right to seek extradition for any wanted criminals, such as Pin Jakkapark or Rakesh Saxena.
Bout is a dangerous man. Just his nickname, the "Merchant of Death", sends shivers up people's spines and stirs up nightmares everywhere, except perhaps in the Thai courts. He is one of the world's leading arms-smugglers selling weapons to countries under UN embargo.
During his two decades of wheeling and dealing, his customers are believed to have included outlawed governments, armed factions and terrorists in the Philippines, Lebanon, Afghanistan and, especially, in some of the more violent and lawless countries in Africa.
He has been linked to some of the world's most notorious conflicts, allegedly supplying arms to former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Mu'ammar Gadhafi.
Many UN resolutions and travel bans were imposed on him for his role in arming people in areas of conflict. These included UN Security Council Resolution 1343 in 2001 and resolution 1521 in 2003. Other references include the UN Resolutions 1171, 1295, 1306, 1309, 1478, 1521 and 1556.
By freeing Bout, Thailand is actually violating these very UN resolutions, which it had pledged to comply with as a member of UN community.
The United States is seeking Bout's extradition on charges that he conspired to sell millions of dollars' worth of weapons to Farc, including more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, thousands of guns, hi-tech helicopters and planes outfitted with grenade-launchers and missiles. He has been indicted on four terrorism-related charges in a court in New York and could face life in jail.
Prosecutors have already decided to appeal the Bangkok Court's ruling, while the Foreign Ministry has contacted the Office of the Attorney General to help fight it.
We hope that our courts will come to their senses in the near future and ensure that Bout has no chance to sell any more weapons or be responsible for deaths again.
Good Article.
Thai Judges seem to be extremely nationilistic and i have heard that they routinely accept bribes to. I don't think a fair trial could ever be had in a Thai Court.
