No torture allowed in Thailand: govt
By The Nation
Published on July 21, 2009
The Democrat Party yesterday said its government would never allow the torture of terrorist suspects on Thai soil, following a Washington Post report saying in 2002 American authorities had subjected an alleged al-Qaeda man to abuse in Thailand.
"We are investigating the Washington Post report, but can guarantee that this government will never engage in such a violation of human rights," said Democrat spokesman Buranat Samuttarak.
The report provided details about Abu Zubaida being arrested in Pakistan and then flown to Bangkok while top US counter-terrorism officials gathered at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to discuss how they could get the suspect to talk.
US authorities are not legally allowed to torture suspects in their own country.
The Washington Post said the torture methods discussed included putting Zubaida in a cell filled with corpses, surrounding him with naked women or jolting him with electric shocks to the teeth.
It is believed that Zubaida was finally subjected to "waterboarding", under which victims are made to constantly feel like they are drowning.
"Interviews with nearly two dozen current and former US officials also provide new evidence that the imposition of harsh techniques provoked dissension among the officials charged with questioning Abu Zubaida, from the time of his capture through the period when the most gruelling torments were applied," the Washington Post said.
Army chief Anupong Paochinda denied an earlier Washington Post report that there was indeed a "torture chamber" in Thailand that US officials could use to get terrorists to yield key information.
According to the newspaper, rumours had circulated that a secret site for torture tactics in Thailand had been approved "downtown" - agency jargon for the White House. Apart from waterboarding, Zubaida was also subjected to forced nudity, sleep deprivation and temperatures lowered until he turned blue.
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