Thai PM angry at damning report

By Kylie Morris
BBC, Bangkok

Human rights groups have criticised Mr Thaksin's war on drugs

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been angered by warnings that the nation is in danger of becoming an authoritarian state.

A hard-hitting report by the country's Human Rights Commission criticised the government for putting its own interests above those of its people.

But its main condemnation was reserved for Thailand's notorious war on drugs.

Mr Thaksin has hit back at the commission, saying it should not act as a de facto opposition.

The report was the first produced by Thailand's Human Rights Commission, and it certainly pulled no punches.

It said the country was headed towards a culture of authoritarianism, rather than one which respected human rights.

It referred to what the commission regarded as a blurring of the lines between state and private business, suggesting that companies were dabbling in government policy and interfering with the media, while politicians were dabbling in the work of bodies which should be independent.

The war on drugs was particularly singled out.

The notorious campaign, which was run by the police and sanctioned by the Thai government, resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 people last year.

The report said these people were killed without being fairly tried according to the principles of democracy and rule of law.

The prime minister has repeated the government's response that violence between drug gangs led to the high death toll.

He also reiterated that the government did not support the killing of innocent people.

Mr Thaksin suggested that the Human Rights Commission had misunderstood its role, saying that while it was acceptable to raise issues, it should not criticise.

Otherwise, he warned, the criticism would go around the world and damage the country.

Meanwhile, the international group Human Rights Watch has called on the government to prosecute those responsible for what it describes as the illegal, lethal force used by the military in violence in the south of the country in April.

A report by the government into the deaths of 32 men inside a mosque concluded that the level of force used by the authorities was disproportionate to the threat they posed.

It said resolving the stand-off through peaceful means would have been more appropriate.

The army commander who ordered the assault, General Pallop Pinmanee, has resigned from his post, Mr Thaksin said on Thursday.