“Human Rights” Racket in Action
Southeast Asia’s Thailand has been racked by political conflict for now over a decade. During the rise and fall of US-backed political proxy Thaksin Shinawatra, there have been numerous protests and counter-protests, two military coups aimed at dislodging the despot and his deep political and paramilitary networks, and episodes of violence involving heavily armed terrorists deployed by Shinawatra in a bid to cling to power.
During each and every episode of violence, Shinawatra – a convicted criminal and accused mass murderer – and his armed proxies, received various levels of support from his Western backers.
First, they received a virtual media blackout across Western news networks. There is one infamous news broadcast by CNN’s Dan Rivers in which he sets out to find Shinawatra’s armed gunmen, known locally as the “men in black” in an attempt to prove stories of their existence was manufactured by the Thai military as a pretext to crackdown on what he repeatedly referred to as unarmed protesters.
At one point during the broadcast, almost comically, he is forced to take cover as a 40mm grenade strikes nearby, launched by the militants he insinuates didn’t exist.
Similar charades have played out elsewhere around the world – particularly in Syria – where Western news services have played a direct role in concealing the existence, nature, and activities of terrorist groups operating on behalf of Western geopolitical objectives.
Second, the West’s extensive network of alleged “human rights” advocacy groups have been engaged in a politically-motivated, biased campaign to portray Shinawatra and his supporters as victims of human rights abuses, and those attempting restore peace and stability to the country as “human rights violators.”
This became particularly transparent during Thailand’s political crisis when between 2013-2014 hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest and call for the departure of Thaksin Shinawatra’s nepotist appointed sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, from office.
Over the course of 6 months, groups like Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International condemned the protesters for obstructing “democracy.” Worse still, regular violence carried out by Shinawatra’s militants against the protests in an attempt to violently crush dissent was categorically ignored by these same “human rights” advocates.
In total, 20 would die, hundreds more would be maimed during what were almost nightly drive-by shootings, grenade attacks, and assassination attempts resulting in one protest leader’s death. To this day, responsibility has never been assigned to the Shinawatras or their political supporters.
Instead, the military-led government which eventually intervened to end the escalating violence and finally oust the Shinawatras from power, has been condemned continuously for reining in the remnants of Shinawatra’s political and paramilitary organizations.
Most recently, Thailand’s Bangkok Post in an article titled, “Amnesty calls for release of student activists,” would report:
Amnesty International has called on authorities to free a group of 20 activists, mostly students, arrested for political gatherings and distributing “inappropriate reading material” to people last week.
The organisation posted a message on its website, demanding authorities release the protesters.
Amnesty International Senior Research Adviser for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Champa Patel, wrote on the website: “These crude tactics represent the latest in series of attempts by Thai military authorities to muzzle dissent,” Ms Patel said.
Amnesty fails to mention that these “20 activists” are members of the so-called “New Democracy Movement,” and are in fact directly connected to the ousted regime of Thaksin Shinawatra.
The agitators had gathered to protest an upcoming referendum for a new national charter aimed at further stripping away the unwarranted wealth, power, and influence Shinawatra still wields in the country. Additionally, the agitators are blatantly violating laws put in place regulating both supporters and opponents of the charter, and regulating campaigning for or against the referendum.
Amnesty International, and other organizations that make up the US and Europe’s vast “human rights” racket, have made statements and protested the government of Thailand almost weekly since the coup in 2014. Up to and including the eve of the coup as violence unfolded, these same groups were silent as Shinawatra crushed dissenters.
This exposes groups like Amnesty International as hypocritical, politically motivated fronts designed to defend US-backed agitators, including criminals and terrorists, while undermining the efforts of legitimate political groups, institutions, and organizations attempting to restore the rule of law, peace and stability in any given nation.
Through Amnesty International’s transparently dishonest politically-motivated meddling, it is undermining, not upholding human rights advocacy – defending those who have done the most to trample human rights, and obstructing those who have worked toward confronting and stopping them.
While many may be aware of this abuse of human rights advocacy amid conflicts in Libya or Syria, Thailand proves that the West conducts similar efforts virtually everywhere across the globe.
Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.