Thai ex-PM Thaksin invited to brief U.S. human right commission

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra poses for a photograph near Lake Victoria in Uganda in this May 1, 2010 picture obtained from his Facebook page with permission and confirmation of his aide in Thailand. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

BANGKOK, Dec. 6 - Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is prepared to travel to the U.S. to testify on human rights and political situation in Thailand, a close aide said on Monday.

Thaksin has been invited by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a U.S. human rights body, to testify before the commission on Dec. 16 in Washington, D.C. at a briefing titled "Thailand: Democracy, Governance and Human Rights".

Thaksin is likely to talk about the military crack-down on anti-government red-shirt protesters in May this year, Thai-language Krungthep Turakij online quoted Noppadol Pattama, a legal advisor to Thaksin, as saying.

Noppadol said this would be a good chance for Thaksin to explain to the U.S. government officials and congressmen on the current political situation in Thailand.

English-language Bangkok Post reported that the invitation, dated Nov. 23 and signed by U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin, the commission's chairman, was sent to Thaksin's address in Washington.

The U.S. commission, also known as the Helsinki Commission, is an independent U.S. government agency charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing security through the promotion of human rights, democracy and military cooperation in 56 countries.

It consists of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defence and Commerce.

In the invitation letter, the commission asked Thaksin to give his "perspective on the human rights situation in Thailand, including freedom of the press and freedom of expression, the Thai government's efforts to calm the insurgency in the South, and how the United States and the international community can help improve the human rights situation and ensure a free and fair election process," according to the Bangkok Post online.

As an Asian partner to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, developments in Thailand, particularly the dispersal in May of political protesters in Bangkok, was of particular interest, the commission said.

Meanwhile, Thani Thongpakdi, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the Thai embassy in Washington has reported the matter to Bangkok and that the Thai ambassador there has also been invited to the same briefing.

Thani said whether Thaksin would be allowed into the U.S. would depend on the decision of Washington.

Thaksin has been in self-imposed exile since he was toppled by a military coup in September 2006.

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