Secret Prison and Image of ASEAN

The news about a CIA secret prison in Thailand reported by foreign press has emerged again last week. Many sides speculate that the report, written by The Washington Post, was publicized due to the consensus by ASEAN Foreign Ministers to set up a human rights body.

After the ASEAN Foreign Ministers reached the consensus, The Washington Post publicized an exposé of human rights violations in Thailand. The newspaper said the CIA had a secret prison in Thailand for interrogating suspects by torturing them.

According to the exposé, published on 19 July 2009, the newspaper reported that the US Senate Intelligence Committee was inspecting whether the CIA set up the secret prison in Thailand in 2002 to detain Al-Qaeda terrorist suspects after the 9/11 attack. The newspaper claimed the suspects had been interrogated with violent methods.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya strongly opposed The Washington Post’s article, saying that there was no such prison in Thailand. The PM said he had discussed with security units about the matter while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pledged to investigate the origin of the secret prison news story. If the ministry can prove that the newspaper’s report was groundless, it is possible that the rumors of the CIA secret prison in Thailand were spread by ill-intentioned people to tarnish the country’s image. There is also a possibility that the rumors were aimed at discrediting ASEAN and Thailand in terms of human rights.

Thailand, as the incumbent Chair of ASEAN, needs to show its potential to lead ASEAN by clarifying the issue of secret prison to the international community and showing evidence to support its argument. It is also necessary for Thailand to show the international community that the nation strictly abides by the UN’s Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and other international human rights treaties.