<p id="E15" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E15"><span id="E16" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E16">The adulation of Lee Kwan Yew</span><span id="E17" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E17"> on his demise is expected. Throughout his rule he had</span><span id="E18" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E18"> the support of a completely inhibited</span><span id="E19" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E19"> press.</span></p>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The rape and murder of a child on a night train is an abominable crime and the most severe punishment available must be passed on the perpetrator. However, the angry demands for the death penalty must give pause. &nbsp;There are calls for mandatory sentencing. But mandatory sentencing is not an available punishment. “Mandatory” death penalty is a denial of humanity. </div>

<p>In response to <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1467">Awzar Thi's criticism</a> of human rights advocates in Thailand, Danthong Breen, chairman of the Union for Civil Liberty, a leading human rights organization based in Bangkok, has sent an email to a group of activists. &nbsp;Prachatai sees this as a valuable contribution to the debate on the roles of human rights activists in Thailand, and has translated and published his email on <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/journal/2009/11/26469">Prachatai (Thai version)</a> with the kind permission of Mr Breen. &nbsp;Here is his email and a response from Thongchai Winichakul, Thai academic at the University of Wisconsin in the US.</p>