By Danthong Breen |
<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>
By Danthong Breen |
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<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. There are calls for mandatory sentencing. But mandatory sentencing is not an available punishment. “Mandatory” death penalty is a denial of humanity.
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<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. 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. Here is his email and a response from Thongchai Winichakul, Thai academic at the University of Wisconsin in the US.</p>