Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday sidestepped questions over whether the US Central Intelligence Agency detained and tortured suspected terrorists at a military camp in Udon Thani.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha answers reporters' questions after a meeting of the National Security Council at Government House on Thursday. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)
After outright denying on Dec 12 reports that Thailand hosted clandestine CIA torture facilities on Thai soil, the prime minister today said Thailand ended its involvement with terror suspects once they were turned over to US authorities.
"Do not pay attention. It was a political affair of the US. I see no use in reporting the matter because Thailand did not do it and was not involved," Gen Prayut said.
The general was responding to questions related to a report that a former CIA employee had admitted to questioning and torturing some al-Qaeda members at the Ramasun military camp in Udon Thani province.
Gen Prayut told reporters that when a suspected terrorist was arrested in Thailand, local authorities turned him over to US officials. From that point, US authorities were responsible for their actions, not Thailand, he said.
A US Senate report released Dec 10 delivered a damning indictment of CIA practices, accusing the spy agency of inflicting pain and suffering on prisoners beyond legal limits - but offered no new information on Thai government involvement in its first waterboarding facility.
The report blanked out all information about the country's role in waterboarding, housing terrorist suspects from around the world - and the exact involvement of the Thaksin Shinawatra government, National Security Agency and Royal Thai Army.
The location of Detention Site Green, the code name of the safe house used by CIA agents to hold and interrogate terrorists in Thailand, was not disclosed in the report.
2007 report
On Dec 10, ACM Monthon Satchukorn, the air force spokesman, said he remembered a report by a foreign news agency around 2007 about the CIA having secret jails to detain and torture suspected terrorists in Thailand.
He said according to the report one of the secret facilities was in an area under the jurisdiction of the air force in Udon Thani province. The report referred to what was a relay station of the Voice of America radio service in Ban Dung district of Udon Thani province.
The media was allowed to examine the VOA station and nothing unusual was found there, ACM Monthon said.
Publication of the report prompted US embassies in some countries to issue identical notices, saying the release of the report "could prompt anti-US protests and violence against US interests, including private US citizens".
Gen Prayut stressed Thursday that security authorities would do their best to ensure peace and tourist safety during the New Year's holiday and anyone who tried to launch a violent incident would face harsh reprisals.