Contradictions riddle enquiry into death of Reuters cameraman

Almost a year after Reuters cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto was shot dead during violent demonstrations between anti-government Red Shirts and the Thai armed forces in Bangkok, it seems the authorities are little closer to finding those responsible for his death. The results of an enquiry set up following Muramoto’s fatal shooting on 10 April 2010 in the Thai capital are both unconvincing and contradictory. The work of the enquiry and its conclusions carried out by the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) have been characterized by a series of reversals which have done nothing to establish the facts and those responsible in a clear and definitive way. The DSI initially pointed the finger at the army before clearing it of any involvement on 27 February. The body then changed its mind again. Reporters Without Borders condemns the government for dragging its feet over this affair. The authorities are guilty of allowing a sense of impunity to creep in. The organization also condemns the biased results of the commission of enquiry, which refuses to indicate decisively who fired the fatal shots. The organization calls on the Thai authorities make public as quickly as possible the results of an independent and satisfactory enquiry into the deaths of Muramoto, who was Japanese, and Fabio Polenghi, an Italian photo-journalist who was killed during an assault by the military on the Red Shirts on 19 May. The grave political crisis that shook Thailand in April and May 2010 presented a worrying picture of the security of journalists and of press freedom there. It is clear that during the violent clashes between soldiers and the Red Shirts the two sides were using live rounds. It is the duty of the authorities to shed light on exactly what happened. Shortly after these events, Reporters Without Borders published in July 2010 a report calling for an independent enquiry into crimes against the media.