just cause u have elections dont mean S*%T Thai democracy a sham

New York (dpa) - For the sake of political expediency, Western democracies increasingly have accepted elections conducted in countries that have no respect for human rights, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
States that claim the mantle of democracy, include Kenya and Pakistan, while others like Bahrain, Jordan, Nigeria, Russia and Thailand have taken on the belief that elections are equal to democracy, the New York-based rights group said in an annual report.
It said Washington, Brussels and European capitals "play along" with the notion that a country can have democracy simply by holding elections.
"It's now easy for autocrats to get away with mounting a sham democracy," said Kenneth Roth, the group's executive director. "That's because too many Western governments insist on elections and leave it at that."
"They don't press governments on the key human rights issues that make democracy function - a free press, peaceful assembly, and a functioning civil society that can really challenge power," Roth said.
The report said grave human rights abuses have fueled humanitarian crises in Somalia and the Ogaden region in Eastern Ethiopia, where millions of people are suffering.
The report documented manipulations of elections. It said Chad, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Uzbekistan committed "outright fraud," while governments controlled the electorial machinery in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Malaysia, Thailand and Zimbabwe.
Belarus, Egypt, Cuba, Iran and Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories blocked or discouraged opposition candidates. Russia and Tunisia were cited for stifling the media, and China and Pakistan undermined the rule of law, the report said.
"Many of these tactics are illegal under domestic and international law, but rarely do outside powers call governments to account for it," the report said. "Established democracies are often unwilling to do so for fear of losing access to resources or commercial opportunities, or because of the perceived requirements of fighting terrorism."
"It seems Washington and European governments will accept even the most dubious election so long as the 'victor' is a strategic or commercial ally," it said.
The report said China has clamped down on the media as it is preparing to hold the Summer Olympics Games in August. Foreign journalists who were given the right to interview Chinese have been harassed, detained or intimidated to prevent them from doing reports on the country's poor human rights records.
It said the construction boom to prepare for the Olympic Games has involved an estimated 1 million construction workers under harsh and unsafe labour conditions

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