Commissioner Wasant Panich yesterday accused the Thaksin government of "doing nothing" about 38 specific killings it had investigated.

The commission found these deaths were of "innocent" people and were likely to have been what have become known as "silence killings".

The commission received 40 complaints stemming from the 2003 war on drugs. Its investigations found 38 involved innocent people with no drug-dealing history, Wasant said.

The NHRC reported its findings to the previous government but they were ignored, Wasant added. It would now seek action by the NLA.

Separately, a prominent human-rights lawyer encouraged the government to ratify the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).

The coalition is a global network of more than 2,000 civil organisations advocating a fair, effective and independent International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC is the first permanent international judicial body capable of trying individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.

Somchai Homlaor said ratification of the CICC would allow Thaksin to be tried for crimes against humanity for the many deaths during his anti-drugs crusade.

Somchai - who is chairman of the human rights committee of the Lawyers Council - said the 2003 war on drugs led to 2,500 extra-judicial deaths.

He added the Tak-Bai incident in the deep South in October 2004 was a crime against humanity, too. At least 85 people died.

The government could have Thaksin tried for these crimes if it became a CICC member. Membership would be retroactive to July 1, 2002, he said.

Once the Thai government became a member, the coalition's 103 other nations could seek Thaksin's indictment in a Thailand court for conspiracy in the murder of others.

"It's clear that Thaksin not only launched the [drugs] war but also reinforced it by the transfer or firing of police officers who failed to comply with this policy that led to many deaths," he said.

He encouraged the government to codify crimes against humanity and war crimes in Thai law to ensure Thaksin did not escape prosecution.

If the government feared disruption if the former prime minister was tried in this country, it could seek prosecution in the ICC at The Hague.

Conviction of crimes against humanity carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Following the drug-war deaths, police admitted they had killed several dealers in shootouts. The government added at the time that hundreds of other deaths were the result of criminals killing criminals.

Thammasat University law lecturer Surasak Likasitwatanakul said solid evidence of Thaksin's complicity would be required for a successful prosecution.

A case could still be made if there was proof that Thaksin made statements sanctioning killings.

Actions could be brought directly by relatives of the dead or they could ask public prosecutors to investigate and bring charges.