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Published on July 24, 2007

"The protest at General Prem's residence was unreasonable. He is a figure who has greatly contributed to the country. He deserved more respect and should not have been insulted that way. The way the protesters threw things into his house was inappropriate and violated his human rights," he said.

Pradit criticised Jaran for inciting the protesters to use violence. "He is a human-rights commissioner but he never stopped them; he supported their use of force," he said.

He said Jaran should quit and take up politics. "The Human Rights Commission Act of 1999 clearly stipulates that members must be neutral. But he [Jaran] said he would rather support Thaksin than the military," Pradit said.

Pradit said although there is no House or Senate currently sitting, the National Legislative Assembly could remove Jaran because he has lost the qualification to serve as a member of the national human-rights body.

Pradit said that if Jaran, as a human-rights commissioner, had to protest against the military for staging a coup, he could have done so in a non-violent manner without worsening the political turmoil.

Jaran yesterday said members of the National Human Rights Commission who agreed with the coup and supported the dictatorial regime should consider quitting the agency.

"Because the coup has destroyed basic human rights, there is no neutral role between democracy and dictatorship," he said.