A group of academics from Thammasat and Chulalongkorn universities led by Wipa Daomanee from the October Network has called on the government to revoke the state of emergency and disband the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation.
They also asked the "world community" to join them pressuring the government to avoid the use of violence when dis?persing the reds shirts' rally in at Rajprasong Intersection in central Bangkok.
"Stop violence, stop killing people - we are not terrorists," Wipa said.
She also called for govern?ment to take responsibility for fatalities from the bloody clash between red-shirt protesters and troops at Kok Wua Intersection, which ended with 24 people killed and 863 injured, both soldiers and civil?ians.
She said the government should stop blocking all media, including websites which upload information and video clips, showing the bloody clash on April 10. "Don't cover the facts," she said.
Suda Rangsuphan, of Chulalongkorn University, called for people overseas to join her group lobbying the govern?ment to avoid violence, includ?ing "verbal violence", such as accusing some protesters of being terrorists.
"Join hands together with us to call on the Thai government to stop killing people and to confirm that protesters are not terrorists," she said.
A group from the Student Federation of Thailand per?formed a pantomime on the street in front of Siam Centre shopping mall yesterday that depicted the scene of bloody clash between protesters and troops on April 10. They also called on the government to avoid violence, as they fear there may be more deaths and injuries.
In related news, the US branch of Amnesty International launched an online petition calling for the Thai government to avoid using violence against the red shirts.
Some 586 people had signed the online-petition by last night, which calls for an imme?diate end to the use of "unnec?essary force" against protestors and to ensure all actions by security officials comply with international standards in regard to human rights, law enforcement and the use of force.
