Bangkok - A Senate probe into last month's crackdown on anti-government protestors that left two people dead, concluded Tuesday that the cabinet and police had violated the demonstrators' human rights.

Somchai Sawannkarn, who chaired a senate commission set up to investigate the October 7 incident in which two protestors died and more than 400 were injured, concluded the government crackdown "must be considered a human rights violation which abused the rights and liberty of the public," said the Thai New Agency (TNA).

On October 7, in an effort to disperse thousands of followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that had surrounded Parliament, police shot tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets at the crowd, causing numerous injuries and leading to a violent melee that left two dead and hundreds wounded.

Somchai said the government and police must take responsibility for the results of the street violence as the police skipped several appropriate procedures in crowd control.

The Senate probe determined that the police action was not in accord with the international declaration on human rights and was excessive, said Senator Somchai.

The PAD is a loose coalition of groups fanatically opposed to the return to power of Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's populist premier between 2001 to 2006 who was ousted by a coup on September 19, 2006.

Although banned from politics for five years, Thaksin continues to control Thai politics via the People Power Party which won the last election on a pro-Thaksin platform.

Current Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is Thaksin's brother-in-law.

Thailand's Supreme Court for Political Office Holders on October 21 sentenced Thaksin to two years in jail for abusing his powers as premier in 2003 by allowing his billionaire wife to successfully bid on a prime plot of Bangkok land at a government auction.

Thaksin and his wife Pojaman were living in self-exile in London between August to October, but the British government last week revoked their visas, setting them adrift in Asia.

Thaksin reportedly wants to settle in China where he is building a mansion on the outskirts of Beijing. (dpa)