Human Rights Groups Express Concern Over ‘Deepening Crisis’

 | Thu 11 Sep 2014 21:24 ICT

CityNews – Thailand’s human rights situation has dramatically worsened since the May 22 coup, creating a “climate of fear” across the country, according to reports published this week.

Arbitrary detentions, reports of torture and “disappearances”, restrictions on media freedom and unfair trials in military courts are highlighted in a report released by Amnesty International today.

It comes a day after Human Rights Watch expressed serious concern over the disappearance of red-shirt activist Kittisak Soomsri, 47, who was arrested by soldiers in Bangkok last Friday. His family have not heard from him since, and human rights groups have been unable to ascertain his whereabouts.

“Three months since the coup, a picture emerges from our investigations of widespread and far-reaching human rights violations perpetrated by the military government that are ongoing,” said Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director Richard Bennett.

He called on the junta to “end this disturbing pattern of repression” and respect its international human rights obligations.

The report, titled Attitude Adjustment – 100 Days Under Martial Law, looks at the situation in the country since martial law was imposed by the army, without informing the government, two days before the coup.

Hundreds of people, many of them supporters of the deposed Pheu Thai government, have been arrested and detained by police or the military since then.

Although most were only held for up to seven days, they were detained without charge or trial and sometimes held incommunicado. They were denied access to lawyers and forced to sign waivers promising not to engage in “political activity” as a pre-condition of their release. Family members of those refusing to report have also been threatened.

“The mass arbitrary detentions flagrantly disregard Thailand’s international human rights commitments. This is a clear case of political persecution and an attempt to silence dissent,” said Bennett.

The right to a fair trial is also in jeopardy, with around 60 people facing imminent trials in military courts, with no right of appeal, the report said.

It also details what it says are credible reports of a number of people being tortured, including beatings, asphyxiation and mock executions, sometimes during incommunicado detention.

Bennett called on the junta to ensure that no one is tortured or ill-treated, and to conduct prompt and impartial investigations into these claims.

The report details several incidents that have occurred in Chiang Mai since the coup. These include:

     Soldiers making a fried squid vendor take off his red T-shirt and removing a Pheu Thai sticker from his ice box.

     Soldiers forcing entry into the office of a community radio station and confiscating equipment.

     Military officials instructing staff at Chiang Mai University to monitor and forbid any political activities creating “division” and “disrespect of law”.

Under martial law, which is still in force, there are widespread restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. These have had “a chilling effect on public debate and led to widespread self-censorship”, says Amnesty.

Hundreds of websites have been taken down or blocked, censors actively monitor the media, and people have been threatened with imprisonment for posting anything critical of the military online.

The government plans to step up its surveillance of online traffic from Monday, using an unspecified “surveillance device”, news website Prachathai reported yesterday.

The report said the powerful new device is aimed at cracking down on lese-majeste content and could even monitor communications going through “secured” protocols.

“Clearly the National Council for Peace and Order has rejected the concept of respect for human rights, and continues to employ the rhetoric of national security as a pretext to commit human rights violations,” Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun of Kyoto University’s Centre for Southeast Asian studies told CityNews.

Pavin has been stripped of his Thai passport and is currently seeking asylum in Japan. “It is evident that human rights violations did actually take place under the care of the NCPO,” he said, adding these are not necessarily physical abuses.

Several other recent reports have highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in Thailand. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said on Monday that 571 people have been summoned by the junta and 14 of these were tortured and ill-treated during military detention.

The United Nations Human Rights Office for South East Asia said last week that is “seriously concerned” about increasing restrictions on human rights defenders, after the military forced the cancellation of a planned event at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok.

The Asian Legal Resource Centre has also raised concerns about “the deepening human rights crisis in Thailand”.