BANGKOK
Amnesty International released Thursday a scathing report on the human rights situation in Thailand following the May 22 coup, emphasizing what it called “hundreds of arbitrary detentions, reports of torture and ill-treatment” and “sweeping restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
The Thai junta has acknowledged the report, which it received before its public release, and underlined that it was partly “one-sided.”
“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 Richard Bennett, Amnesty International Asia-Pacific director, in a press statement accompanying the 54-page report titled “Attitude adjustment – 100 days under martial law.”
The report denounced the “systematic arbitrary arrests and detentions” of hundreds of people, many of them allies of the former government, in order to “adjust their attitude” - the junta’s euphemism for the stifling of any opposition to the coup.
These people, mostly political activists and academics, were summoned to report to the junta after the coup.
Amnesty International’s report recognized that most detainees were held for only up to seven days, the maximum authorized by the martial law declared two days before the coup.
“But they were detained without charge or trial, denied access to lawyers and sometimes held incommunicado,” said the report, adding that all detainees had to sign written promises not to engage in “political activity” as a pre-condition of their release - leaving threat of prosecution hanging over them.
Furthermore, the rights group deplored that several persons - including historian Pavin Chachavalpongpun and the leader of the former governing party, Charupong Ruangsuwan - are currently facing prosecution for disobeying the military’s order to report, and have had their passports revoked.
Similar to a report released earlier this week by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Association, which mentioned 14 cases of “physical or mental torture,” Amnesty International’s document detailed allegations of torture by several detainees - focusing particularly on the case of 27-year-old female political activist Kritsuda Khunasen, who affirmed that she had been beaten and had a plastic bag placed over her head as if for asphyxiation.
Kritsuda, who was detained incommunicado for three weeks, fled Thailand after her release.
“Allegations that these crimes have taken place must be promptly, impartially, independently and thoroughly investigated, with those suspected of criminal responsibility prosecuted,” Bennett said in his statement.
The junta, whose remarks are reproduced at the end of Amnesty’s report, replied that the accusation related to Kritsuda’s case is “one-sided,” as “the serious charge related to her involvement in violent incidents was not indicated.”
“An internal investigation has also been conducted by the National Council for Peace and Order [the junta’s official name] on the case. So far, they found no evidence of alleged torture,” the junta is quoted as saying.
Underlining that the report “failed to reflect the sentiment of the majority of Thai people who now feel much safer with the restoration of peace and order,” the junta referred to two recent polls whose results “suggested that 87.68 percent of the respondents continue their lives as normal without being disturbed by the existence of the martial law.”
It added that Amnesty does not mention progress in relaxing some restrictions, such as authorization for some cable channels and radio station to broadcast again.
In a recent televised speech, junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who was elected prime minister August 21 by a 200-member National Legislative Assembly handpicked by the junta and dominated by military officers, assessed the limits on freedoms as “trivial”.
Chan-ocha appointed last month a 32-member government composed of active and retired military officers and conservative bureaucrats. Except for the finance ministry, all key portfolios are controlled by the military -- including the foreign affairs, education and justice ministries.
The junta has promised "fully democratic elections" in October 2015 after the endorsement of a permanent constitution, which will not be submitted to a popular referendum.
Thailand's political crisis began in November when then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra faced a wave of opposition protests after her government pushed through an amnesty that would have lifted the 2008 corruption conviction against her brother Thaksin, a divisive figure and ex-premier deposed in a 2006 coup.
Confronted by massive demonstrations, the government withdrew the bill, but the opposition alleged corruption by the government and Shinawatra family.
Yingluck dissolved the parliament December 9 and called February 2 elections, which were disrupted by the People Democratic Reform Committee, who want an unelected "people's council" to run Thailand until the political system is reformed.
She was then herself removed by the Constitutional Court on May 7 in relation to the transfer of a high-ranking civil servant in 2011. The May 22 coup removed the remaining ministers and dissolved the Senate, the only standing legislative assembly.
www.aa.com.tr/en
