While
the streets of Bangkok look mostly normal, the Thai junta’s crackdown has cut
deeply into personal freedoms via directives that directly affect core human
rights, according to a detailed analysis by Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, a
group of attorneys and social activists that have been providing legal aid to
those caught in the junta’s dragnet.
According
to the analysis, the National Council for Peace and Order – the organization
created by the army to run the government – some 70 such directives have been
issued, ranging from imposing martial law to banning gatherings of more than
five people to ordering individuals to report to the authorities, to tightly
circumscribing what can and can’t be printed or broadcast in the media.
Military courts have been given jurisdiction to try offenders.
“According
to our information…the NCPO has called in publicly at least 454 individuals,
and at least 57 have been informally summoned in the provinces,” according to
the report, released on June 25. “At least 178 individuals have been arrested
including 113 whose names have not been announced prior to their arrest, 55
apprehended during public demonstrations and 10 arrested for failing to report
themselves as requested.
Those
who have been summoned “include a variety of people such as politicians, core
leaders of the protests, business persons, academics, social activists and
others. Upon their self-reporting, they were instantly denied the chance to
contact other people. Some found themselves being blindfolded or hooded with
plastic bags to prevent them from knowing where they were taken to. Other steps
were taken to confuse them as to their location before they were delivered to
military guesthouses. There is no evidence that they were mistreated.”
But on
the street, according to the report, the authorities are showing little
lenience. People who flash three fingers – a sign of disrespect to the military
– have been detained as have those either posting pictures on Facebook or
holding up signs opposing the coup. One YouTube entry that went viral showed a
young woman being shoved into a car and driven away after she flashed the sign.
“Apprehension
has evolved over time,” the report notes. “Initially, those coming out against
the coup were subject to apprehension right on the spot where they were
demonstrating. Later, the authorities simply took their photos while
demonstrating and raided and arrested them afterward. Some were apprehended
while leaving for home from protest sites or while they were doing their daily
chores.”
Some
have been sent directly to jail cells without being informed of the charges.
Others have been detained for failing to act on orders of the junta, the report
continued. Some have been jailed merely over the way they behaved or expressed
themselves in custody. Some have been threatened with solitary confinement.
They have been deprived of their right to legal counsel. They have to been
allowed to contact their relatives and held in incommunicado and barred from
either reading newspapers or watching TV. Their attorneys had to approach the
officials to ask for leniency or to get them to contact their families.
Although
relatives were allowed to bring medicine to the detainees, the detainees have
not been allowed to see doctors. If their ailments became serious, then they
would be transferred to hospital.
If no
charges were pressed against the detainees, they would be released at the
police stations within three, five or seven days after being arrested. Upon
their discharge, the detainees had to sign a contract agreeing to the terms set
out by the military including by refraining from any political activism or
expressing any political opinions.
In some
cases the military simply raided homes and took away individuals without any
warrant to search their homes. The searches might lead to prosecution. As a
result, people feel concerned about the exercise of power by the military,
which seems to exceed what is provided for by law.
“Since
the imposition of Martial Law, control and censorship have been placed upon the
broadcasting of free TV and satellite TV and community radio,” the report
continues. “Access to a number of websites, inside and outside the country, has
been blocked. Some publications have been removed from bookshops. And
self-censorship has been employed by broadcast media, the press, online media
and even bookshops. “
Amidst
the large scale social transformation and the initiation and implementation of
a number of public policies which may affect the life of normal people, press
freedom to disseminate information and opinions from all sides is of utmost
importance to ensure that people are informed of the benefits or impacts that
might affect their livelihood.
“Press
freedom is pivotally important in a democracy as media are supposed to monitor
the operation of the state and to report truthful information to public,” the
report notes. “Banning or censoring broadcasting of TV and radio, by
prohibiting TV programs from hosting academics to share their opinions, and by
removing academic publications selling as well as by blocking access to
websites and controlling social media, has led to a huge compromise for the
public to receive information. As a result, decisions cannot be made based on
informed consent, the organization said, asking that all notifications to
censor and control media be revoked.
The
organization recommended the revocation of martial Law and rescind any
Notifications issued invoking Martial Law countrywide since the necessities
that require the invocation of Martial Law no longer exist and replace it with
normal justice process as well as revocation of measures to censor and control
media, that detentions invoking martial law cease, along with the prosecution
of peaceful demonstrators who have expressed themselves or made criticisms
faithfully and revoke any order to ban public assembly.
It also
requested that the military stop summonses and impose no preconditions upon
discharge of prisoners. Clear guidelines on arrest and detention should be
issued in compliance with human rights principles. For example, the legal group
said, those arrested and held in custody should be informed of the reasons for
the arrest, the whereabouts of the detention, be able to contact their
relatives and have their visits since as early as when they are first
apprehended and deprived of their liberty, etc.
It
asked that trials of civilian in military courts be stopped, that those accused
of violating the Notifications or Directives by the National Council for Peace
and Order (NCPO) and prosecuted be treated as political prisoners and shall be
held in custody separate from other offenders.
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