Thailand: Emerging Allegations of Torture
Martial Law in Thailand Martial law was declared on May 20th, 2014, as Thailand’s military junta besieged the nation’s capital and overthrew the Shinawatra regime. The martial law allows the military to take over until peace and order are restored within the nation. The international community, especially the United States, has since been pressuring the junta to lift martial law and restore democracy in Thailand.
On Wednesday, April 1st, King Buhmibol Adulyadej approved the junta’s Prime Minister General Prayuth’s request to lift the martial law. The martial law; however, has been replaced with a controversial new security order granting greater power to the military junta The new addition to the country’s interim constitution, Article 44, gives the military the authority “to curb acts deemed harmful to national peace and stability.” The new order also grants military personnel official powers to issue summons and arrest those who oppose them. Designated military personnel were also granted powers to seize assets, block media, and detain suspects.
Political scholar and coup opponent Pavin Chachavalpongpun told CNN that the junta is “pouring the same wine into a new bottle” and that “Article 44 is a lot worse than the martial law because it gives total power to the NCPO [junta].”2
Emerging Allegations of Torture
Two human rights groups, Amnesty International and the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, say that they have collected evidence of torture of political detainees. “Those detained under martial law have referred to beatings, mock executions, attempted asphyxiation. In this report we've withheld the names of those who've spoken for their own safety. But certainly we can say that there is evidence emerging of torture and ill treatment under the new military government. But it is important to say that there were concerns around torture before the coup,” said Rupert Abbott, the lead writer of the Amnesty International report.
Human Rights Violation Reports from Rights Groups
The UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits arbitrary arrest, torture, and other inhumane treatment. Thailand, being a party, violates international law according to the reports submitted by the rights groups. Amnesty International, a human rights organization based in the UK, and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, a domestic organization have both denounced the junta’s human rights violations in their respective reports.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human rights, four suspects in a grenade attack on the Bangkok criminal court alleged that they were tortured while being held in military custody for six days. The detainees claimed to have been slapped, punched, and kicked in the head, chest, and back by their interrogators. These suspects were not the first to have been detained by the military. According to Human Rights Watch, secret military detention has not been uncommon. Several hundreds of politicians, activists, journalists, and other opposition parties against the junta were mistreated while detained and denied access to their lawyers. Thai Lawyers also submitted a report to Damrongtham center, a government services center which provides a channel for feedback and complaint, calling for an investigation of the “grave breach to the principles of human rights.”
The Junta’s Response
The junta denies all human rights violation accusations and stated that the reports “do not put things into context.” For example, Foreign ministry spokesman Sek stated that “there are no references to the level of violence and other details in the report.” General Prayuth also reaffirmed this statement in his televised speech: “The NCPO would like to ask the international community to understand that we have never committed serious human rights violations. We have no policy to assault, kill, torture, rape, or harm anyone.” The international community remains wary as it continues to put pressure on the junta to return democracy to Thailand.