Amnesty urges new govt to lift restrictions on freedom of expression, limit arbitrary powers

By The Nation

 

Photo courtesy of Amnesty International Thailand

 

The next government has been urged to lift undue restrictions on freedom of expression and limit arbitrary executive powers, as the country heads towards a general election on March 24.

 

“The new administration should end the criminalisation of peaceful dissent and other arbitrary limitations on freedom of expression,” Katherine Gerson, Amnesty International’s Thailand campaigner, said in a statement released on Monday.

 

“Over the last 10 years of political instability, the Thai authorities have often invoked national security to silence perceived critics and peaceful political opponents, and that has severely undermined trust in the country’s legal institutions,” she said. 

 

“The next government must respect human rights, even in emergencies. It will need to strengthen legal protections to prevent the serious human-rights violations that have flourished under military rule and in the absence of accountability,” she added.

 

Amnesty International also called for parliamentary candidates, and those elected to the next government, to commit to Amnesty’s “Human Rights Agenda” for Thailand, which outlines nine top human-rights issues that they must prioritise. 

 

These include the rights to freedom from torture and enforced disappearance, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly and association, as well as the right to privacy in the design of cyber-security measures, Gerson said.

 

Other areas covered in the body’s “Human Rights Agenda” include establishing stronger protections for refugees and people seeking asylum, and abolishing the death penalty.

 

“The recent cases of Rahaf Mohammed and Hakeem Ali al-Araibi captivated millions of people around the world. Their ordeals starkly illustrate the risk to refugees of forcible return to places where they face huge danger,” Gerson said. 

 

“The Thai government should act on its past commitments to improve the protection of refugees. With this election, the government should commit to codifying its respect for refugees into law,” she stressed.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30365166

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-04

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“The new administration should end the criminalisation of peaceful dissent and other arbitrary limitations on freedom of expression,” Katherine Gerson, Amnesty International’s Thailand campaigner, said

new government may very well see weakening these as weakening itself

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

These include the rights to freedom from torture and enforced disappearance, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly and association, as well as the right to privacy in the design of cyber-security measures,

Amnesty International appears to have mistaken the chance to vote in Thailand's already rigged election for a total revolution of the political, legal and judicial systems in this country. The above long list of wishes and desires is about as likely to happen as it is to snow for Songkran. It would first require the total disappearance of the army and all the institutions it has developed for its continued involvement in Thai politics. 

"The next government has been urged to lift undue restrictions on freedom of expression.."

How about urge the current government? Could be done with stroke of a pen thanks to Article 44.

I wish them luck. If Britain is anything to go by once the government begins to use these powers it is almost impossible to rein it back.

I vote it gets worse - that way I can get the wife asylum !