Amnesty International Gives Poor Marks To Thailand On Human Rights

[webfact]

Amnesty gives poor marks to Kingdom on human rights

PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK

THE NATION

BANGKOK: - The death penalty, violence in the deep South, refugees, lese majeste law and the Computer Crimes Act were highlighted in the Thailand section of Amnesty International (AI)'s annual report on the State of the World Human Rights, released last week.

The London-based Amnesty said that insurgents in the deep South were increasingly targeting civilians and staging indiscriminate attacks in the area while security forces continued to torture and ill-treat detainees.

"No official or member of the Thai security forces in Thailand's three southernmost provinces was convicted of committing any offences involving human rights violations. This was due in part to Section 17 of the Emergency Decree… The decree provided immunity from prosecution to officials who commit such acts in the course of their duty," the report noted.

On the April-May 2010 bloody crackdown on the red shirts, AI noted that while the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said it had concluded the security forces were responsible for at least 16 deaths, "no one was charged with those or any of the other 76 deaths".

On freedom of expression, AI considered most of those detained, charged and/or sentenced under the lese majeste law and Computer Crimes Act were "prisoners of conscience" and added that freedom of expression continued to be suppressed through the two laws. "Authorities continued to persecute those peacefully expressing their opinion, primarily through the use of lese majeste law and the Computer Crimes Act," the report stated.

On refugees and migrants, AI noted that for the fifth consecutive year, the Thai government did not activate its procedure for screening asylum-seekers, "so nearly half [of the 150,000] camp-based population was unregistered.

"Thai authorities also discouraged aid organisations from providing food and other humanitarian assistance to this population," the report stated. It said that asylum seekers continued to be arrested, detained indefinitely, and deported or repatriated to countries where they were at risk of persecution.

On the death penalty, although 40 death sentences were handed down in 2011, a modest drop from the average of one per week, death row prisoners continued to be shackled in leg irons throughout their detention, despite a 2009 court decision, still under appeal, declaring it illegal, the report said.

-- The Nation 2012-05-29

[ianf]

Smnesty always gives a well-balanced and well-researched appraisal of every country. They use careful language and are a highly respected organisation. This is a good report.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Smnesty always gives a well-balanced and well-researched appraisal of every country. They use careful language and are a highly respected organisation. This is a good report.

Won't stop some from claiming western conspiracy theories, using it to justify closer ties to China.

[LucidLucifer]

I'm a little bit surprised the report even made it into the press here. Does anyone know if the Thai language press have reported it?

[Payboy]

UN is not my father, Amnesty Intl is not my mother.

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed.

[me313]

Amnesty Intl. appears to have given fair reporting on human rights violations in Thailand for many years. http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/thailand

[drdoom6996]

Anyone with a brain surprised by this report?

[Gillespie]

Phew, at least Amnesty didn't say anything about a fake Rolex!

[Cardiff1963]

Amnesty rate all countries with the death penalty as poor, check us rating. How many people on here who slag off Thailand for implementing the death sentence would not like to see it in the country they turned their back on.

[gand]

Human Rights in Kingdom of Thailand

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/thailand

[LucidLucifer]

Amnesty rate all countries with the death penalty as poor, check us rating. How many people on here who slag off Thailand for implementing the death sentence would not like to see it in the country they turned their back on.

I don't slag off Thailand for implementing the death penalty, but I for one would hate to see it reintroduced in the UK.

[belg]

any country where you might be thrown in jail for speaking your opinion about anything is ...

[HUAHIN62]

Every society have limits to what you can say or not. In the US a soldier got dismissed because he said he didn't like Obama on his Facebook page. Many occupy wallstreet protesters were arrested troughout the US and they where only expressing their opinion. It is for every society to decide where to draw the line and it's not for other's to impose their will or view or perception on what's correct on them.

AI does good work but have are judging all countries with the same measure, irrespective of how new or old the democarcy is in the country or if the country is developed or developing. Such factors have an influence on the maturity of society to allow/accept more freedom in the expression of individual/group opinion.

[Yunla]

Amnesty have a somewhat unwieldy definition of abuses imo. More people die from poor driving standards on Thailands roads & from endemic poverty conditions, than die from lethal-injection. Its a bit like AI criticising the quality of the brass-band playing on the Titanic. Theres much bigger ways to abuse human rights than to monitor peoples web usage or execute criminals, institutional neglect of infrastructure-development kills a lot more people & that is a bigger human rights issue.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Yunla

[gand]

Every society have limits to what you can say or not. In the US a soldier got dismissed because he said he didn't like Obama on his Facebook page. Many occupy wallstreet protesters were arrested troughout the US and they where only expressing their opinion. It is for every society to decide where to draw the line and it's not for other's to impose their will or view or perception on what's correct on them.

AI does good work but have are judging all countries with the same measure, irrespective of how new or old the democarcy is in the country or if the country is developed or developing. Such factors have an influence on the maturity of society to allow/accept more freedom in the expression of individual/group opinion.

Soldiers do not have the same rights as private citizens. The wall street protesters were not arrested for expressing an opinion, they were arrested for breaking laws, just as the red shirts were.

[LucidLucifer]

Amnesty have a somewhat unwieldy definition of abuses imo. More people die from poor driving standards on Thailands roads.....

The standard of driving in country has nothing to do with human rights.

[Cardiff1963]

Amnesty rate all countries with the death penalty as poor, check us rating. How many people on here who slag off Thailand for implementing the death sentence would not like to see it in the country they turned their back on.

I don't slag off Thailand for implementing the death penalty, but I for one would hate to see it reintroduced in the UK.

peadophiles, qatada, and murders if proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, execute them, don't waste good money improsoning them so they can be freed to commit again. i don't think i am in a minority here

[ianf]

Amnesty have a somewhat unwieldy definition of abuses imo. More people die from poor driving standards on Thailands roads & from endemic poverty conditions, than die from lethal-injection. Its a bit like AI criticising the quality of the brass-band playing on the Titanic. Theres much bigger ways to abuse human rights than to monitor peoples web usage or execute criminals, institutional neglect of infrastructure-development kills a lot more people & that is a bigger human rights issue.

That is because driving on the road is not within AI's remit. They have worked for many years to counter human rights abuses in an apolitical way. That is why they have to use the same standard for every country - be it a dictatorship or advanced democracy.

However the poster makes an interesting point about deaths on the road. I was always amused by the anti fox hunting campaign in the UK because I used to see far more dead foxes in the verges who had been struck by cars than the hunts would ever kill. Same argument I guess but when I tried to raise this with the anti-fox hunting groups they either ignored me or called me a fascist tory. There you go!

[ianf]

Amnesty rate all countries with the death penalty as poor, check us rating. How many people on here who slag off Thailand for implementing the death sentence would not like to see it in the country they turned their back on.

I don't slag off Thailand for implementing the death penalty, but I for one would hate to see it reintroduced in the UK.

peadophiles, qatada, and murders if proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, execute them, don't waste good money improsoning them so they can be freed to commit again. i don't think i am in a minority here

Its always easy to say that because it only requires an emotional rather than an intellectual response. I knew one person who favoured the death penalty until a relative of his was falsely accused of a serious crime and served many years behind bars. Under another regime he would have been killed. This guy changed his views. I also read today that 6 people in Pakistan have been sentenced to death for dancing at a wedding. The mind boggles, I know, but the accusers probably see that as a more serious crime than those mentioned by the poster. Everybody has their own view of the world and you are entitled to yours. But I could not support you in a 100 years!

[LucidLucifer]

Amnesty rate all countries with the death penalty as poor, check us rating. How many people on here who slag off Thailand for implementing the death sentence would not like to see it in the country they turned their back on.

I don't slag off Thailand for implementing the death penalty, but I for one would hate to see it reintroduced in the UK.

peadophiles, qatada, and murders if proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, execute them, don't waste good money improsoning them so they can be freed to commit again. i don't think i am in a minority here

You're right, there are plenty of other people in this world who couldn't give a toss about decency and human rights.

And before you go off on one preaching about victim's rights etc, etc..... victims do have rights, and in civilised countries that means full recourse to the law and for the perpetrator to be punished within that. Two wrongs do not make a right, and the death penalty is definitely a wrong IMHO.

[apetley]

Amnesty rate all countries with the death penalty as poor, check us rating. How many people on here who slag off Thailand for implementing the death sentence would not like to see it in the country they turned their back on.

I don't slag off Thailand for implementing the death penalty, but I for one would hate to see it reintroduced in the UK.

peadophiles, qatada, and murders if proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, execute them, don't waste good money improsoning them so they can be freed to commit again. i don't think i am in a minority here

The Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six were convicted beyond reasonable doubt and would have no doubt been executed had the death penalty existed in the UK at the time. Thankfully they went on to prove their innocence themselves instead of receiving a postumous pardon.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect App

[swifty5x5]

Phew, at least Amnesty didn't say anything about a fake Rolex!

[Yunla]

Amnesty have a somewhat unwieldy definition of abuses imo. More people die from poor driving standards on Thailands roads.....

The standard of driving in country has nothing to do with human rights.

It is the governments responsibility to install and maintain regulated training schemes for drivers,and for doing the same for traffic police and road-builders. In Thailand successive governments have neglected to do this causing untold numbers of deaths. My point was that "neglect" is also "abuse". Thais have the human right to travel to school and work safely, yet their government denies them this basic human right by not creating safety laws and by with-holding essential monetary fund for infrastructure development. See also water mismanagement & monitoring / control of toxic substances ( excessive spraying in residential areas where kids are playing for example) etc. It is all unregulated because regulation costs money & the Govt. need money for their own crooked schemes - that is human rights abuse.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Yunla

[easybullet3]

Amnesty have a somewhat unwieldy definition of abuses imo. More people die from poor driving standards on Thailands roads & from endemic poverty conditions, than die from lethal-injection. Its a bit like AI criticising the quality of the brass-band playing on the Titanic. Theres much bigger ways to abuse human rights than to monitor peoples web usage or execute criminals, institutional neglect of infrastructure-development kills a lot more people & that is a bigger human rights issue.

i agree that the institutional neglect of infrastructure is VERY BAD (especially as they have money to fix the problems here, but it gets diverted or pocketed elsewhere). this is a MAJOR problem in Thailand.

But, its appalling that people can not voice their opinion in fear of being arrested and jailed etc.

Thailand deserves international embarrassment every time they enforce these inhumane laws.

[gand]

Amnesty have a somewhat unwieldy definition of abuses imo. More people die from poor driving standards on Thailands roads & from endemic poverty conditions, than die from lethal-injection. Its a bit like AI criticising the quality of the brass-band playing on the Titanic. Theres much bigger ways to abuse human rights than to monitor peoples web usage or execute criminals, institutional neglect of infrastructure-development kills a lot more people & that is a bigger human rights issue.

i agree that the institutional neglect of infrastructure is VERY BAD (especially as they have money to fix the problems here, but it gets diverted or pocketed elsewhere). this is a MAJOR problem in Thailand.

But, its appalling that people can not voice their opinion in fear of being arrested and jailed etc.

Thailand deserves international embarrassment every time they enforce these inhumane laws.

Especially when defamation and lese majeste can easily be used as weapons.

[Ferangled]

An off topic post has been removed.

??? Off topic in what conceivable way ??? I would love to hear the logic behind deleting a completely non offensive post, quoting the Amnesty report and demonstrating that every country is reflected fairly negatively by Amnesty. I simply highlighted the point that the report of the US reads far worse than that of Thailand. How is that even remotely off topic?!

[Joeb]

They did leave out a bit from the DSI report, namely the last sentence below:

19 May, 2012 - Nation

DSI Chief Tharit Pengdit said there is solid evidence proving state officials were involved with the deaths of 16 out of 89 persons during the April-May 2010 protest of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the red shirt movement.

The cases have been forwarded to the metropolitan police to conduct further investigation but police also asked more investigation files of six other deaths from the department, Mr Tharit said.

Altogether 22 deaths might have been due to state officials, the DSI chief said, adding several cases are already in court.

Mr Tharit however noted that among 89 deaths, 12 were believed to have been killed by the red shirts, while in another 55 cases the identity of the killers were not yet identified.

[gand]

Thaksin and his hired mercenaries are responsible for all the deaths of 2010. The Thai gov't nor the RTA went to red villages shooting people.

[Moruya]

I think AI should nurture the PTP government.

Thailand is, after all, shortly to become the world hub of amnesties