Human rights in Thailand

The constitution is an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of press, peaceful assembly, association, religion, and movement within the country and abroad.

Constitutional guarantees

:"The Constitution of Thailand was abrogated in September 2006 following a military coup, repealing the fundamental human rights noted below. The military has not stated when a new constitution will be promulgated or whether it will continue to guarantee the human rights of the people of Thailand."

A plethora of fundamental human rights were explicitly recognized in the 1997 People's Constitution. For the first time, the right to human dignity, not only the rights and liberties of an individual, were protected.

Many new rights were introduced in the Constitution. These include the right to free education, the rights of traditional communities, and the right to peacefully protest coups and other extra-constitutional means of acquiring power, the rights of children, the elderly, handicapped people's rights, and equality of the sexes. Freedoms of information, the right to public health and education and consumer rights are also recognized. A total of 40 rights, compared to only nine rights in the Constitution of 1932, were recognized in the 1997 Constitution.Thanet Aphornsuvan, [http://rspas.anu.edu.au/pah/human_rights/papers/2001/Thanet.pdf The Search for Order: Constitutions and Human Rights in Thai Political History] , 2001 Symposium: Constitutions and Human Rights in a Global Age: An Asia Pacific perspective]

Infrigement of human rights

The government is reported generally to respect the rights of its citizens. However, the U.S. Department of State has reported significant problems in several areas.

Rights of the press and right to assembly

In the wake of the 2006 Thailand coup d'état, the right to free speech has been seriously eroded. The military has implemented a ban on political meetings and does not allow for any criticism of them in the media. Political activities of all types were also banned.The Southeast Asian Press Alliance ( [http://www.seapa.wordpress.com SEAPA] ) noted that Thailand's media environment -- prior to the coup considered one of the freest and most vibrant in Asia -- had quickly deteriorated following the military ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra. It noted the closure of around 300 community radio stations in Thai provinces, the intermittent blocking of cable news channels (particularly whenever news on Thaksin and criticism of the coup came up), and the suspension of some Thai websites devoted to discussing the implications of military intervention to Thai democracy. [http://www.seapa.wordpress.com SEAPA] also noted that while there seemed to be no crackdown on journalists, and while foreign and local reporters seemed free to roam, interview, and report on the coup as they saw fit, self-censorship was a certain issue in Thai newsrooms.

Infringement in the South of Thailand

Several problems have been reported in the Southern provinces, relating to the South Thailand insurgency. Some 180 persons are reported to have died there while in custody in 2004. Security forces have sometimes operated in “a climate of impunity,” and have used excessive, lethal force against criminal suspects, and reportedly have committed or been connected to numerous extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings.

Deaths relating to the 2003 war on drugs

The government’s antidrug war in 2003 resulted in more than 2,500 extrajudicial killings of suspected drug traffickers. [ [http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/275/thailandwar.shtml "Thailand War on Drugs Turns Murderous, 600 Killed This Month -- Human Rights Groups Denounce Death Squads, Executions"] . "Drug War Chronicle", Feb. 21, 2003.] [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E7DF1038F93BA35757C0A9659C8B63 "A Wave of Drug Killings Is Linked to Thai Police"] . By Seth Mydans. April 8, 2003. "New York Times". [http://www.akha.org/content/drugwar/drugwarsethmydansnyt.html] ] [Amnesty International report: [http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA39/008/2003 Thailand: Grave developments - Killings and other abuses] ] Human Rights Watch. Detailed report: [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/thailand0704/4.htm#_ftn1 Thailand: Not Enough Graves: IV. Human Rights Abuses and the War on Drugs] ] [Matthew Z Wheeler. "From Marketplace to Battlefield: Counting the Costs of Thailand’s Drug War." [http://www.icwa.org/txtArticles/MZW-6.htm] [http://www.icwa.org/select1.asp?f=MZW-6.pdf] [http://www.akha.org/content/drugwar/drugwarpage1.html] . May 28, 2003. " [http://www.icwa.org/ArticlesMap.asp?r=14 ICWA Letters] ." Institute of Current World Affairs.] [ [http://www.achrweb.org/reports/Thailand/Thailand0105.pdf "Thailand: Not Smiling on Rights"] . July 18, 2005. Asian Centre for Human Rights. See page 24, the section called "Killings in the war against drugs".] "US-Thailand’s 'License To Kill'. 2274 Extra-Judicial Killings In 90 Days". "The Akha Journal of the Golden Triangle." By Matthew McDaniel. Vol. 1. No. 2. October 2003. Relevant section of journal 2: [http://www.akha.org/upload/journal/akhajournal2p6.pdf 2p6.pdf] - Cover and first part of journal 2: [http://www.akha.org/upload/journal/akhajournal2p1.pdf 2p1.pdf] - [http://www.akha.org/upload/journal/ Link list for all parts of the journals] .] [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/07/thaila9014.htm Timeline of Thailand’s “War on Drugs”] . July 7, 2004. Human Rights Watch.] [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/07/international/asia/lett.html?ex=1246939200 "Letter from Asia; She Tilts Against Power, but Don't Call Her Quixotic."] By Jane Perlez. July 7, 2004. "New York Times."] [ [http://gallery.marihemp.com/akha Thailand 2003. Extrajudicial drug-war killings of innocent people] . Photo gallery. Press/media links, and human rights reports.] [http://www.akha.org/upload/humanrights/documents/alrchrcthailand2005.pdf "Institutionalised torture, extrajudicial killings & uneven application of law in Thailand"] . April 2005. See Annex 5 for a "Partial list of persons reported killed during the ‘war on drugs’ (revised)." Asian Legal Resource Centre. From Vol. 04 - No. 02: [http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0402/ "Special Report: Rule of Law vs. Rule of Lords in Thailand"] .] ["Bangkok Post," August 3, 2007. [http://bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=120634 "Kanit to chair extrajudicial killings probe"] .] [http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30057578 "Most of those killed in war on drug not involved in drug"] . November 27, 2007. "The Nation" (an English-language newspaper in Thailand). [http://www.thailandqa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17217] ] [http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/512/thailand_drug_killings_half_not_involved_panel_finds "Southeast Asia: Most Killed in Thailand's 2003 Drug War Not Involved With Drugs, Panel Finds"] . November 30, 2007. "Drug War Chronicle."] [http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10566797 "Thailand's drug wars. Back on the offensive"] . January 24, 2008. "The Economist."] Prison conditions and some provincial immigration detention facilities are characterized as poor. In 2004 more than 1,600 persons died in prison or police custody, 131 as a result of police actions.

"The Nation" (an English-language newspaper in Thailand) reported on November 27, 2007:

"Of 2,500 deaths in the government's war on drugs in 2003, a fact-finding panel has found that more than half was not involved in drug at all. At a brainstorming session, a representative from the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Tuesday disclosed that as many as 1,400 people were killed and labelled as drug suspects despite the fact that they had no link to drugs. ... Senior public prosecutor Kunlapon Ponlawan said it was not difficult to investigate extra-judicial killings carried out by police officers as the trigger-pullers usually confessed."

The January 24, 2008 edition of "The Economist" reported:

"Yet a panel set up last year by the outgoing junta recently concluded the opposite: over half of those killed in 2003 had no links to the drugs trade. The panel blamed the violence on a government “shoot-to-kill” policy based on flawed blacklists. But far from leading to the prosecutions of those involved, its findings have been buried. The outgoing interim prime minister, Surayud Chulanont, took office vowing to right Mr Thaksin's wrongs. Yet this week he said there was insufficient evidence to take legal action over the killings. It is easy to see why the tide has turned. Sunai Phasuk, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, a lobbying group, says that the panel's original report named the politicians who egged on the gunmen. But after the PPP won last month's elections, those names were omitted."

The "New York Times" reported on April 8, 2003:

"Since the death of 9-year-old Chakraphan, there have been frequent reports in the Thai press of summary executions and their innocent victims. There was the 16-month-old girl who was shot dead along with her mother, Raiwan Khwanthongyen. There was the pregnant woman, Daranee Tasanawadee, who was killed in front of her two young sons. There was the 8-year-old boy, Jirasak Unthong, who was the only witness to the killing of his parents as they headed home from a temple fair. There was Suwit Baison, 23, a cameraman for a local television station, who fell to his knees in tears in front of Mr. Thaksin and begged for an investigation into the killing of his parents. His stepfather had once been arrested for smoking marijuana, Mr. Suwit said. When the police offered to drop the charge if he would admit to using methamphetamines, he opted instead to pay the $100 fine for marijuana use. Both parents were shot dead as they returned home from the police station on a motorbike. Mr. Suwit said 10 other people in his neighborhood had also been killed after surrendering to the police."

References

ee also

*Gay rights in Thailand
*Censorship in Thailand
*Constitution of Thailand

External links

* [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/163/ Freedom of expression in Thailand] - IFEX
* [http://thailand.ahrchk.net Asian Human Rights Commission - Thailand homepage]
* [http://ratchasima.net Rule of Lords] Weekly column on human rights & the rule of law in Thailand and Burma
* [http://www.article2.org/pdf/v02n03.pdf Royal Thai Police catalogue or torture and murder]

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