(Hong Kong, May 4, 2007) The 2006 country report on Thailand released by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) was on Friday released online in Thai.
The 33-page report, “The return of the army and the maintenance of impunity”, reveals the deep setbacks to institutions for the rule of law and human rights in Thailand in the immediate aftermath of the September 19 coup.
“We are very pleased to be able to make the Thai version of this important document available online and hope that it will contribute to further debate on the disastrous hijacking of Thailand by its military,” Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based regional rights group, said.
The report examines systemic gross human rights abuses in Thailand against the backdrop of the army’s return to power.
It discusses the building of a “fictional constitutional order” by the new regime and “re-securing of power for the military elite while trying to give the opposite impression”.
“All of the observations made by the AHRC since the day after the coup which are contained in this report have been clearly vindicated,” Fernando said.
“The question now is whether or not persons in Thailand concerned with human rights and justice are prepared to acknowledge the danger that they are in, and work consciously and systematically to do something about it,” he said.
“We hope that the release of this report in Thai will give them further impetus,” Fernando added.
In addition to sections on the military coup and constitutionalism, the report discusses enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings, policing, criminal procedure and witness protection in Thailand.
The Thai version of the report is available online at:
http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2006/Thailand2006-Thai.pdf
The English version is available at:
http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2006/Thailand2006.pdf.
