Thailand

CPJ calls on Thailand’s military-appointed legislature to scrap proposed legislation that would allow for mass surveillance of online activities and platforms. The Cyber Security Bill was approved this month by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s Cabinet and is pending in the National Legislative Assembly.

The abuse of powers by politicians and the unjustified use of security-related laws in the aftermath of Thailand’s military coup d’etat in May characterises impunity in the country, leading to the general worsening of freedom of expression over the past year.

The editor of an online news aggregator in Thailand was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on charges of defaming the country’s monarch, according to news reports. CPJ condemns the sentence and calls for an end to the use of the country’s lѐse majesté law to stifle press freedom.

Five Thai university students could be charged with violating martial law after raising their hands to give a three-fingered salute inspired by the movie “The Hunger Games”, a symbol of resistance in Thailand since the coup.

The National Council for Peace and Order is urged to immediately revoke Thailand’s oppressive media laws. The call comes amid continued pressure on the media and journalists since the beginning of the year with the declaration of Martial Law.

Migrant rights and other supporters rallied outside as a Bangkok court dismissed a defamation charge brought against British research Andy Hall by Natural Fruit Company Ltd, a Thai pineapple export factory, over an interview Mr Hall conducted with Al Jazeera.

The Thai government has yet to bring to justice police and military personnel responsible for the deaths of scores of protesters in Tak Bai in southern Thailand in 2004.

While telling the world that they are not dictators, the Thai military authorities are extending their grip into universities and banning discussions about democracy and human rights. In the latest incident, they banned a seminar on democracy, and detained lecturers and students.

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly raised serious concerns regarding the use of arbitrary arrest and secret military detention by the military-led junta.

A Bangkok criminal court’s dismissal of charges against former Thai leaders for their role in the violent crackdown on protesters in May 2010 is a serious setback for accountability efforts in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said.

“Three months under military rule, the junta continues to show contempt for fundamental rights and freedoms,” HRW said. “Criticism is prosecuted, political activity is banned, free speech is censored and subjected to punishment, and several hundred people have been arbitrarily detained.”

Thailand’s military junta first put a chokehold on TV, radio, newspapers and the internet, and now they’re going after the theater arts. Since the military coup, the authorities have clamped down on any speech they find objectionable, including what they deem is critical of the monarchy, says HRW.

A radio station in a Thai border town that provided news and information for Burmese migrants has ceased broadcasting because of a decision by Thailand’s ruling junta to shut down independent community broadcasters.

“Red Shirt” activist Kritsuda Khunasen was secretly detained without charge at an unidentified military camp from 27 May to 24 June 2014. The Thai junta blocked access to a video interview on YouTube and to an English language article about her case.

The Thai military junta is urged to cease forced evictions, arbitrary arrests and detention, and intimidation of residents in six forest villages in Buriram province. In one case, soldiers arrested Sornram Masuntei and detained him for about 10 hours after he requested information from local military commanders about whether certain eviction orders would affect residents who were poor and landless.

CPJ calls for an immediate reversal of the freedom-curbing edict and all other measures that promote self-censorship and have been imposed since the military seized power in Thailand in May.