[APWSLMembers 391] Fwd: Thailand: Coup Leaders Must Restore Fundamental Rights

[parat nanakorn]

Dear friends
 This  is Thailand situation now

parat
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Prakash Gnyawali <democraticnepal at gmail.com>
Date: Oct 4, 2006 4:55 PM
Subject: Fwd: Thailand: Coup Leaders Must Restore Fundamental Rights
To: siewhwa at rocketmail.com, lek at thailabour.org, yimprasert at yahoo.com,
adtu06 at yahoo.com, icemthai at yahoo.com, tdhjkt at yahoo.com, nanakornp at gmail.com,
aoiusawadee at gmail.com, x.irene at tm.net.my, cwwd at gefont.org, dfa at gefont.org,
anwa at anwa.org.np, Rajan Bhattarai <rajanbha at gmail.com>,
umesh at jboard.wlink.com.np
Cc: democraticnepal at gmail.com


Dear All,

Please, below is a statement by the Human Rights Watch on Thai situation.

In Solidarity,
Prakash


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Human Rights Watch <hrw-news-asia at topica.email-publisher.com>
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2006 17:45:10 -0700
Subject: Thailand: Coup Leaders Must Restore Fundamental Rights
Thailand: Coup Leaders Must Restore Fundamental Rights
Rescind Martial Law, Hand Power Back to Civilian Government

(New York, October 2, 2006) – The newly appointed interim prime
minister of Thailand must immediately restore fundamental rights as the
first step toward a return to democracy, Human Rights Watch said today.
General Surayud Chulanont was sworn in yesterday as the country's 24th prime
minister after a group of military and police officers staged a coup against
the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra on September 19.

The coup plotters, now called the Council for National Security (CNS),
established an interim government that is scheduled to step in about a week
from now. However, until then, the military authority remains in full power
and will continue to hold final authority until a new constitution is
drafted and national elections are held late next year.

"To keep its promises for a quick restoration of democracy, the junta must
first remove the nationwide enforcement of martial law and lift all
restrictions on fundamental rights," said Brad Adams, Asia director of
Human Rights Watch. "Genuine reform is impossible when authorities
still have sweeping power to ban political gatherings, censor the media and
detain people for up to seven days without charge."

Martial law was announced on September 19 immediately after the coup. After
dissolving the Parliament, Senate and the Constitutional Court, the coup
leaders announced that political gatherings of more than five people would
be banned, with violators subject to six months imprisonment. Existing
political parties and local administrative organizations were ordered not to
hold any political activities or assemblies.

Media censorship remains in place, with the junta directing the media to
"cover news truthfully and constructively in order to promote unity and
reconciliation in the country." Soldiers were placed in newsrooms at TV and
radio stations until October 1.

Because he was an ally of Thaksin, Mingkwan Saengsuwan, Director-
General of the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand (MCOT) and TV
Channel 9, was briefly detained and pressured to quit his position. The coup
makers also ordered the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology
to control or block the distribution of
information through the internet that is critical of the coup maker's
actions. More than 300 community radio stations in Thailand's northern
provinces, Thaksin's political stronghold, were closed down, and at least 10
anti-coup websites have been taken off the internet.

"At this point, the questions regarding the human rights situation in
Thailand should be addressed to the military authority," Adams said. "The
military authority still has influence over the interim government and is
capable of interfering in every important decision."

On October 1, the CNS announced a new interim constitution. Unlike the
previous constitution, which contained a wide range of human rights
provisions and protections, the interim constitution only vaguely addresses
the protection of human rights by stating that "the human dignity, right,
liberty and equality of Thai people, which have been protected in accordance
with Thailand's tradition in the democratic government with the king as head
of state, shall be protected by this constitution."

"The coup makers made a big error in revoking the previous constitution,
which was more than adequate to protect basic rights and establish a
functioning democracy," said Adams. "The problem in Thailand has not been
the basic law, it has been the inability of key institutions like the
National Election Commission, the Counter-corruption Commission, and the
National Human Rights Commission to function independently and check the
misuse of power by the government and other vested interests, including the
military."

Human Rights Watch expressed concern that the interim constitution does
nothing to address institutional weaknesses in Thailand's governance
structures. Instead of strengthening the independence of key institutions,
it allows the CNS to retain control over the government and all of its
agencies. CNS Chairman General Sonthi now has the power to appoint and
remove the interim prime minister.

In addition, the CNS also holds the power to:

*       Appoint a 250-member National Assembly, which will serve as an
interim parliament, as well as its chairperson and deputy;
*       Appoint a 2,000-member National Confederation, which will
nominate candidates to sit in the Constitutional Drafting Council;
*       Select a 100-member Constitutional Drafting Council from a
shortlist of 200 candidates to be proposed by the National
Confederation;
*       Select 10 eminent persons to join a 35-member Constitutional
Drafting Committee, which will prepare and submit the draft
constitution to the Constitutional Drafting Council;
*       Consider and give recommendations on the draft constitution;
*       Together with the Cabinet, reinstate one of the previous
constitutions if the Constitutional Drafting Council fails to finish
the draft within 180 days after its first meeting, or if the draft
constitution is turned down by a national referendum;
*       Call special meetings with the prime minister and the cabinet
anytime and on any matter.

Unlike the previous constitution, the interim constitution does not require
the interim government and CNS to be accountable for misconduct. The
previous constitution stated in Chapter 11: "During a meeting of the
National Assembly, any member of the National Assembly has the right to
submit a motion to request the Council of Ministers to give statements of
fact or explain important problems in connection with the administration of
the state affairs."

"The interim constitution has significantly weakened human rights
guarantees that existed under the 1997 Constitution," said Adams. "Until a
civilian government is in charge, there is every reason to be concerned
about the potential for abuse of basic rights by the military authorities."

General Surayud, a retired Army chief, stated that the two key issues
facing him are the resolution of political conflict at the national level
and dealing with the unrest in the southern border provinces.

Human Rights Watch said that the interim government and the military
authority need to quickly address the weakness of existing human rights
mechanisms in Thailand. Although the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
has not been abolished by the coup, this important institution has been
belittled and sidelined by former Prime Minister Thaksin.

One key reform for General Surayud should include providing stronger
political support for the NHRC by giving priority to the implementation of
its recommendations, demonstrating respect for its findings and supporting
increases in its resources. Similarly, there should be concrete measures to
ensure a more stable and friendly environment for human rights defenders.
The first step should be to hold consultations with human rights defenders
and human rights organizations to better understand their concerns.

General Surayud said in his inaugural speech that he accepted his
appointment to help reconcile Thailand. "The country's political problems
and the situation in the south are both important issues which require
reconciliation and understanding to be resolved," said the interim prime
minister. "These problems are primarily caused by injustice in the society."


"General Surayud was right to say that problems in Thailand have their roots
in injustice," said Adams. "But it remains to be seen how soon and how
serious he can work to ensure that state-sanctioned abuses and the culture
of impunity will be put to an end, in the south and elsewhere."

For more of Human Rights Watch's work on Thailand, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=thaila

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