The junta-backed government’s repeated vows to uphold citizens’ rights were not matched by its own actions last week, when the authorities ordered the cancellation of a panel discussion organised by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
June 9, 2015 1:00 am
WHEN YOU NEED PERMISSION TO EXERCISE IT
The junta-backed government’s repeated vows to uphold citizens’ rights were not matched by its own actions last week, when the authorities ordered the cancellation of a panel discussion organised by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
The group was planning to unveil a report on the rights situation in Thailand a year after the military coup.
Shortly before the meeting was to begin at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, police delivered a letter to club officials, asking for “cooperation” in cancelling an event authorities deemed “risky and politically sensitive”.
Under the watchful eye of plainclothes security officials, TLHR members then distributed the report to journalists who had gathered.
A junta spokesman explained the event had been prohibited because the rights group had failed to inform the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) of its plans.
Had the NCPO been given time to consider the report and check that it was factual and contained nothing that might incite conflict, the event could have gone ahead, the spokesman said. The TLHR was known to have reported false information before and had offered legal support to people involved in cases against the NCPO, he added.
The spokesman’s explanations were unsatisfactory, to say the least, but they did shed light on the junta’s perception of basic rights such as the freedom of expression. The NCPO and its government have repeatedly claimed to respect fundamental democratic rights and to have no problem with those who seek to uphold basic freedoms.
Meanwhile they demand that, before expressing an opinion, citizens must first gain permission from the authorities. But, according to the universal understanding of human rights, a right is not a right if you need permission to exercise it.
Banning talk on rights violations under the military junta only proves that the situation has not improved in the year since the coup, said TLHR member Yaowalak Anuphan.
Last week’s crackdown on free speech wasn’t the first under this junta. The TLHR reports that the authorities have interrupted at least 71 public events since the military takeover on May 22 last year, adding that such suppression will get us no closer to the re-establishment of democracy.
Intervening against public speech is just one method being used by the junta to suppress voices of dissent.
Last month authorities arrested more than 40 students who were seeking to peacefully voice their opposition to junta-backed rule on the first anniversary of the coup, marking the largest crackdown on dissidents since the NCPO seized power. Appeals for the junta to drop the charges against the youths are likely to go unheeded.
The junta’s actions only back the claims made by Yaowalak and the TLHR report. And the fact that its latest gag on free speech was applied at the Foreign Correspondents Club means that the international community is now fully aware of the situation in Thailand. The government can cease its diplomatic efforts to convince the United Nations that it is in compliance with international norms, since it has already broadcast the truth far and wide.