HR groups urge Thai junta to drop activists' charges
Human rights groups have urged Thailand’s military rulers to drop charges against four men who are standing trial in a military court for expressing opposition to the country's martial law.
The four, including a lawyer and a university student, were arrested last month for holding a campaign to call on military rulers to revoke the martial law imposed last May.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday that Thailand should stop arresting and prosecuting peaceful critics in junta-controlled military courts.
"Every arbitrary arrest shows Thailand descending deeper into dictatorial rule," said the group's Asia director, Brad Adams, in a statement.
Amnesty International also issued a similar statement, expressing concern over the junta’s crackdown on rights.
"It is dismaying that the military authorities are apparently backtracking on pledges that abusive martial law powers would be temporary only — there is no sign that the crackdown on rights is ending," said Rupert Abbott, the London-based human rights group’s research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Center, which offers assistance to people prosecuted by the military junta, also called for the trial of the four men in a non-military court.
"The prosecution against civilians in the military court is not independent and not neutral. It is not necessary and it is clear that it is intended to be used to counteract political activists and human rights lawyers," the group said.
The Thai military took power in May 2014 in a coup against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government.
It imposed nationwide martial law, banning political gatherings of five people or more. It also ordered security-related offenses to be handled by the military courts.
Last November, the army said that Thailand's martial law will remain in place “indefinitely,” adding that the law does not violate anyone’s rights.
The Thai army has been criticized for its harsh repression of anti-coup protests.
AR/GHN/HMV
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