Thailand

Abstract

The military staged a coup on May 22, 2014, establishing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) junta and sending Thailand's human rights situation into free fall. The NCPO has severely repressed the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, detained hundreds mostly without charge, and tried civilians in military courts with no right to appeal.Attempts in November 2013 by then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government to pass a blanket amnesty for all those responsible for political violence and corruption since 2004 sparked mass protests in Bangkok and other provinces. Suthep Thaugsuban, former secretary-general of the Democrat Party, mobilized the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) to occupy major government buildings and business districts in Bangkok for months. PDRC and its allies obstructed the general election in February, occasionally with violence, leading to political impasse. Street battles between PDRC's supporters, pro-government groups, and the police, as well as militia attacks on PDRC's protest sites, resulted in at least 28 dead and more than 800 wounded.On May 20, army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha announced that the Martial Law Act of 1914 would be enforced throughout Thailand to prevent imminent riots arising from what he claimed were increasingly violent political confrontations. On May 22, General Prayuth staged a coup and arrested representatives of opposing political factions attending military-brokered negotiations at the Army Club in Bangkok after the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Bunsongpaisal refused to resign.On August 21, the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly approved General Prayuth as Thailand's 29th prime minister while permitting him to retain his chairmanship of the NCPO.Under a junta-promulgated interim constitution, the NCPO has broad authority to limit or suppress fundamental human rights, and is granted immunity for its actions.