Since the NCPO sized power in 2014, Pheu Thai Party
has been following the violation of human rights with much concern as human
rights keeps being  violated, while those
in power are not concerned and nor are they serious in solving this issue.  The government and the NCPO had announced
that human rights is a national agenda, which contradicts with what is actually
happening.  Therefore, the Party would
like to make the following statement:

1.  The
coup of 2014 was the beginning of the human rights violation.
The NCPO issued announcements and
orders that infringed on human rights, such as, the announcement that
arrests may be made without warrants; that political gatherings are banned;
that political parties may not make official moves; trials of civilians were
conducted at military court; detaining media personnel, politicians and those
who have different opinions were detained at military camps and television
programs were shut down.  There were
violations against freedom of expression in which the law was used to silence
those who continued to criticize the government and the NCPO; citing Section
116 of the criminal code to accuse politicians and the media who have different
opinions of crimes against the national security, which were too severe and
rather exaggerated.The
same fate happened to students and others from “We Walk” and “MBK
39” groups who came out to call for problems to be solved and to call for
the election to take place.  It was
within their right to do so and it was a call against the promises made by the
prime minister, but which were not kept – time and again.

2.  Having
Human Rights as a national agenda has not ended the violation of human
rights.  Rather, it plays up the
conflicting nature of the NCPO and the government.  Thailand’s violation of human rights is
being closely watched by other nations, such as, by the European Union who
had called on the Thai government to put an end to this and to protect the
freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom for political parties to be
able to conduct their activities and for the rights of the Thai people to choose
their own government.  They even set
conditions that there shall be no signing of the  free trade agreements until Thailand has an
elected government.  This has caused the loss of opportunity for the country.  Moreover, several organizations had lowered
Thailand’s ranking on the issue of freedom, such as, Freedom House which gave
us a ranking below that of Myanmar, thereby causing a loss to our reputation.

Although the government had made Human
Rights a national agenda, the Party sees that this is merely to reduce the
international pressures and is an attempt to create a good image for
itself.  The violation of human rights
still exist – since the coup to this day.  Even the prime minister and head of the NCPO
still does not understand the real issue, although he gave a speech on Human
Rights Day, saying that other issues are being tied to human rights without
regard to laws; or not wanting the use of law to become a tool in creating
conflict; or stating that human rights should not be used to brush off
everything.  These statements show his
misunderstanding of the violation of human rights in the country as the law and
the issue on human rights are not the same issue.  For example, the NCPO’s order that bans a
gathering of more than 5 persons – while this is a law – violates the freedom
of political assembly in itself.  It
also goes against the international convention of human rights that Thailand
must follow and it goes against the Constitution of the Kingdom of
Thailand.  Therefore, it is difficult to
make the issue on human rights a national agenda by using it as a vehicle to
help drive the country into achieving the Thailand 4.0 economic model, as
widely publicized.

3.   The Party calls on the NCPO and the government
to immediately put an end to the violation of human rights, by…

3.1.  Annul the announcements and orders that
violate the rights and freedom of the people, such as, the head of the NCPO’s
order no. 3/2558 that bans any political gathering of more than 5 persons;  the NCPO’s announcement that gives  authority to officials to make arrest and
detain without warrants;  the NCPO
announcement that bans political parties from holding political activities, etc.

3.2  Drop
charges against the students and others from “We Walk” and “MBK
39” groups who exercised their freedom of rights under the constitution.

3.3  End
the use of laws that gag the media, politicians and the general public who have
different opinions, make investigations or criticize the working of the NCPO
and the government,  and drop charges
against them.  Create a platform where
they can express themselves freely.

Pheu Thai party calls
on the NCPO and the government to end the violation of human rights;  to stop threatening those who have different
opinions;  to adjust your attitudes and
to be aware of the importance  of
protecting human rights so that it is put into practice and not become  empty words.  The Party sees that the unity,
reconciliation, peace and happiness of the people can never happen if the
rights and freedom of the people are not truly guaranteed.

Pheu
Thai Party
February 14, 2018