An order by Thailand’s military junta giving sweeping police powers to troops is part of the “steady erosion of human rights protections,” campaigners said yesterday, calling for the law to be rescinded.
Last week, the junta of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha issued an executive order awarding all troops ranked sub-lieutenant or higher the power to detain suspects for up to a week for a raft of different crimes.
The military said the order was necessary to follow through on their vow to crack down on “mafia figures,” adding that there were not enough police officers to do the job, but the move has been criticized by rights groups, who say it is a new judicial power grab by a military government that has clamped down on dissent since seizing power just under two years ago.
In a joint statement released yesterday, six groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists, condemned the move.
“We have observed a steady erosion of human rights protections in Thailand since the military coup of 22 May, 2014, and this order signifies another jarring movement in the same direction,” International Commission of Jurists secretary-general Wilder Tayler said.
The comments were echoed by Human Rights Watch Asia director Brad Adams.
“Instead of paving the way for a return to democratic rule, the Thai junta has broadened its powers to do almost anything it wants, including committing abuses with total impunity,” Adams said.
Prayuth made the order under Section 44, a controversial power he granted himself allowing him to issue any executive order in the name of national security.
Under the terms published in the Royal Gazette last week, troops can detain suspects without arrest warrants as well as seize assets, suspend financial transactions and bar suspects from traveling abroad.
The order also says troops are not covered by laws monitoring police abuses, effectively handing them immunity from prosecution. Analysts say the order is the latest effort by the junta to chisel away at the powers of the police.
Prayuth seized power in May 2014 promising to tackle corruption and end the kingdom’s damaging cycle of street protests, coups and toppled governments, but critics say the move was a power grab by royalist generals jostling for power as the reign of the venerated and aging Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej enters its twilight years.
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