Human rights problems abound

It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it. - Aung San Suu Kyi

Andrew Walker of New Mandala has an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on human rights in Thailand. The article focuses on the lese majeste case of Harry Nicolaides and the Thai military's treatment of Rohingya refugees. These are just two of the issues that have been in the news in the past few weeks but there are also more lese majeste cases and Amnesty International's recent report on torture in the Deep South.

Giles Ungpakorn's case is important and will bring even more international attention to the issue of lese majeste. He has shown a brave and principled response to the charges so far. He is very articulate in both English and Thai so he can communicate his arguments to both domestic and international audiences. He is sure to have much support from academics around the world.

Giles writes why we must oppose lese majeste:

The lese majeste law in Thailand represents a gross attack on the freedom of speech, freedom of expression and academic freedom. The practical impact is that we do not have a fully developed democracy or internationally accepted academic standards in our universities.

I think lese majeste must be treated as a human rights and freedom of speech issue. There is no need for diplomatic niceties. You can still speak out about this issue while maintaining respect for the king. I am no longer living in Thailand so that gives me the freedom to write on this blog without fear. And although I don't know exactly what Thai people think about this issue I am sure many of them are talking about it and although they may not express their views publicly, they would be discussing them in private.

I think the most important thing to recognise is that these problems are not a product of the Thaksin regime or the military coup. They are deeply ingrained within Thai institutions and exacerbated by a weak rule of law and a culture that suppresses honest criticism. The military in particular should be singled out for scrutiny. It acts with a culture of impunity. It has never faced justice for the 2006 coup or the Tak Bai massacre. In the recent incident involving Rohingya refugees it merely obfuscated rather than taking concrete action to address the problem.

There is no simple solution to these problems. Effecting institutional and cultural change will take decades. However, in the short term there are two important things that can be done. The first is having more international observers present in Thailand. Their presence will help in clearly documenting the problems and also perhaps moderating the behaviour of those that might abuse human rights.

The second is for foreign governments to be far more frank in their dealings with the Thais. If they are prepared to call a spade a spade in neighbouring Burma, then why not do the same in Thailand? Thai society has a degree of democracy and openness that Burma does not so such statements can have much greater influence. The time to speak out is now for failure to speak out against injustice is to condone it. There is no excuse for silence.

Banned book available for download

Australian writer Harry Nicolaides was sentenced to three years in prison for lese majeste on Monday. The charges relate to the contents of a book titled Verisimilitude written by Harry. Only 50 copies of the 2005 book Verisimilitude were ever printed and seven copies sold. Harry was arrested in August 2008 and held in a Bangkok prison until his trial. There are serious concerns about his health and mental state.

Here is a link (now broken, search on Google and you will find it) where you can download a pdf copy of the book. The text for which Harry was found guilty of lese majeste is on page 115 of the book (p. 65 of the pdf). I am making the book available for download to protest against the ridiculous of the lese majeste law. This law goes against the most basic principles of human rights and freedom of speech. It must be abolished.

I appeal to His Majesty the King to grant a royal pardon to Harry Nicolaides. I appeal to the Thai Government to abolish the lese majeste law. I appeal to the Australian Government to do everything in its power to assist Harry and secure his release from prison as soon as possible.

Update: I have written a post for Global Voices on the blogosphere's reaction to Harry Nicolaides' sentence and also mention the cases of academic Giles Ji Ungphakorn and BBC correspondent Jonathan Head.

Amnesty International and Freedom House reports

Amnesty International released a report on Tuesday saying that the Thai military is engaging in torture and other systematic abuses in Thailand's deep south. The southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla, and Yala have been affected by ongoing violence since 2004 that has claimed over 3,000 lives. Amnesty International writes:

Amnesty International's report focuses on incidents between March 2007 and May 2008. The organization obtained testimonies concerning the treatment in detention of at least 34 people during that time. Thirteen torture survivors were interviewed directly, as were relatives and witnesses to the torture or ill-treatment of the others.

Survivors said that the most common torture techniques they faced were beatings, being kicked or stomped on and having plastic bags placed over their heads until they nearly suffocated.

The report acknowledges abuses by all sides in the conflict. The full report is available in pdf or html formats on Amnesty's website.

Meanwhile, Freedom House released its Freedom in the World 2009 report in Taipei on Tuesday. I have written a report of the press conference on my Taiwan blog. Although my report focuses on Taiwan it also covers some broader human rights issues affecting Asia.

Freedom House rated Thailand as "partly free" in its 2009 report which is based on events during the 2008 calendar year. Thailand scored five for political rights and four for civil liberties on a scale from one to seven with one being the most free. Thailand's score for political rights improved by one point from last year.