Amnesty International finally speaks out against lese majeste
In September 2009 I noted the failure of Amnesty International to take sufficient action in response to lese majeste cases. At the time I wrote to Amnesty International's London office to ask Amnesty to take action on the case of Darunee Charnchoengsilpakul (aka Da Torpedo) who in 2009 was sentence to 18 years in prison for lese majeste. In my letter I wrote that Amnesty's failure to take action on this issue undermined the core principle which the organisation stood for, the universality of human rights.
Finally Amnesty International has spoken out on the issue with a statement titled "Thailand: Reverse backward slide in freedom of expression" on its website (via Prachathai). The statement says, "Thailand should reverse its recent backward slide in respect for freedom of expression, as illustrated by the sharp increase over the past ten months in cases under the lese majeste law." It also mentions Suwicha Thakhor and Darunee Chanchoengsilapakul who are both currently serving prison sentences for lese majeste.
The statement says that the lese majeste law supersedes the constitution and "goes beyond the permissible restrictions on freedom of expression provided for under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)." Furthermore it also mentions the 2007 Computer-related Crimes Act. It says the Act has been used to block tens of thousands of websites and this is another violation of the ICCPR.
The statement ends by saying that Amnesty supports the Prime Minister's initiative to review the law and encourages the government to amend the law in line with international standards. The government should suspend the use of the law until changes are made and the government should stop censoring websites on the grounds of upholding the lese majeste law.
It is good that Amnesty International has finally spoken out on this issue. Their previous silence seriously undermined their credibility in addressing human rights issues in Thailand. I hope that Amnesty will also launch campaigns for the release of Suwicha Thakhor and Darunee Chanchoengsilapakul.
