13 September 2016•Update: 17 September 2016
By Max Constant
BANGKOK
An international rights group has acknowledged the Thai junta’s decision to stop sending civilians to military courts, but says it is mostly an effort to deflect international criticism prior to a global human rights meeting.
Brad Adams, the Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Tuesday that junta chief-cum-Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha should demonstrate that he is sincere about ending military trials of civilians by dropping "all" pending cases or transferring them to civilian courts.
“No one should be fooled by the Thai junta’s sleight of hand just before the Human Rights Council begins meeting in Geneva,” said Adams, referring to the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council which begins Tuesday in Geneva.
“The decision will spare many Thai civilians the injustice of a military trial, but repressive military rule is still a reality in Thailand,” he added.
On Monday, the junta -- which seized power May 22, 2014 when it overthrew the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra -- decreed that it would stop bringing civilians to military courts for crimes pertaining to national security, but noted "some exceptions".
According to local rights group Ilaw, at least 278 civilians have been tried by military courts since the coup, including 68 charged with the crime of lese-majeste and 60 with the crime of sedition.
In Thailand, military officers with limited legal training are seated as judges in military courts and there is no appeal process.
The order taken Monday, under article 44 of the interim constitution which gives “absolute power” to the junta, does not take into account cases of people charged with national security cases before that day.
It also excludes people charged with weapons possessions, people accused of breaking a law banning political gatherings of five people or more, and people charged by military officers using extra-judicial powers granted to them by a previous junta order.
The rights group underlined that the military “retains the authority to arrest, detain and interrogate civilians without safeguards against abuse or accountability for human right violations”.
In May 2014, a junta decree established a Peace Maintaining Force, giving power to soldiers to arrest and detain any persons perceived by the junta as “insurgents” -- a qualification which has been interpreted widely by the military regime.
