Global figures

The unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic were not enough to deter 18 countries from carrying out executions in 2020, Amnesty International said today in its annual global review of the death penalty. While there was an overall trend of decline, some countries pursued or even increased the number of executions carried out, indicating a chilling disregard for human life at a time when the world’s attention focused on protecting people from a deadly virus.

Victories in our rights to health and social protection

The global pandemic has exposed the terrible legacy of deliberately divisive and destructive policies that have perpetuated inequality, discrimination and oppression and paved the way for the devastation wrought by COVID-19, Amnesty International said in its annual report published today.

Responding to yesterday’s dispersal of peaceful protest in front of the Government House and the police’s arbitrary arrest of at least 99 peaceful protesters – including six children, two monks, and the elderly – for allegedly violating the ban on gathering during the state of emergency, Director of Amnesty International Thailand, Piyanut Kotsan said: 

Amnesty International announced today the appointment of Dr. Agnès Callamard, a leading international human rights expert, as its new Secretary General, effective immediately. 

27 March 2021, the working group on “Child in Mob” has a press conference to officially launch the recruitment of volunteers to work in protesting sites to create a safe space for children under 18 years who have been exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly since November 2020. All members of the public are invited to participate in this project as volunteers and to donate to promote the protection and enhancement of rights and freedoms of children and youth. 

Responding to the recent arrest and charge of 7 children during the REDEM protest on 20 March 2021 where the crown control police deployed astonishing excessive and unreasonable use of force to arrest and harm children, journalists and other protesters, Amnesty International Thailand’s Director Piyanut Kotsan said:

12 March 201 at 10.30am, Angkhana Neelapaijit and the family of Lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit and relatives of victims of enforced disappearance in Thailand as well as 20 activists from Amnesty International Thailand  have gathered in front of the Department of Special Investigation  (DSI) on Chaeng Wattana Road, Bangkok, to demand to know progress of his case and to commemorate the 17th anniversary of Lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit’s disappearance. They wore masks mimicking the face of Lawyer Somchai to show that despite 17 years past, they have not forgotten him. As part of the campaign, a caravan of 17 Tuk Tuks was launched and driven all over Bangkok and adjacent area, each attached with a sign featuring detail of the disappeared Lawyer.   

The Myanmar military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.

International Women’s Day should be a time of celebration. It might feel like there’s not much to be positive about right now, especially when we consider the harm the pandemic has caused to women, girls and LGBTI people around the world.

Human Rights Media Awards 2020 Ceremonyby Amnesty International Thailand is a great opportunity to applause the work of media and journalists who bravely vocalize the situation of human rights in Thailand through different channels. Their determinations to broadcast human rights stories are the persistent to stand for freedom of expression and freedom of press. The winners will receive Amnesty Human Rights Media Awards, these art works by Artist mimininiii