Ahead of Thailand’s general election on 14 May, Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong, Amnesty International’s Thailand Researcher, said: 

*Amnesty has updated this statement from an earlier version as it has not been able to independently verify whether Jack was killed in the attack 

Drawing attention to a number of human rights issues that she engaged with during her first official visit to Thailand, Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

Today marks the second anniversary since ASEAN agreed on the Five Point Consensus in response to the military coup in Myanmar. The Myanmar military has ignored calls from the international community to stop the violence. Moreover, since the coup, the Myanmar military has committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. ASEAN leaders must step up and address the situation in Myanmar without further delay. Amnesty International has assessed ASEAN’s five points consensus using concrete evidence as examples where relevant, and highlights its failures.

By Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International

Bangkok, 4 April 2023 – Civil society organizations in their press conference on the “Civil Society’s Agenda for the 2023 Thailand Election” public discussion at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) have proposed recommendations to representatives of political parties and the public  on a variety of human rights issues covering civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, environmental rights, migrant workers, refugees, persons with disabilities, children, women, LGBTQIA+ and human rights and development and the Indigenous groups in Thailand. 

Responding to the pre-trial detention of a 15-year-old girl in Bangkok accused of violating the lèse-majesté law after her participation in a peaceful protest, Amnesty International’s Thailand Researcher Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong said:

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 unleashed numerous war crimes, generated a global energy and food crisis and sought to further disrupt a weak multilateral system. It also laid bare the hypocrisy of Western states that reacted forcefully to the Kremlin’s aggression but condoned or were complicit in grave violations committed elsewhere, Amnesty International said as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world.

Responding to the apartment searches and the interrogation of around 100 Myanmar nationals, including children, in the border town of Mae Sot, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Nang Sein said:

Security forces across the world are routinely misusing rubber and plastic bullets and other law enforcement weapons to violently suppress peaceful protests and cause horrific injuries and deaths, said Amnesty International today, in a new report calling for strict controls on their use and a global treaty to regulate their trade.

Responding to a Tokyo High Court ruling that 87-year-old Hakamada Iwao, whose 45 year-stretch on death row is believed to be the world’s longest, should be granted a retrial, Hideaki Nakagawa, Director of Amnesty International Japan, said: 

สืบเนื่องจากคำตัดสินของศาลสูงโตเกียวว่าฮากามาดะ อิวาโอะ (Hakamada Iwao) วัย 87 ปี ซึ่งได้ตกเป็นนักโทษประหารนานถึง 45 ปี โดยเชื่อว่านานที่สุดในโลก ควรได้รับอนุญาตให้พิจารณาคดีใหม่