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| Picture from Reuter |
Source: Web Thai Political Prisoner
March 31, 2015
The Dictator has decided that martial law will end. Good news? Hardly. He’s now going to use a section of his own interim constitution that allows unrestricted power for him as dictator.
With a range of commentators, law lecturers, activist groups (who are mostly inactive) and even the cockeyed National Human Right Commission pointing out that the use of Article 44 of the interim charter means the junta chairman – General Prayuth Chan-ocha – absolute power. The article states that he “shall have the powers to make any order to disrupt or suppress” any act that “undermines public peace and order or national security, the Monarchy, national economics or administration of State affairs, whether that act emerges inside or outside the Kingdom.”
Such powers have seldom been seen in Thailand. Our guess is that General Sarit Thanarat was the last military boss to grant himself such absolute power, and that was in the late 1950s.
Those who support enhance dictatorial powers include the puppet president of the puppet National Legislative Assembly. This dope stated that “”If [Gen. Prayuth] does good things and uses the law within proper boundaries, I believe Section 44 will be beneficial…. From my own personal experience, the junta chairman has never used his powers harshly.”
Trust The Dictator because he’s, well, The Dictator.
Another set of sycophants and dopes at the (anti)Democrat Party sent out a spokesman who was a little worried that the “international community” wouldn’t be hoodwinked by the lifting of martial law to be replaced by even more draconian powers. Yet he managed to support dictatorship: “Gen. Prayuth has to fix the problem at the right place. He has to deal with the chaos inciters, the people who threw a grenade at the Criminal Court, and the Redshirt network.”
We think that the Democrat Party knows very well that these events are largely military concoctions, following a pattern from the 1960s, and in any case, the crackdown on red shirts is continuing apace. As it has always done, the Democrat Party is supportive of royalist generals with authoritarian powers.
Prayuth is well aware that he has power whether martial law or the more dictatorial Article 44: “I have not changed anything. But since you keep asking me every day whether I will change it, I will change it for you. That’s all. And have there been any changes so far? No, there have not. I am not afraid of anyone. Why do I have to be afraid? I do things for the Thai people. You are not a Thai person, so don’t bother me. Who’s Thai here? Raise your hand. [Some reporters raise their hands] Thank you.” In other words, all the complaints about martial law have prompted an even more dictatorial approach
Human rights defenders have explained the situation:
Against the invocation of Section 44 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014)
It was reported on 27 March 2015 that Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha is about to invoke Section 44 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014), to replace the Martial Law Act B.E. 2457 (1914). The undersigned human rights organizations would like to express our concerns as follows:
Numerous calls by various organizations have been made to demand that Martial Law be lifted in order to provide for the protection of human rights and freedom of the people. Insofar, the invocation of the 1914 Martial Law Act has provided sweeping power to military officials to conduct a search, seizure, compulsory requisition, prohibition, and holding a person in custody up to seven days, as per Article 15 bis. It has also made it impossible to have a higher court review the conviction and sentence made by the Military Court. Such aggravating predicament has resulted in the trampling of the rights and freedom of people.
If Martial Law shall be lifted and replaced by Section 44 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014), it will still not solve the above problems that have been raging in the past several months. Instead, it will simply do away with a scant guarantee of rights and freedom since Section 44 provides absolute powers to the Leader of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) over the Legislature, the administration, and the Judiciary. The order, act, or any performance in accordance with that order is deemed to be legal, constitutional, and conclusive. In other words, such an act or order, or any performance in accordance with that order, shall not be held accountable to any agencies, even to the Judiciary. It will likely elicit an abuse of law and it will eventually induce irrecoverable damage to the people while the perpetrators shall enjoy impunity.
The revocation of Martial Law should be aimed at protecting and enhancing the rights and freedom of people. And since existing laws are sufficient for the purpose of maintaining peace and order, there is no need to invoke either Martial Law or Section 44 of the Interim Constitution.
The undersigned human rights organizations urge Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, as Prime Minister and Leader of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), to review an attempt to invoke Section 44, since its use will undermine the principle of the separation of power and the rule of law, and will breach international human rights obligations. It will lead to a lack of checks and balances and encourage arbitrary use of power, blowing away guarantees for rights and freedom. The impact shall be much worse than the use of Martial Law. It by no means serves the call of international community, which has been demanding that Martial Law be lifted.
With respect for the rights and freedom of the people,
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR)
Community Resource Center (CRC)
Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF)
Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA)
Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF)
PRORIGHTS Foundation
Union for Civil Liberty (UCL)
ENLAW Foundation
