I have been detained and banned from travelling abroad for challenging militarisation. Those who refuse to kowtow to Thailand’s junta are paying the price

When it comes to crackdowns on “influential people,” there are several reasons to worry. The first is that the people doing the crackdowns are usually acting in the service of “villains” at the top of the military and police.

Arrest warrants against Sirawit Seritiwat, Chonthicha Jaeung-Rew, Chanoknan Ruamsap, Korakot Saengyenpan and Abhisit Sapnaphapan were issued on 13 January 2016 by the Bangkok Military Court. The human rights defenders were accused of having held a political gathering of more than five persons on 7 December 2015, without official authorization. The five human rights defenders were arrested on 20 and 21 January 2016, and released on 21 and 22 January 2016.

Allegations of torture committed by the Thai authorities against the Muslim Malay minority in Thailand’s restive Deep South doubled after the 2014 coup, a report says.   The report, released on Friday, showed at least 18 cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment since 22 May 2014, when Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha staged the coup d’état. In 2015 alone, there were 15 recorded cases, whereas a total of 17 were recorded in 2014.

An independent academic has suggested that the coup-makers and their accomplices should face a special tribunal once the country returns to civilian rule. Prach Panchakunathorn, a former lecturer of the Faculty of Arts of Chulalongkorn University, has written an article in Prachatai’s Blogazine, suggesting that a special tribunal should be established after country returns to the civilian rule. The academic points out in his article that human rights under the military regime have hit rock bottom.