<div>After a court ruled them guilty of causing global warming, 11 villagers have appealed and pleaded for a court fee exemption. The authorities are increasingly using judicial harassment against local people whose traditional homes overlap with national park areas, says an NGO.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 29 May 2017, villagers from Huai Kontha, Phetchabun province, <a href="https://prachatai.com/journal/2017/05/71691">appealed their</a> case before Lom Sak Provincial Court. </div>

<p dir="ltr">Behind the summary killing of a young ethnic minority rights activist lies a deep-rooted culture of impunity and discrimination against ethnic minorities long stigmatised as drug traffickers.</p> <p></p>

<p>The doctor who conducted the post-mortem examination on the body of a drug suspect who died in custody has concluded that death was caused by serious brain injuries.</p> <p>The Provincial Court of Nakhon Ratchasima on 3 March 2017 held an inquest into the death of Anan Koedkaeo, 34, a drug trafficking suspect who died in suspicious circumstances three days after being interrogated.</p>

<p>The mother of a soldier in northeastern Thailand who was beaten to death in a military camp has filed a civil lawsuit against the Royal Thai Army.</p> <p>At the Civil Court on Ratchadapisek Road in Bangkok on 9 March 2017, Boonrueang Suthiraphan, the mother of Corporal Krittikon Suthiraphan, 25, filed the civil lawsuit against the Royal Thai Army over the death of her son in the military prison of Weerawat Yothin Army Camp in Surin Province on 21 February 2016. He was imprisoned after being accused of assisting other detainees in the military prison to flee.</p>

<p>The Thai military has dropped criminal defamation charges against three human rights defenders who exposed torture in Thailand’s Deep South.</p> <p>On 7 March 2017, Col Pramote Promin, Deputy Spokesperson for Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4, said the military has withdrawn criminal defamation charges against Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF); Somchai Homla-or, Advisor to the CrCF; and Anchana Heemmina, President of the Duay Jai group.</p>

<div>A coalition of human rights organisations has condemned the junta’s suspension of a bill aimed at criminalising state enforced torture and disappearance, arguing the legal gap facilitates human rights abuses.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 1 March 2017, a coalition of human rights groups including Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the Cross Cultural Foundation, and the Human Rights Lawyers Association released <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3618">a statement</a> expressing alarm that the military government is taking steps backwards in the criminalisation of state enforced torture and </div>

<p>A criminal court is refusing to accept a lawsuit by the parents of a drug trafficking suspect who died in police custody until court fees are paid.</p> <p>On 27 February 2017, Southern Bangkok Criminal Court&nbsp;<a href="https://voicefromthais.wordpress.com/?s=%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99">ruled not to accept</a>&nbsp;a lawsuit against the Royal Thai Police (RTP) filed by Wasana and Phanom Koedkaeo, parents of Anan Koedkaeo, 34, a drug trafficking suspect who died in suspicious circumstances three days after being interrogated.</p>

<p>Human rights defenders accused by the military of criminal defamation for exposing torture in the Deep South have urged prosecutors to seek more witnesses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>On 21 February 2017, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF); Somchai Homla-or, Advisor to the CrCF; and Anchana Heemmina, President of the Duay Jai group,<a href="http://news.voicetv.co.th/thailand/463767.html">&nbsp;submitted a letter to the Office of Provincial Public Prosecution </a>in the Deep South province of Pattani.</p>

<p>We call on all parties to find a meaningful solution to the problems in the Rakhine State of Myanmar so that there is everlasting peace. Given the way things have unfolded in the Rakhine State over the last few years, especially the recent episodes of violence which has left hundreds of people displaced, their houses burnt, it certainly does not augur well for the future of a Myanmar that is gradually transitioning towards democracy.</p>

<p>After a seven-year fight for justice, a provincial court has accepted a lawsuit against four police officers accused of torturing a suspect.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Embattled Thai human rights activists insist their innocence as they continue to fight against lawsuits filed by the military.</p>

<p>A Thai court has ordered the Prime Minister's Office to compensate the family of a Muslim teenager summarily killed by security forces in 2012. However, no security personnel have been prosecuted.</p> <p>The Administrative Court in the southern province of Songkhla on Wednesday, 2 August 2016, ordered the Prime Minister's Office to pay the Mama family 825,500 baht in compensation for the life of their late son, Furakon Mama, the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) reported.</p>