In an open letter to Thailand’s 32nd Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, FIDH, UCL, iLaw, and TLHR highlight 10 key human rights priorities raised by United Nations (UN) human rights mechanism and call on Mr. Anutin and his administration to effectively address these unresolved issues without delay.
“As a current member of the UN Human Rights Council, Thailand has pledged to heed recommendations made by UN human rights mechanisms ‘in the formulation and implementation of policies and legislation.’ It is incumbent on the new government to implement many UN human rights recommendations that have been ignored for far too long,” said FIDH Vice-President Teppei Ono.
FIDH identified and selected the human rights priorities by analyzing recurring recommendations that Thailand received from various UN human rights monitoring mechanisms over the course of more than two decades.
Based on this analysis, FIDH made practical recommendations on the following issues: space for civil society organizations and human rights defenders; accountability for extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances; protection of refugees and asylum seekers; amendment of problematic laws; improvement of prison conditions; the situation in the Southern Border Provinces; the death penalty; and gender equality and gender-based violence.
FIDH calls on Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and his administration to take significant steps during the first 100 days in office to place the above-referenced issues at the core of the government’s human rights agenda and chart the process of implementation of the associated recommendations.
Controversial election
Thailand’s most recent general election was held on 8 February 2026. The conservative Bhumjai Thai (BJT) Party, led by Anutin Charnvirakul, secured a victory with 191 seats in the 500-seat House of Representatives. The progressive People’s Party came in second place with 120 seats, a significant drop from the 151 seats its predecessor Move Forward had won in the 2023 election.
The latest polls were marred by widespread allegations of irregularities and the Election Commission’s lack of transparency in vote counting across constituencies nationwide.
Following the election, the BJT Party formed a coalition government of 16 parties, including Pheu Thai Party, holding a combined 292 seats in Parliament. On 19 March 2026, Anutin was reappointed Prime Minister after securing 293 votes, defeating the People’s Party’s prime ministerial candidate Nattapong Ruangpanyawut, who received 119 votes. On 31 March 2026, he assumed office upon receiving the official endorsement by King Rama X. On 6 April 2026, his 35-member cabinet was sworn in before the King.
Anutin first became Prime Minister in September 2025 following the Constitutional Court’s removal of Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Pheu Thai Party from office for an ethics violation in connection with her handling of the Thai-Cambodian conflict. In December 2025, Anutin dissolved the Parliament shortly after the People’s Party, who held a majority of seats, announced plans to file a no-confidence motion against his minority government over constitutional amendment disagreements.
The full letter reads:
Paris, 10 April 2026
Mr. Prime Minister,
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL), the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw), and the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) call on your administration to demonstrate political will and take concrete steps to address 10 longstanding human rights issues that have remained unresolved. This would ensure Thailand’s compliance with international human rights obligations and fulfillment of its pledges as a member of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term.
The 10 human rights priorities derive from an analysis of recurring recommendations that Thailand received from various UN human rights monitoring mechanisms over the course of more than two decades. Based on this analysis, we call on your administration to:
- Guarantee a conducive and safe environment for civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and individuals who exercise, or seek to exercise, their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and protect them from all forms of intimidation, threats, and reprisals.
- Drop charges against human rights defenders, activists, and protesters - including children - and release those who have been arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.
- Amend or repeal problematic laws - such as Article 112 and other criminal defamation provisions of the Criminal Code, the Public Assembly Act, and the Computer Crimes Act - to bring them into line with international human rights obligations and standards
- Conduct thorough, impartial, and independent investigations into all reported allegations of extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, prosecute all persons suspected of having committed these crimes, and provide compensation to victims and their families.
- Formalize and implement a moratorium on executions and ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
- Strengthen efforts to alleviate overcrowding and improve conditions in prisons to be fully compliant with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (“Nelson Mandela Rules”) and the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (“Bangkok Rules”), including through the greater use of non-custodial measures and independent, unhindered and unannounced visits to all places of detention by the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and non-governmental organizations.
- Adopt comprehensive policies and measures to ensure greater gender equality, including by combating discriminatory legislation and practices, implementing temporary special measures, and advancing women’s representation in decision-making at all levels and in all sectors.
- Address all forms of gender-based violence against women, investigate all allegations, and ensure adequate support and reparations for victims.
- Ensure protection of refugees and asylum seekers and refrain from arresting, detaining, and deporting them back to their countries of origin, with a view to become a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
- Increase efforts to end the conflict in the Southern Border Provinces, review the special security and emergency legislations and their application, and investigate all allegations of human rights violations in order to hold perpetrators accountable and provide full reparation to the victims and their families.
We call on your administration to take significant steps during the first 100 days in office to place the above-referenced issues at the core of the government’s human rights agenda and chart the process of implementation of the associated recommendations.
Yours Sincerely
Teppei Ono
Vice-President, FIDH
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