<p>The Civil Court has commenced a trial initiated by democracy activists against the junta leader, the Army and the Royal Thai Police (RTP). The activists accuse authorities of violating their rights during a crackdown on a gathering to commemorate the 2014 coup d’état.</p> <p>On 18 July 2017, the Civil Court&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=4691">held the first plaintiff witness hearing</a> in a case filed by 13 youth activists, most of whom are former members of the New Democracy Movement.</p>

<div>With only a week to the draft charter referendum, Thailand’s statesmen have urged the junta to use its absolute power to enshrine coups d’état into the constitution, ironically adding that this amendment will prevent future coups.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><img alt="" src="//c2.staticflickr.com/8/7224/7065116651_f9f0b2ed82_o.jpg" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Friday, 29 July 2016, Gen Saiyud Kerdphol, the Chairperson of Thailand’s Statesmen’s Group, proposed that the junta should amend the draft constitution, which </div>

<p>Former senators, human rights and election commissioners have pointed out that the laws regulating campaigns before the referendum to pass the junta-sponsored draft constitution ironically go against the junta’s Interim Charter.</p> <p>Jon Ungpakorn, a former senator and current director of iLaw, a human rights advocacy group, Kraisak Choonhavan, former senator, and Niran Pitakwatchara, former member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on Tuesday, 10 May 2016, submitted a letter to Raksagecha Chaechai, Secretary-General of the Office of the Ombudsman.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Media and civil society organisations launched a new website to allow people to have their say in the new constitutional draft while pointing out that the state agencies responsible in drafting the new charter has failed.</p>

<p class="p1">The Junta leader has accused some of the media of inciting conflict and attacking him personally and threatens to use martial law to shut them down.</p> <p class="p2">According to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1419480018"><span class="s1">Matichon Online</span></a>, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, prime minister and the head of the junta’s National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO), said he can stand public criticism as a public figure, but not personal attacks against him. He then urged the media to respect his privacy and his human dignity.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3920/15028280236_349167e55c_c.jpg" /></p>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>As Thai citizens, we are writing to make clear that the military junta's Interim Constitution does not represent our will, nor does it represent the will of the Thai people as a whole. It is no one's rules, but the junta's own. We regard the Interim Constitution as Thailand's most anti-democratic constitution in half a century. We condemn it emphatically on three points.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>1. The Interim Constitution is an attempt to entrench dictatorial rule in a permanent constitution, and force-feed it to the population. </strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>After the 2007 Constitution was torn up two months ago, Thailand was presented with an Interim Charter with 48 articles on 22 July 2014. The significance of the charter is that it allows the establishment of three bodies: a National Legislative Assembly (NLA), taking the responsibilities of Parliament, a National Reform Committee (NRC), which will propose a “reform” plan aiming at re-engineering the Thai political landscape, and a Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), which is responsible for drafting a permanent constitution. </div>