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Scoop
a day ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Take Action On Myanmar Labor Rights Abuses; ILO Governing Body To Consider Measures Against Military Junta
Bangkok, 2 June 2025 The International Labour Organization (ILO) should act to prevent the Myanmar military junta's systematic abuse of workers' rights and widespread use of forced labor, including forced military conscription, Fortify Rights said today. The International Labour Conference (ILC), which sets international labor standards and the policies of the ILO, will gather for its annual meeting today in Geneva, Switzerland. Ahead of the meeting, Fortify Rights wrote to ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo recommending measures, including referring the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court, targeted sanctions, and supporting exiled trade unions and other human rights defenders. 'The Myanmar military junta has overseen a systematic denial of fundamental labor rights,' said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. 'International Labour Conference member states and organizations must take concrete action against these abuses, including by referring the Myanmar junta to the International Criminal Court and supporting Myanmar's exiled trade unions and workers' organizations.' Later today, the ILC is set to discuss measures aimed at securing the Myanmar military junta's compliance with recommendations made by an ILO Commission of Inquiry (ILO CoI). In its report, issued August 4, 2023, the ILO CoI found that measures imposed by the Myanmar military junta have had 'a disastrous impact on the exercise of basic civil liberties,' and contravened ILO conventions on workers' rights and forced labor, to which Myanmar is a state party. In its report, the ILO CoI stated that trade unionists have been: Killed, arbitrarily arrested, subjected to sham trials, convicted, detained, abused and tortured, threatened, intimidated, subjected to surveillance, forced into exile, deprived of their basic civil liberties and oppressed at the workplace due to their trade union membership and activities. Women trade union leaders, the ILO CoI reported, have been subjected to 'particularly violent treatment,' including sexual violence. The ILO CoI also concluded that the Myanmar military junta continued its 'systematic and widespread' use of forced labor, both in the context of military operations including as porters and human shields, and in the construction and maintenance of military camps, installations, and infrastructure. Since the Myanmar military coup d'état in February 2021, Fortify Rights has documented extensive evidence of widespread and systematic human rights violations by the military junta and its operatives that amount to crimes against humanity, as well as violations committed in the conduct of armed conflict that amount to war crimes. In particular, Fortify Rights has documented the Myanmar junta military's use of civilians as human shields and forced porters–grave breaches of international humanitarian law that may amount to war crimes. A recent Fortify Rights investigation found that Rohingya armed groups were collaborating with the Myanmar military junta to abduct Rohingya refugees from refugee camps in Bangladesh and forcing them into military service. According to an internal memo by a humanitarian coordination group operating in Bangladesh, seen by Fortify Rights, Rohingya armed groups in Bangladesh forcibly recruited approximately 1,700 Rohingya refugees from March to May 2024 alone. During today's meeting, the ILC will consider measures under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution to secure the Myanmar junta's compliance with the ILO CoI's recommendations. This is only the third time in its history that the ILC will consider Article 33 measures–once previously in the case of Myanmar, and once in the case of Belarus. Given the grave findings of its own inquiry, the International Labour Conference should adopt the strongest possible measures against the Myanmar military junta, Fortify Rights said today. In its letter to the ILO Director-General, Fortify Rights recommended that ILO member states impose targeted sanctions on Myanmar's military leaders and capabilities and suspend the nation from preferential trade agreements. The letter also called on ILO member states to maintain the suspension of all junta representatives from the ILC and fully engage the National Unity Government of Myanmar. Fortify Rights also urged support for Myanmar's exiled trade unions and workers' organization including through respect for the principle of non-refoulement to ensure the protection of exiled labor rights activists and other human rights defenders. Finally, Fortify Rights called on ILO member states to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor under Article 14 of the Rome Statute 'The Myanmar military will continue to wantonly disregard international law, including labor rights, if there continue to be zero consequences for its abusive actions,' said Patrick Phongsathorn. 'Given that its own Commission of Inquiry has confirmed massive violations of labor rights and atrocities committed against labor activists, ILO member states gathering today must now commit to imposing the strongest possible measures to end the junta's crimes.'
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Hong Kong: New National Security Subsidiary Legislation Further Intensifies Repression
Press Release – Fortify Rights New national security measures strengthen Beijings stranglehold on freedoms. (BANGKOK, May 30, 2025)—New national security measures announced in Hong Kong two weeks ago further intensify the crackdown on freedom of expression, association, assembly, and other basic human rights in the city and undermine the rule of law, judicial independence, and Hong Kong's promised autonomy, Fortify Rights said today. A new 'Safeguarding National Security Regulation' came into effect on May 13, 2025, fast-tracked through the city's Legislative Council just one day after the Hong Kong Security Bureau published proposals for subsidiary legislation. 'These new measures intensify Hong Kong's continuing slide into authoritarianism,' said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. 'Further alignment of Hong Kong's judicial system with Beijing's is deeply concerning given the latter's complete lack of judicial independence and widespread use of torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance.' The new regulations strengthen measures adopted under the draconian National Security Law (NSL) imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing on June 30, 2020, and an additional domestic security law enacted by the Beijing-controlled Legislative Council under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, on March 23, 2024. In particular, the new subsidiary legislation strengthens and details procedures for mainland China's ability to exercise jurisdiction over national security cases in Hong Kong, as set out in Article 55 of the 2020 NSL, allowing for prosecutions and trials to take place in the mainland itself. The new measures also designate six sites in Hong Kong – including four hotels–as prohibited locations, because they are bases for the national security bureau. These include the Metropark Hotel Causeway Bay, the City Garden Hotel in North Point, the Island Pacific Hotel in Sai Wan, a China Travel Service hotel in Hung Hom, and two locations along Hoi Fan Road in Tai Kok Tsui. Under the additional regulations, anyone disclosing information about the activities of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, which is under the direct control of the central government in Beijing, would face a prison sentence of up to seven years. The impact of the security laws imposed by Beijing over the past five years has led to an almost complete dismantling of civil society. The laws apply to the crimes of treason, sedition, secession, subversion, and state secrets, including 'collusion' with foreign forces—vaguely defined terms that have been used imprison pro-democracy activists and shutdown civil society activities. Over the past six years, an estimated 1,000 political prisoners have been jailed, including those arrested during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. These include former democratically elected legislators, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Among the most prominent political prisoners are the media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, and human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung. Chow Hang-tung, 40, has been imprisoned since 2021 for her role leading an annual vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, serving multiple sentences. She is charged with inciting subversion under the NSL and has been detained for more than 1,000 days. Jimmy Lai, 77, a British citizen, has been in solitary confinement for more than 1,600 days, held for more than 23 hours a day with no natural light and permitted less than an hour a day for physical exercise. He has been denied the right to independent medical treatment and his first choice of legal counsel, and his international legal team at Doughty Street Chambers have been subjected to rape and death threats and harassment. Jimmy Lai has been arbitrarily detained by the Hong Kong authorities on several occasions, including for 13 months for simply lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He is currently on trial under Hong Kong's draconian NSL, imposed by Beijing in 2020, and could face life imprisonment. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled that both Jimmy Lai and Chow Hang-tung are human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained and should be immediately released. Last week, 22 former political prisoners, hostages, and their relatives sent an open letter to the British prime minister Keir Starmer urging him to act to secure Jimmy Lai's release. Fortify Rights' Senior Director Benedict Rogers attended the press conference at which several of the signatories released the letter. The Safeguarding National Security Regulation may result in further violations of human rights, in addition to the violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and other freedoms already perpetrated under the 2020 NSL and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. If the Chinese authorities prosecute, convict and imprison Hong Kong national security cases in mainland China, the right of defendants to fair trial, and to freedom from arbitrary arrest or disappearance, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced labor, as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), will be significantly undermined. Although China is not a party to the ICCPR, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Basic Law and Bill of Rights incorporate the ICCPR into Hong Kong law and therefore these new regulations violate Hong Kong's obligations under its own domestic law and international law. 'There is a grave risk that Jimmy Lai could die in jail,' said Benedict Rogers. 'The international community, particularly the United Kingdom, has a responsibility to act urgently to secure his release. We urge world leaders to increase pressure on China to free Jimmy Lai, and to spell out the consequences for the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong if they refuse to do so.'
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Hong Kong: New National Security Subsidiary Legislation Further Intensifies Repression
(BANGKOK, May 30, 2025)—New national security measures announced in Hong Kong two weeks ago further intensify the crackdown on freedom of expression, association, assembly, and other basic human rights in the city and undermine the rule of law, judicial independence, and Hong Kong's promised autonomy, Fortify Rights said today. A new 'Safeguarding National Security Regulation' came into effect on May 13, 2025, fast-tracked through the city's Legislative Council just one day after the Hong Kong Security Bureau published proposals for subsidiary legislation. 'These new measures intensify Hong Kong's continuing slide into authoritarianism,' said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. 'Further alignment of Hong Kong's judicial system with Beijing's is deeply concerning given the latter's complete lack of judicial independence and widespread use of torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance.' The new regulations strengthen measures adopted under the draconian National Security Law (NSL) imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing on June 30, 2020, and an additional domestic security law enacted by the Beijing-controlled Legislative Council under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, on March 23, 2024. In particular, the new subsidiary legislation strengthens and details procedures for mainland China's ability to exercise jurisdiction over national security cases in Hong Kong, as set out in Article 55 of the 2020 NSL, allowing for prosecutions and trials to take place in the mainland itself. The new measures also designate six sites in Hong Kong – including four hotels–as prohibited locations, because they are bases for the national security bureau. These include the Metropark Hotel Causeway Bay, the City Garden Hotel in North Point, the Island Pacific Hotel in Sai Wan, a China Travel Service hotel in Hung Hom, and two locations along Hoi Fan Road in Tai Kok Tsui. Under the additional regulations, anyone disclosing information about the activities of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, which is under the direct control of the central government in Beijing, would face a prison sentence of up to seven years. The impact of the security laws imposed by Beijing over the past five years has led to an almost complete dismantling of civil society. The laws apply to the crimes of treason, sedition, secession, subversion, and state secrets, including 'collusion' with foreign forces—vaguely defined terms that have been used imprison pro-democracy activists and shutdown civil society activities. Over the past six years, an estimated 1,000 political prisoners have been jailed, including those arrested during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. These include former democratically elected legislators, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Among the most prominent political prisoners are the media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, and human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung. Chow Hang-tung, 40, has been imprisoned since 2021 for her role leading an annual vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, serving multiple sentences. She is charged with inciting subversion under the NSL and has been detained for more than 1,000 days. Jimmy Lai, 77, a British citizen, has been in solitary confinement for more than 1,600 days, held for more than 23 hours a day with no natural light and permitted less than an hour a day for physical exercise. He has been denied the right to independent medical treatment and his first choice of legal counsel, and his international legal team at Doughty Street Chambers have been subjected to rape and death threats and harassment. Jimmy Lai has been arbitrarily detained by the Hong Kong authorities on several occasions, including for 13 months for simply lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He is currently on trial under Hong Kong's draconian NSL, imposed by Beijing in 2020, and could face life imprisonment. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled that both Jimmy Lai and Chow Hang-tung are human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained and should be immediately released. Last week, 22 former political prisoners, hostages, and their relatives sent an open letter to the British prime minister Keir Starmer urging him to act to secure Jimmy Lai's release. Fortify Rights' Senior Director Benedict Rogers attended the press conference at which several of the signatories released the letter. The Safeguarding National Security Regulation may result in further violations of human rights, in addition to the violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and other freedoms already perpetrated under the 2020 NSL and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. If the Chinese authorities prosecute, convict and imprison Hong Kong national security cases in mainland China, the right of defendants to fair trial, and to freedom from arbitrary arrest or disappearance, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced labor, as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), will be significantly undermined. Although China is not a party to the ICCPR, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Basic Law and Bill of Rights incorporate the ICCPR into Hong Kong law and therefore these new regulations violate Hong Kong's obligations under its own domestic law and international law. 'There is a grave risk that Jimmy Lai could die in jail,' said Benedict Rogers. 'The international community, particularly the United Kingdom, has a responsibility to act urgently to secure his release. We urge world leaders to increase pressure on China to free Jimmy Lai, and to spell out the consequences for the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong if they refuse to do so.'
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
India: Government Arbitrarily Detained & Forcibly Transferred Rohingya Human Rights Defender In Defiance Of U.N. Ruling
Bangkok, 27 May 2025 The Government of India arbitrarily detained Rohingya human rights defender Mohammad Arfat for more than four years without due process, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled, Fortify Rights said today. The recent ruling, which responds to a complaint filed by Fortify Rights in May 2024, calls on Indian authorities to provide Mohammad Arfat with reparations, prevent future violations, and cooperate with the U.N. Refugee Agency to ensure his protection and potential resettlement. More than 40 days after the Working Group issued its decision, Indian authorities defied the U.N. ruling, forcibly transferring Mohammad Arfat to another country, where he now remains in hiding due to ongoing threats to his security. 'India's prolonged and arbitrary detention of Mohammad Arfat was both unlawful and unconscionable. He should never have been detained, let alone forcibly transferred out of India following the ruling,' said John Quinley, Director of Fortify Rights. 'The U.N. Working Group's opinion reaffirms what we have known all along—India violated international law by detaining a recognized refugee for years, and then put him even further in harm's way.' In the published opinion, adopted during its 101st session, the U.N. Working Group determined that India's detention of Mohammad Arfat since 2018 was arbitrary, lacked any legal basis, and deprived him of due process. The opinion finds that his detention was based solely on his status as a Rohingya refugee and that India violated key provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)—to which India is a state party and legally bound to uphold— including Articles 9 and 14, which protect against arbitrary detention and ensure the right to a fair trial. Upon his release from arbitrary detention, Mohammad Arfat told Fortify Rights: I was beaten by Indian police when I was first detained. … My health [after years] in Indian detention was not good, and I could not see a doctor. I became very sick over the years. … Now [after my release and transfer] I feel mentally and physically unwell. The U.N. Working Group is a body of independent human rights experts established by the U.N. Human Rights Council to investigate and provide opinions on cases of deprivation of liberty that are allegedly arbitrary or inconsistent with international standards. Fortify Rights filed the 20-page complaint to the Working Group on May 30, 2024, along with an annex of more than 90 pages supporting Mohammad Arfat's case and his right to liberty. The U.N. Working Group's opinion in response to Fortify Rights' submission expressed grave concern for Mohammad Arfat and recommended that Indian authorities: [E]nd the arbitrary detention of Mr. Arfat by immediately and unconditionally releasing him and to liaise with UNHCR to grant him protection and a remedy, befitting his status as an asylum-seeker, which could include resettlement in a third country. The U.N. Working Group also recommended that the Indian government provide 'compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law,' for the harm caused to Mohammad Arfat, and that those responsible for the violation of his rights be held accountable, urging the Government 'to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr. Arfat and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.' Instead, India forcibly transferred Mohammad Arfat to another country shortly after the ruling. In addition to Mohammad Arfat's case, beginning on May 6, 2025, Fortify Rights documented how Indian authorities carried out mass arrests of Rohingya refugees in New Delhi. The next day, the authorities forced at least 40 of them back to Myanmar, where the military junta has been carrying out a genocidal campaign and where the Arakan Army — an ethnic resistance army fighting the Myanmar military junta in an ongoing revolution — has also carried out atrocities against the Rohingya people. In this instance, the India Navy dumped the refugees into the sea near the Myanmar border, placing their lives at grave risk in violation of international law. During the same crackdown, India also forcibly deported other Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh, which hosts more than one million Rohingya refugees in crowded and tightly controlled camps. On May 15, 2025, Tom Andrews, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, called India's forcing Rohingya into the sea 'unconscionable' and 'outrageous' and, in response, he launched an inquiry. Andrews said in a statement that forced returns to Myanmar are a 'serious violation of the principle of non-refoulment, a fundamental tenet of international law that prohibits states from returning individuals to a territory where they face threats to their lives or freedom.' Furthermore, on March 3, three U.N. experts, including Special Rapporteur Andrews, raised concerns about India's 'widespread, arbitrary and indefinite detention of refugees from Myanmar' in a letter to the Indian government: Conditions in places of detention are reportedly dire. Detainees from Myanmar, the majority of whom are Rohingya, are reportedly held in severely overcrowded cells, and do not receive adequate nutrition, clean water, or medical care. Facilities are reportedly unsanitary. Detainees lack clean clothes, bedding, and access to sunlight. Many detainees are reportedly suffering from illness, infections and other medical problems and are unable to access adequate medical care. India must immediately end its arbitrary and indefinite detention of refugees and provide reparations to all harmed by the government's reckless and violent crackdown on their rights, said Fortify Rights. India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol and lacks a domestic asylum law; however, it remains obligated to respect the international customary law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the forced return of refugees to situations where they are likely to face persecution and other serious human rights abuses. India's forcible return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar—where they face grave risks of persecution, violence, or death—also violates several international treaties to which India is a state party, including the ICCPR (Articles 6, 7, and 9), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 6 and 22), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Article 5). Forcibly returning Rohingya refugees to Myanmar also violates the Genocide Convention, to which India is a state party, said Fortify Rights. By returning victims of genocide to a country where that genocide is ongoing, India may be failing in its obligation to prevent genocide under international law. Moreover, by knowingly contributing to the continuing genocide through the forced return of survivors, India risks legal complicity in the very crimes the Convention is meant to prevent. 'India has legal obligations to protect Rohingya refugees under treaties it willfully entered into,' said John Quinley. 'India should immediately and unconditionally free all refugees in detention and provide compensation for any harms inflicted.'
Scoop
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Thailand: Lawyers Council Launches Probe Into Fatal Torture Of Myanmar National
(BANGKOK, May 23, 2025)—The Lawyers Council of Thailand under the Royal Patronage formally established a working group of lawyers to investigate the torture and killing of Aung Ko Ko, a 37-year-old Myanmar national, Fortify Rights said today. The move follows a public complaint submitted by Fortify Rights detailing evidence of torture by Thai soldiers near the Thailand-Myanmar border. 'There is reason to be concerned about a high-level cover-up in this case, and the Lawyers Council may be the only hope for justice,' said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. 'This is a critical test of the rule of law in Thailand—whether it applies equally to all, regardless of rank, uniform, or nationality, when serious crimes are committed.' On February 13, 2025, Fortify Rights filed a detailed complaint with the President of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, Wichien Chubthaisong, providing evidence that Thai soldiers fatally tortured Aung Ko Ko in Mae Sot District, Tak Province. At a public hearing at the Lawyers Council, attended by the media and members of the diplomatic community, Fortify Rights also raised concerns over the conviction of Sirachuch, a 24-year-old Myanmar national and eyewitness to the torture. He goes by one name and remains imprisoned in Thailand for the death of Aung Ko Ko. On November 7, 2024, Fortify Rights Chief Executive Officer Matthew Smith provided in-person testimony about the fatal torture of Aung Ko Ko to Thailand's Department of Special Investigations (DSI) in Bangkok and filed a complaint based on evidence collected by Fortify Rights. DSI is a law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Justice that handles complex and high-profile crimes, including corruption and alleged human rights violations by state security forces. At that meeting, Fortify Rights provided DSI with the evidence it had gathered on the death of Aung Ko Ko, including a forthcoming report in the Thai language. Regrettably, on February 18, 2025, DSI informed Fortify Rights in a letter that it would cease any investigation into the torture and death of Aung Ko Ko. DSI did not provide a detailed explanation of why it elected to effectively ignore this case. On May 8, 2025, Fortify Rights sent a follow-up letter to DSI seeking clarification and reconsideration of its decision not to investigate the fatal torture of Aung Ko Ko. Last month, on April 8, the U.N. publicly released a joint communication from three U.N. Special Rapporteurs to the Thai government expressing grave concern over Aung Ko Ko's torture and death. The Special Rapporteurs — on Myanmar, extrajudicial executions, and torture — called on the Thai government to conduct an independent, impartial, and thorough investigation and emphasized the urgency of protecting Myanmar nationals at risk of violence by Thai security forces. In their communication, the three U.N. Special Rapporteurs wrote that they 'are extremely concerned about the alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture and killing of Aung Ko Ko by Royal Thai Army soldiers.' They added: We are also concerned that the investigation into Aung Ko Ko's torture and death does not appear to be thorough, effective or in line with international standards, and are concerned about possible violations of fair trial rights, leading to the ongoing lack of accountability for Royal Thai Army soldiers involved in his death. On May 20, 2025, Fortify Rights received confirmation from the U.N. Special Rapporteurs that they had received a response from the Permanent Mission of Thailand in Geneva acknowledging receipt of the joint communication and confirming that it had been forwarded to relevant agencies in Thailand for their consideration in March 2025. However, at the time of writing, there has been no further update or response indicating any action or progress from the Thai government. Death at the Thai-Myanmar Border, a 44-page report released by Fortify Rights on November 14, 2024, includes multiple eyewitness testimonies explaining how, on January 12, 2024, four Thai soldiers detained Aung Ko Ko near a small wooden bridge located in the 70 Rai area. Eyewitnesses described how three of these soldiers severely beat Aung Ko Ko with a long wooden implement, causing injuries that killed him on the same day. Photographs and testimony collected by Fortify Rights show dark bruises on his entire back, forehead, around both cheekbones, and on his nose. Despite clear indications of torture and military involvement—also noted in police charge sheets and court testimonies documented by Fortify Rights—no Thai soldiers have been held accountable. On May 21, 2025, Fortify Rights received confirmation from the Lawyers Council that its Human Rights Committee had officially appointed a working group of five lawyers on May 7 to investigate the case, gather evidence, and explore legal avenues for justice. The Lawyers Council did not mention providing legal assistance to Sirachuch, whose case is under appeal. The right to be free from torture is non-derogable under international law, meaning that it cannot be suspended or limited under any circumstances. Thailand's domestic law—including the Thai Constitution, the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, the Criminal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code—also guarantees the right to life and protection from extrajudicial killings as well as protection from torture and arbitrary arrest. 'As a sitting member of the U.N. Human Rights Council, Thailand has the opportunity and obligation to uphold the highest human rights standards,' said Matthew Smith. 'Despite having anti-torture legislation on its books for more than two years now, Thailand is denying justice to Aung Ko Ko and his family. We're hopeful the authorities will change course and ensure justice, accountability, and the rule of law.'
