<div title="Page 1"> <div> <div> <div> <p>Amnesty International urges US officials to press Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha to roll back restrictions on human rights during his visit to Washington DC. As Prayut’s government extends repressive measures in the lead up to elections planned for next year, it is essential that the US government is firm in its support for human rights in Thailand.</p> </div></div></div></div>

<p>The Myanmar authorities’ restrictions on international aid in Rakhine state is putting tens of thousands of lives at risk in a region where mainly Rohingya people are already suffering horrific abuses from a disproportionate military campaign, Amnesty International said today.</p> <p>Aid workers told Amnesty International of an increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in Rakhine state, where the military has been engaged in a large-scale operation since attacks on dozens of security posts on 25 August, claimed by the armed group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.</p>

<h2><strong>INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE VICTIMS OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES</strong></h2> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Thai Lawyers for Human Rights and the Cross Cultural Foundation write to you on this day, the 2017 International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, to express our serious concern at the ongoing delay in passing legislation aimed at protecting against torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance and the </div>

<div title="Page 1"> <div> <div> <div> <p>On the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) – marked on June 26 as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – Amnesty International (AI) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcome the commitments made by the Royal Thai Government to prevent torture and other ill-treatment and urge authorities to ensure no further delay in implementing these undertakings.</p> </div></div></div></div>

<p>Responding to a government warning that anyone who follows, contacts, or shares posts online with three prominent critics - historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul, journalist and author Andrew MacGregor Marshall, and former diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun - will be prosecuted under the Computer Crimes Act, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Josef Benedict said:</p>

<div><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2830/32569747524_f069966dbc_o.jpg" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) regret the decision of Thailand’ National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to further delay the passage of essential legislation criminalizing torture and enforced disappearances. </div>

<div>Thai authorities are waging a campaign to criminalize and punish dissent by targeting civil society and political activists who peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, a new briefing from Amnesty International said today.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dozens of human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists and others are currently being investigated and prosecuted under draconian laws and decrees, which are used as tools to silence critics by Thailand’s military government.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“The Thai authorities have created a fearful environment w </div>

<ul> <li>Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers being detained and forcibly returned</li> <li>Lack of water, food and medical care</li> <li>Both governments preventing thousands from accessing aid</li> <li>Harrowing details of Myanmar military attacks on villages</li> </ul> <p><img alt="" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5833/30424619304_89d4aed1ee_c.jpg" /></p>

<div> <div>Despite permission from the local military, a Thai university has barred Amnesty International (AI) from showing a documentary about racial persecution in Africa, citing inappropriate timing. &nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 9 November, the Deputy Dean of Khon Kaen University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences cancelled a film show by AI featuring “White Shadow,” a documentary about the persecution of albinos in East Africa. </div></div>

<div> <div>Amnesty International (AI) has urged its members worldwide to call upon the Thai junta to amend its controversial Computer Crimes Act.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 11 October 2016, AI’s London headquarters launched an <a href="https://www.amnesty.or.th/sites/default/files/attachments/ua_-_cca_eng_0.pdf">urgent action</a> calling upon its seven million members around the world to appeal to the junta to amend the problematic Computer Crimes Act so as to conform to Thailand’s obligations under international human rights conventions that Thailand has voluntarily ratified. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr">The junta has refuted condemnations from many human rights groups for obstructing an Amnesty International (AI) progress briefing about torture, saying that it did not prevent the briefing. The junta added that information from Amnesty International (AI) is not credible.</p>

<h2>Thailand: Torture victims must be heard</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p>