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<div>Instead of investigating human rights violations, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been mandated to defend the image of the military government and this new measure is likely to be permanent, said Human Rights Watch.</div> <div> </div> <div>Two weeks ago, What Tingsamitr, the NHRC chairperson, told the media that the commission is initiating an investigation into the human rights report recently released by the US State Department. What stated that according to the 2017 Constitution, the NHRC is responsible for scrutinising reports on human rights in Thailand. </div>

<div>Arbitrary Detention Without Lawyer, Review by Judge, Raises Abuse Concerns</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><img alt="" src="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/styles/1070w/public/multimedia_images_2018/201802asia_thailand_detainee.jpg?itok=Xp_fivNA" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><span>Aiman </span><span>Hadeng</span><span>, chair of the Justice for Peace Network, has been detained in a military camp in T </span></div>

<div> <div>Thailand’s Foreign Ministry has condemned a report on the human rights situation for having a ‘political bias,’ while a Thai anti-corruption organisation has decided to opt out of Transparency International.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 24 January 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a <a href="http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/news3/6886/86001-Thailand%E2%80%99s-comments-on-Annual-World-Report-of-Huma.html">press statement</a> condemning the 2018 World Report of Human Rights Watch (HRW) for carrying “obvious political bias.”</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“We do not co </div></div>

<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/thailand">Thai</a>&nbsp;government should halt enforcement of a new migrant workers’ law that imposes excessive criminal penalties and has caused thousands of migrant workers to flee Thailand, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/thailand">Thai</a>&nbsp;authorities should drop&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/06/workers-claiming-they-had-to-sleep-with-the-chickens-face-thai-court-charges-burmese-migrants">criminal defamation charges</a>&nbsp;against 14 Burmese migrant workers who alleged that their employer violated their labor rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Proceedings in the case will begin in Don Muang Magistrates Court in Bangkok on June 7, 2017.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.hrw.org/thailand">Thailand’s</a>&nbsp;junta has failed to fulfill pledges to respect human rights and restore democratic rule three years after the military coup, Human Rights Watch said today. The ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), led by Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, has instead prolonged its crackdown on basic rights and freedoms, and devised a quasi-democratic system that the military can manipulate and control.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/thailand">Thai</a>&nbsp;authorities should promptly and independently investigate the death of an army conscript from apparent torture while detained in a military jail, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also undertake a broader campaign to end the longstanding use of corporal punishment in the armed forces, including by prosecuting military commanders for serious offenses by soldiers under their command.</p>

<div><a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/thailand">Thai</a> authorities should immediately and transparently investigate the shooting death of a teenage ethnic Lahu activist who had been detained by the military, Human Rights Watch said today. </div>

<p>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/thailand">Thailand’s</a>&nbsp;state Mahidol University should drop a disciplinary investigation against academics who criticized the Thai military junta, Human Rights Watch said today. The action is being carried out against staff members of the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP), Southeast Asia’s longest-running graduate degree program in human rights studies.</p>