HRW, 19 July 2012
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit
Bangkok 10300
Thailand
Dear Prime Minister,
We
write to you ahead of President Thein Sein's official visit to
Thailand from July 22 to 24, 2012, to urge you to raise concerns about
the human rights situation in Burma. Thailand, as one of Burma's major
political and economic partners and a core member of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has significant influence that it
can use to help improve respect for human rights and promote political
reform in Burma. We urge you and your government to take advantage of
this visit to press for the following policies.
Your
government has publicly and repeatedly pledged Thailand's support for
political reforms in Burma, particularly improvements in human rights
and the humanitarian situation.
There have been important
changes in Burma in the past year, including the release of hundreds
of political prisoners, the easing of official censorship, passage of a
new labor law that permits forming unions and the right to strike,
and amendments to electoral laws that enabled the opposition National
League for Democracy to register and successfully contest April
by-elections.
However, overall the Burmese government's record
on human rights remains poor. The Burmese army has committed killings,
torture, rape, forced labor, and other violations against civilians
in Kachin State and northern Shan State since civil war resumed in
June 2011 between the government and the Kachin Independence Army
(KIA). The army has attacked villages and laid antipersonnel
landmines, resulting in the displacement of tens of thousands of
civilians, while the government has restricted the delivery of
humanitarian aid by international agencies to internally displaced
people in KIA-controlled territory.
Abuses by the Burmese
military during hostilities with ethnic armed groups have long had a
significant impact on Thailand's border areas and have led to major
refugee flows. In the pursuit of peace settlements between the Burmese
government and ethnic armed groups, mechanisms to protect and promote
human rights should be established and included.
In western
Burma, state security forces have conducted violent sweeps and mass
arrests of ethnic Rohingya after the outbreak of sectarian violence.
The government has taken no steps to address the statelessness of up
to one million Rohingya, many families of which have lived in Burma
for several generations.
Despite the welcome release of many
political prisoners, several hundred others remain in prison. Many of
those who have been released have had conditions placed on their
freedom, such as restrictions on their ability to travel abroad. A law
promulgated on the right to peaceful assembly falls well short of
international standards, allowing for imprisonment for up to five
years for violations. While we welcome the creation of the National
Human Rights Commission, it does not meet the standards set out in the
United Nations Paris Principles on national human rights
institutions, and has so far not shown a willingness to seriously
investigate complaints of human rights violations.
Burma remains
a long way from being a functioning democracy. The government was
installed by the army. Under the 2008 Constitution, the army retains
ultimate power in the country. A quarter of the parliamentary seats
are reserved for the military. Local political power has hardly
changed since the recent changes at the national level, which has
meant that the unelected and often abusive local authorities remain in
control.
While the recent by-elections were an important step,
they only involved 7 percent of seats in parliament, and thus no
significant realignment of parliamentary power. A more meaningful test
of Burma's commitment to democracy will be in its respect for
plurality and transparency in legal reform; its willingness to
strengthen democratic institutions such as the courts; its promotion
and protection of basic human rights and respect for the laws of war;
its commitment to the end of discrimination and equality of
opportunity for ethnic minorities in political, economic, social, and
cultural realms; and in the seriousness with which the government
addresses issues of impunity for current and past human rights abuses.
Thailand
should seize this opportunity to actively and effectively engage with
Burmese authorities and a broad range of Burmese-led civil society
organizations, including groups in remote areas and those working on
issues in Burma from Thailand, to help develop tangible plans with
realistic timeframes for genuine reforms.
The government of Thailand should press the government of Burma to:
Political Prisoners
- Release all remaining political prisoners.
- Remove all conditions placed on released political prisoners.
Ethnic Groups
- Take all necessary steps to end serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Burma's conflict areas by the Burmese army.
- Investigate allegations of abuses in conflict areas; discipline and prosecute perpetrators as appropriate; and promptly and adequately compensate victims of abuse.
- Allow international and domestic humanitarian organizations and independent human rights monitors unhindered access to populations in need, including in Kachin and Arakan States, and permit the delivery of sufficient humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons and others.
- Include mechanisms in any political settlements reached between the government and ethnic armed groups to protect and promote human rights in ethnic areas, including civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.
Legal Reform
- Bring
Burmese laws, regulations, and practices into conformity with
international human rights standards, including by revoking laws,
decrees, and orders, including those issued as proclamations by previous
military governments, that violate fundamental rights, such as the
Unlawful Associations Act, the Emergency Provisions Act, the State
Protection Law, and sections of the Penal Code that severely limit the
rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association.
- Amend provisions in the 2008 Constitution that prevent the military from being accountable to civilian authority, particularly article 445, which provides an amnesty for members of the previous ruling State Peace and Development Council and military juntas.
Labor Rights
- Fully implement the government-International Labor Organization (ILO) memorandum of understanding to eliminate all forms of forced labor, in line with the action plan agreed by the two sides; and ratify ILO core labor conventions 98, 100, 105, 111, 138, and 182.
- Remove remaining barriers to the effective exercise of the right to freedom of association, including obstacles to formation of labor unions, worker centers and worker rights-focused nongovernmental organizations, and provide protection for labor activists and organizers from interference and retaliation by employers and government for involvement in peaceful labor protests and strikes.
International sanctions and foreign investment
Human Rights Watch is concerned by the views expressed by Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul during the 4th
Thai-US Strategic Dialogue in June, when he committed Thailand to
help convince the United States and other countries to lift all
sanctions against Burma. Prematurely lifting all sanctions before
reforms are firmly embedded in Burmese law and practice will remove
necessary incentives among the Burmese leadership, particularly in the
security establishment, to change their treatment of the population.
It will also limit the ability of President Thein Sein to remove
hardliners and those with records of abuse from important positions.
Sending the wrong signal on sanctions at this time could derail the
fragile gains of the past year.
Pursuing foreign investment in
the absence of a functioning legal system will also put investors at
risk. In construction and maintenance of large-scale infrastructure
projects, the Burmese military has a long record of carrying out
serious violations, including forced relocations of civilians, and
systematic use of forced labor. In addition, there are credible
reports of serious abuses by Burmese government security forces in a
variety of other sectors, such as mining, logging, and industrial
agricultural farming. Some of these projects receive foreign
investment, including from Thailand. In this light, we urge the Thai
government to develop and implement legal safeguards that comport with
international human rights standards with regard to business activities
of Thai companies in Burma, such as the Dawei Deep Sea Port and
industrial estate project in Tennaserim Division, coal mining projects
in Shan State, hydropower dam projects in Shan State and Karen State,
and investments in the oil and gas sector. Thailand should suspend any
financing for Thai-invested projects that do not abide by these
safeguards.
Treatment of Burmese migrants, asylum seekers and refugees
Decades of unabated repression and misrule in Burma have driven
millions of Burmese to seek refuge and better living conditions in
Thailand and other neighboring countries. Human Rights Watch recognizes
that Thailand has borne a great burden in hosting Burmese migrants,
asylum seekers, and refugees for decades. For the over 140,000 Burmese
refugees and asylum seekers in camps on the Thai-Burma border, the
Thai government should lift the restriction that prevents the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees from screening asylum seekers from Burma who
have arrived after January 2004.
Thailand
should respect its obligation under customary international law to not
commit refoulement (forcible return) of any asylum seeker or refugee
to Burma. Specifically, the Thai government should guarantee all
Burmese access to screening and status determination procedures if they
wish to make an asylum claim. Anyone from Burma in Thailand wishing to
apply for asylum should have the practical means to do so and not be
barred from making such application by the Thai authorities.
Poor
treatment of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrant workers from Burma
by a succession of Thai governments continues to open Thailand to
international scrutiny and criticism. Recent examples include the push
backs of Rohingya, who arrived on Thai shores after seeking refuge by
sea, out into the open ocean, and more recently, the ill-considered and
rights-violating plan by Labor Minister Padermchai Sasomsap to deport
migrant workers who become pregnant. We urge you to protect the
rights of all Burmese refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in
Thailand.
In conclusion, we do not underestimate the challenge
that you will face in addressing these issues with your Burmese
counterparts. But Human Rights Watch is certain that Thailand has
unique leverage that it can exercise to make a significant and
positive difference in Burma in the years ahead.
We look forward to your attention to these matters of concern and would welcome the opportunity to discuss them with you.
Sincerely,
Brad Adams
Executive Director
Asia Division
Source: HRW
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