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A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Wednesday, July 1, 2015
UN rights office calls on Thailand to release 14 student activists
Police officers scuffle with a student protester in Bangkok during an anti-coup protest last month. Pic: AP.
The U.N. human rights office has called on Thailand to release 14
student activists arrested for holding a peaceful rally and charged with
sedition.
The 14 arrested on Friday were also charged with violating the junta’s
ban on political gatherings for taking part in an anti-coup rally in
Bangkok.The military that staged a coup last May has banned political
rallies of five people or more.
The students, who will be tried in military courts, could face up to 7
years in prison. They are among a small group of activists who publicly
oppose the junta, which came to power in a bloodless military coup in
May 2014.
The U.N. Human Rights Office for South East Asia on Tuesday also asked
the government to review its use of laws that limit freedom of
expression and assembly.
“The United Nations Human Rights Office for South East Asia (OHCHR)
urges the Government to promptly drop criminal charges against students
who have been arrested in Bangkok for peacefully demonstrating in public
and release them from custody,” said Tuesday’s statement.
It added: “Now more than one year on [from the coup], despite pledges by
the Government to promptly restore the rule of law, restrictions on
fundamental freedoms remain in place.”
Meanwhile, the European Union described the arrest and prosecution of the students as a “disturbing development”.
“The arrests of 14 students on the basis of charges brought against them
for peacefully demonstrating… is a disturbing development,” it said in a
statement released on Tuesday.
It added: “Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms must be
upheld, and military courts should not be used to try civilians.”
Deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the government does
not have a problem with the students but they must obey the law.
Additional reporting from Associated Press
