Thailand
03.07.17
Urgent Interventions

Women human rights defenders at heightened risk of attacks and intimidation

Publication of a joint report

Bangkok-Geneva-Paris,July 3, 2017 - Women human rightsdefenders (WHRDs) in Thailand are at heightened risk of attacks andintimidation since the May 22, 2014 coup d’état, the Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH-OMCT partnership), said today.

In harm’s way: Women human rights defenders inThailand, a newreport jointly released today by the Observatory, Protection International(PI), and the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD),documents the pattern of repression of WHRDs in Thailand, especially ruralwomen.

The reportis released ahead of Thailand’s review by the UN Committee on the Eliminationof Discrimination against Women on July 5, 2017. The Committee oversees Stateparties’ compliance with their legal obligations under the Convention on theElimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

“Theall-male Thai military junta has created an increasingly hostile environmentfor women human rights defenders. To fulfil Thailand’s obligations under theCEDAW, the junta must take immediate steps towards combating discrimination andprotecting women who work to defend human rights,”said FIDH Vice-President Guissou Jahangiri.

The report highlights serious concerns over the ruling NationalCouncil for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s failure to ensure protection for WHRDs.Under the NCPO, WHRDs have faced an array of abusive practices, includingviolent acts and threats of violence, intimidation, judicial and onlineharassment, and denial of justice. This has resulted in their deprivation ofthe exercise and enjoyment of women’s human rights and fundamental freedomsguaranteed by the CEDAW.

“Despitetheir courage, women human rights defenders are exposed to unique challenges,which are reinforced by a wider context of gender inequality. In Thailand, thesituation is exacerbated by the NCPO’s policies and actions that prevent womenhuman rights defenders from carrying out their activism,”said OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock.

Thailandwas previously reviewed by the CEDAW Committee in 2006. Several UN human rightsbodies, including the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR), the UN Committee onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), and the UN Committee againstTorture (CAT) have continued to make recommendations to the Governmentregarding the protection of human rights defenders. However, the critical situationof WHRDs in Thailand has yet to be specifically addressed at the internationallevel.

The full Observatoryjoint report is available online in English here.

Ahead of theCEDAW review of Thailand, FIDH and its Thai member organization Union for CivilLiberty (UCL) also submitted a joint shadow report that documents how womenprisoners in Thailand are disproportionately affected by poor detentionconditions. Such conditions include overcrowding, detention in prisons locatedfar from their families, punishment practices, lack of adequate sanitationfacilities, and deprivation of adequate healthcare and nutrition.

Women have ahost of gender-specific needs that are often neglected in a penitentiary systemthat is controlled by men and caters to the majority male population.Discrimination in accessing gender-specific services and maintaining familylinks constitute discrimination within the meaning of Article 1 of the CEDAW.

Inaddition, with 113 women prisoners per 100,000 of the national femalepopulation, Thailand has one of the highest incarceration rates of women in theworld. Women are disproportionately affected by the imposition of harshpenalties, including the death penalty, for drug-related crimes. In June 2017,81% of the women prisoners in Thailand were incarcerated for drug-relatedoffenses, a percentage that is higher than the 70% of the male prisonpopulation incarcerated for drug-related offenses.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. The objective of thisprogram is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the EuropeanUnion Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civilsociety.

For moreinformation, please contact:

FIDH: Samuel Hanryon (French,English): +33 6 72 28 42 94 (Paris) / Andrea Giorgetta (English): Tel:+66886117722 (Bangkok) OMCT: Delphine Reculeau (French, English): +41 22 809 49 39 (Geneva)