Thailand's youth protesters are facing many criminal charges brought on by the authorities, including for allegedly violating the state of emergency in place to curb the spread of Covid-19. Some who were jailed, in fact, caught Covid-19 while in prison.
This troubling irony exposes Thailand's prolonged state of emergency for what it is: a misused tool to repress human rights and silence critics. Those very critics are now vulnerable to the virus in overcrowded prisons, so the government must rethink its priorities.
Thailand is no stranger to emergency powers, which have been used by successive governments to restrict the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and weaken state accountability, as highlighted by UN human rights experts.
The state of emergency, invoked under the 2005 Emergency Decree in March last year, which has been ostensibly cited as apparatus to tackle Covid-19, has now been extended 11 times -- but these powers have been primarily used against members of the peaceful pro-democracy movement.
According to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, as of May 4, at least 635 people have been charged with criminal offences in connection with peaceful protests.
Of those, at least 479 have been charged under provisions in the Emergency Decree. Another 92 are awaiting trial on alleged crimes of lese majeste. There are also 41 children facing a range of criminal offences including royal defamation, the youngest of whom is only 14.
Hundreds of people face lengthy imprisonment and prolonged unfair trials, even if they are eventually cleared of any crime.
At a time of the year when students should be preparing for exams, many are finding themselves worrying about legal fees, jail sentences and sustained harassment, all for peacefully speaking their mind.
Even worse, some -- like human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, or students like Parit "Penguin" Chiwarak and Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul -- were put in detention for up to three months, and repeatedly denied bail before finally being released this month.
Some walked out of jail as Covid-19 patients. Days later, authorities admitted that a major Covid-19 outbreak was under way at two Bangkok prisons, infecting more than 13,000 inmates. Noteworthy is the fact that dozens of political protesters remain detained in state prison facilities despite the outbreak.
Authorities must prioritise prisoners in its national vaccination plan. Prisons are among the riskiest settings for Covid-19 outbreaks and they cannot neglect inmates' right to health -- especially since these protesters should not have been detained in the first place.
Shortly after being bailed last week, Rung announced that she tested positive for Covid-19 -- becoming the fourth prominent protester likely to be infected in detention, after Mr Arnon, Panupong "Mike" Jadnok and Chukiat "Justin" Sangwong. (The Corrections Department has denied Rung was infected in detention.)
As the Covid-19 caseload continues to rise, authorities have been concentrating even more power in the hands of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha. In late April, the PM was invested with 31 new emergency powers on the pretext of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, but many of these relate to the authorities' expanding tools for digital surveillance.
This development raises concerns that the suppression of online dissent, which Amnesty International researched at length last year, will only intensify.
Authorities must rethink their punitive approach to the country's youth movement. The use of excessive emergency powers and repressive security legislation have criminalised people simply for exercising their rights and exposed them to disease in crowded prisons.
By invoking the emergency powers, the government has made it harder to for citizens to challenge the many ways in which people's rights have been violated.
In fact, the country's own National Assembly has had no oversight role over the PM's fast-expanding powers. But as it prepares to sit for its next session starting on May 22, it must ensure the government approaches the pandemic in line with its international human rights obligations.
The government must end its crackdown on youth protesters and critics, and ensure fairness in the criminal justice system.
Piyanut Kotsan is director of Amnesty International Thailand.