AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

ights violations against members of
vulnerable communities, including migrant
workers, ethnic minorities, and suspected
drug users at police stations, roadblocks, and
various unofficial places of detention.
Thailand considered new legislation
criminalizing torture and enforced
disappearances.
REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS
The legal system did not provide formal
recognition for refugees and asylum-seekers,
leaving many vulnerable to abuse. Asylumseekers,
including children, faced months or
years of indefinite detention in crowded
immigration detention centres. Scores of
Rohingya people had remained in these
centres since they arrived by boat during a
regional migration crisis in 2015. The
authorities did not adequately address their
protection needs as asylum-seekers and
potential victims of human trafficking.
1. Thailand: Human rights groups condemn NCPO Order 13/2016 and
urge for it to be revoked immediately (ASA 39/3783/2016)
2. Thailand: Open letter on human rights concerns in the run-up to the
constitutional referendum (ASA 39/4548/2016)
3. Thailand: Torture victims must be heard (News story, 28 September)
4. Amnesty International Thailand’s Chair and other activists face jail
for exposing torture (News story, 25 July)
5. Thailand: Denial of entry to Hong Kong student activist a new blow to
freedom of expression (News story, 5 October)
6. Thailand: Prisoner of conscience must be released: Watana
Muangsook (ASA 39/3866/2016)
7. Thailand: Another human rights activist is unjustly targeted (News
story, 20 September)
8. Thailand: Authorities must protect human rights defenders in the line
of fire (ASA 39/3805/2016)
9. “Make him speak by tomorrow”: Torture and other ill-treatment in
Thailand (ASA 39/4747/2016)
TIMOR-LESTE
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Head of state: Taur Matan Ruak
Head of government: Rui Maria de Araújo
occupation (1975-1999) continued to
demand justice and reparations. Security
forces were accused of unlawful killings,
torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary
arrests, and arbitrarily restricting the rights
to freedom of expression and of peaceful
assembly.
BACKGROUND
In August, hundreds of civil society activists
gathered in the capital, Dili, at a parallel
conference to an ASEAN summit to discuss
human rights and other regional issues. In
November, Timor-Leste’s human rights record
was examined under the UN Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) process.
IMPUNITY
A working group was established by the
Prime Minister in May to advise the
government on implementation of the
recommendations of the Commission for
Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR),
issued in 2005. Many recommendations
related to impunity had not been
implemented by the end of 2016. The
expulsion of non-Timorese judges in 2014
continued to hamper the trials of individuals
indicted for serious crimes.
POLICE AND SECURITY FORCES
Concerns remained about allegations of
unnecessary or excessive use of force, torture
and other ill-treatment by security forces, and
a lack of accountability. In August a member
of the Border Control Unit shot and killed a
man with mental illness in Suai. In the same
month a police officer hit a journalist in Dili.
By the end of the year, no one had been held
to account for the torture and other illtreatment
of dozens of individuals detained
during joint security operations in Baucau
district in 2015. These were launched in
response to attacks allegedly carried out by
Mauk Moruk (Paulino Gama) and his banned
Maubere Revolutionary Council against police
in Laga and Baguia subdistricts. 1
Victims of serious human rights violations
committed during the Indonesian
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 361