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Scoop
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Protect Women Domestic Violence Survivors, Refugees, And Human Rights Defenders
Bangkok, June 19, 2025 U.N. committee to assess government record on women's rights The Government of Thailand should commit to ensuring the protection of women domestic violence survivors, refugees, and human rights defenders, Fortify Rights said today. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) will consider Thailand's record on women's rights during a public hearing later today in Geneva, Switzerland. 'While Thailand has made progress on women's rights, substantial areas still need reform,' said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. 'Survivors of domestic violence continue to be underserved by Thai authorities, while women refugees and human rights defenders suffer from a lack of comprehensive legal protection.' Ahead of Thailand's review, Fortify Rights made an official submission to the CEDAW Committee, making recommendations on the rights of domestic violence survivors, refugees, and human rights defenders. In its submission, FortifyRights stated that progress on women's rights in Thailand 'has too often been characterized by weak enforcement and poor implementation of relevant laws and policies, further compounding the vulnerability of survivors of abuse.' Fortify Rights's submission includes research conducted over multiple years with women survivors of human rights abuses in Thailand, including a recent 46-page report that documents significant failings in Thailand's response to domestic violence. The report draws on more than 50 interviews, including with 32 women survivors of domestic violence, finding that Thailand's domestic violence legal framework and law enforcement mechanisms fail to provide adequate protections for survivors of domestic violence. The report also highlights that while a new draft domestic violence law, which was recently 'approved in principle' by the Thai Cabinet, expands certain protections for domestic violence survivors, it retains problematic provisions, including a six-month statute of limitations that risks excluding child survivors. In its submission to the CEDAW Committee, Fortify Rights recommended that the Thai government ensure that any changes to the domestic violence law align with international standards, that official responses to domestic violence are well-coordinated across all the relevant agencies and stakeholders, and that officials dealing with domestic violence cases are regularly trained in survivor-centered approaches as well as proper legal and procedural handling of cases. In its report to the committee, the Thai government stated that it 'aids refugees and asylum-seekers in accordance with human rights principles.' Several years of investigations by Fortify Rights have found, however, that refugee women, especially those escaping violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar, have been subjected to various abuses at the hands of Thai authorities. Without an effective legal framework to recognize and protect refugees in Thailand, refugees face criminal penalties under Thailand's 1979 Immigration Act, which prohibits unauthorized entry or stay in Thailand. Thailand is not party to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and does not formally recognize refugee status as defined by the Convention. As a result, refugees in Thailand are subject to arbitrary arrest, detention, and extortion, as well as forced returns. A lack of legal status in Thailand also means that refugees face considerable barriers when trying to access basic public services, including healthcare. Fortify Rights recommended to the CEDAW Committee that Thailand should ratify the U.N. Refugee Convention and end abusive practices, including arbitrary arrests, detention, and forced return of women refugees, especially those fleeing violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar. Fortify Rights also recommended that Thailand ensure the broadest possible coverage of protective legal status and access to basic public services, including healthcare, for women refugees in Thailand. Women human rights defenders in Thailand continue to be subjected to judicial harassment, including through instances of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation or SLAPP suits. According to a recent U.N. study, between 1997 and 2022, more than 400 people, including many women human rights defenders, were targeted by 109 instances of SLAPP suits in Thailand. In 2018, Thailand amended its Criminal Procedure Code, allowing judges to dismiss and forbid the refiling of a complaint by a private individual if the complaint is filed 'in bad faith or with misrepresentation of facts to harass or take advantage of a defendant' this amendment has, however, been under-utilized by the courts. In its submission to the CEDAW Committee, Fortify Rights recommended that Thailand bring its legal framework in line with international law and standards by decriminalizing defamation and treating it as a civil matter between individuals. Fortify Rights also recommended that judges and lawyers be trained and provided with guidelines to ensure the proper implementation of legal measures to prevent judicial harassment of women human rights defenders. 'In many ways, Thailand stands at a crossroads on women's rights—there have been advancements, but there are still major gaps to be filled,' said Patrick Phongsathorn. 'In its review, the CEDAW Committee must press the Thai government to do all it can to guarantee the rights of all women in Thailand.'
Scoop
5 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
ILO Member States: Implement Resolution On Myanmar Junta
(BANGKOK, June 12, 2025)—International Labour Organization (ILO) member states and organizations should fully implement measures recommended by the ILO's governing body aimed at ending the Myanmar junta's abuses, said Fortify Rights. A resolution, passed last week by the International Labour Conference (ILC), calls on ILO member states and constituent organizations to 'disable' the junta's ability to commit atrocity crimes. 'The ILO's resolution on Myanmar lays a clear roadmap for states, trade unions, and employers' organizations to follow,' said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. 'While this commitment is welcomed, words are not enough. ILO member states and organizations must now act to comprehensively disable the junta's war machine through sanctions and actions targeting the junta's arms, funds, and impunity.' Passed on June 5 by consensus during the ILC's 113th session, the resolution on Myanmar invokes Article 33 of the ILO Constitution—an article reserved to address only the most serious instances of human and labor rights abuses. The actions set out in the resolution are aimed at achieving the Myanmar junta's compliance with recommendations made by an ILO Commission of Inquiry. In its report, issued August 4, 2023, the Commission of Inquiry found that measures imposed by the Myanmar military junta have had 'a disastrous impact on the exercise of basic civil liberties,' and contravened ILO conventions on workers' rights and forced labor, to which Myanmar is a state party. The resolution calls on governments, workers, and employers organizations to review their relations with the junta 'with the aim to disable all means that have abetted or empowered the perpetuation of … egregious violations.' It urges ILO member states and organizations to cease selling or supplying the junta with military equipment, jet fuel, and financing. Finally, the resolution calls on states to respect the principle of non-refoulement, considering that 'human rights defenders fleeing Myanmar are at serious risk of irreparable harm.' On January 14, Fortify Rights wrote to ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo recommending measures, including targeted sanctions, protection of refugees, and accountability initiatives, to be included in the resolution on Myanmar. In the letter, Fortify Rights stated that the measures it outlined, many of which were included in the final resolution, 'are vital to protecting Myanmar's workers and ensuring that the military regime is held accountable for its ongoing abuses.' Since the Myanmar military coup d'état in February 2021, Fortify Rights has documented extensive evidence of widespread and systematic human rights violations by the junta and its operatives that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. In particular, Fortify Rights has documented grave breaches of the laws of war, including the use of civilians as human shields and porters, and the forced military conscription of Rohingya refugees. 'The ILO resolution on Myanmar proposes strong and potentially effective measures to end the junta's crimes,' said Patrick Phongsathorn. 'Given the overwhelming support it has garnered from ILO member states and organizations, the resolution provides a mandate for action that must be met.'
Scoop
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Take Action On Myanmar Labor Rights Abuses; ILO Governing Body To Consider Measures Against Military Junta
Bangkok, 2 June 2025 The International Labour Organization (ILO) should act to prevent the Myanmar military junta's systematic abuse of workers' rights and widespread use of forced labor, including forced military conscription, Fortify Rights said today. The International Labour Conference (ILC), which sets international labor standards and the policies of the ILO, will gather for its annual meeting today in Geneva, Switzerland. Ahead of the meeting, Fortify Rights wrote to ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo recommending measures, including referring the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court, targeted sanctions, and supporting exiled trade unions and other human rights defenders. 'The Myanmar military junta has overseen a systematic denial of fundamental labor rights,' said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. 'International Labour Conference member states and organizations must take concrete action against these abuses, including by referring the Myanmar junta to the International Criminal Court and supporting Myanmar's exiled trade unions and workers' organizations.' Later today, the ILC is set to discuss measures aimed at securing the Myanmar military junta's compliance with recommendations made by an ILO Commission of Inquiry (ILO CoI). In its report, issued August 4, 2023, the ILO CoI found that measures imposed by the Myanmar military junta have had 'a disastrous impact on the exercise of basic civil liberties,' and contravened ILO conventions on workers' rights and forced labor, to which Myanmar is a state party. In its report, the ILO CoI stated that trade unionists have been: Killed, arbitrarily arrested, subjected to sham trials, convicted, detained, abused and tortured, threatened, intimidated, subjected to surveillance, forced into exile, deprived of their basic civil liberties and oppressed at the workplace due to their trade union membership and activities. Women trade union leaders, the ILO CoI reported, have been subjected to 'particularly violent treatment,' including sexual violence. The ILO CoI also concluded that the Myanmar military junta continued its 'systematic and widespread' use of forced labor, both in the context of military operations including as porters and human shields, and in the construction and maintenance of military camps, installations, and infrastructure. Since the Myanmar military coup d'état in February 2021, Fortify Rights has documented extensive evidence of widespread and systematic human rights violations by the military junta and its operatives that amount to crimes against humanity, as well as violations committed in the conduct of armed conflict that amount to war crimes. In particular, Fortify Rights has documented the Myanmar junta military's use of civilians as human shields and forced porters–grave breaches of international humanitarian law that may amount to war crimes. A recent Fortify Rights investigation found that Rohingya armed groups were collaborating with the Myanmar military junta to abduct Rohingya refugees from refugee camps in Bangladesh and forcing them into military service. According to an internal memo by a humanitarian coordination group operating in Bangladesh, seen by Fortify Rights, Rohingya armed groups in Bangladesh forcibly recruited approximately 1,700 Rohingya refugees from March to May 2024 alone. During today's meeting, the ILC will consider measures under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution to secure the Myanmar junta's compliance with the ILO CoI's recommendations. This is only the third time in its history that the ILC will consider Article 33 measures–once previously in the case of Myanmar, and once in the case of Belarus. Given the grave findings of its own inquiry, the International Labour Conference should adopt the strongest possible measures against the Myanmar military junta, Fortify Rights said today. In its letter to the ILO Director-General, Fortify Rights recommended that ILO member states impose targeted sanctions on Myanmar's military leaders and capabilities and suspend the nation from preferential trade agreements. The letter also called on ILO member states to maintain the suspension of all junta representatives from the ILC and fully engage the National Unity Government of Myanmar. Fortify Rights also urged support for Myanmar's exiled trade unions and workers' organization including through respect for the principle of non-refoulement to ensure the protection of exiled labor rights activists and other human rights defenders. Finally, Fortify Rights called on ILO member states to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor under Article 14 of the Rome Statute 'The Myanmar military will continue to wantonly disregard international law, including labor rights, if there continue to be zero consequences for its abusive actions,' said Patrick Phongsathorn. 'Given that its own Commission of Inquiry has confirmed massive violations of labor rights and atrocities committed against labor activists, ILO member states gathering today must now commit to imposing the strongest possible measures to end the junta's crimes.'
