EU also against use of Article 44

“Military courts should not be used to try civilians. As a friend and partner of Thailand, the EU reiterates that the rule of law and the protection and promotion of human rights should underpin progress towards full restoration of democratic governance in Thailand,” Mogherini said.

Amnesty International also issued a statement late on Thursday expressing concern over the extensive power under Article 44 and the so-called peace and order-maintaining officers who have been given unchecked power to handle security for the country. 

In the statement, Amnesty International’s director for the Asia-Pacific Richard Bennett said: “[General Prayut] has simply granted himself and his military officers extensive powers to continue violating the rights to liberty, freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”

Meanwhile, US Embassy spokeswoman Melissa Sweeney told The Nation yesterday that fundamental rights continued to be breached under Article 44. “[The article] appears to retain many of the same restrictions on civil liberties [that martial law did] such as limits on fundamental freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, as well as retaining the practices of trying civilians in military courts and detention without charge,” she said.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand also issued a statement denoun-cing the use of Article 44, saying it provides military officers with sweeping powers to censor the media, with harsh punishment possible for journalists deemed not to be in compliance with the Article.