This is the first of a three-part interview with Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard. She discusses Thailand’s human rights challenges, from lèse-majesté prosecutions and freedom of expression to the protection of Uyghur detainees and activists at risk of transnational repression.
Callamard, who was in Bangkok on a working visit, urged Thai authorities not to return five remaining Uyghur men to China, where she said they could face torture. She also called on Thailand to take a stronger international role in defending human rights and the rules-based order.
Part I: Thailand
Middle powers and Thailand
“We need middle powers to play a much bigger role. And that includes Thailand.
“Thailand is a bit [shy], you know, it has, for some reason, in our view, Thailand could be a much stronger voice at the international level. It does not need to stand up to every [global] predator, but it could pick a few issues and be a strong voice on behalf of international law or justice. It could play a bigger role, you know, on some of the difficult regional questions.
“All in all, the middle powers have the space right now to do far more than what they are doing collectively or individually. And there is no doubt that the Thai authorities, Thailand government, could be a little bit braver and more outspoken in the defense of the rules-based order…
Moderator: “So we’ll move to questions related to Thailand. The question that we’ve received is, which human rights issues in Thailand deserve particular attention from Amnesty’s perspective?
“So, I’m not saying that these are the most important ones, but these are the ones we work on, that we have prioritised. So of course, one of them is freedom of
expression. We remain deeply concerned by the lèse-majesté law, something you know very well.
“We know that there are still 48 people who remain imprisoned under lèse-majesté charges. There was an amnesty law earlier this year, I think, that was very welcomed, but sadly it did not include those who were charged under the lèse-majesté law. The one case that is very symbolic for us is the one of [detained monarchy-reform movement co-leader] Arnon Nampa.
“It is an important case for Amnesty International. He is facing 38 criminal charges, 14 of which are based on lèse-majesté. And so far, he has received a 32-year sentence, which is due to increase when all the charges have been adjudicated.
“So for us, Arnon and others who are charged under these laws should be unconditionally
released. And the charges should be dropped. So freedom of expression remains a top priority. We think it is a big shadow on Thailand’s image and reputation, really a big one. In addition to lèse-majesté, we are worried and concerned with sedition and criminal defamation, which have been used to prosecute journalists in particular and protesters. So that is the big issue.
“When I was here three years, four years ago, three years ago, it was much more based on
protest, on young people, on students’ rights. And at the time, I did a lot of work on those issues with, of course, my colleagues. These are not priorities any more, not because they don’t exist, but because three years later, the energy, the dynamism that went into that movement and these protests have been extinguished.
“And extinguished through repression, through fear, through the fact that every effort that led to some kind of political recognition would then be defeated through means that are very questionable.
“So the second issue for us currently is transnational repression. What do we mean
here? We mean first the fact that human rights defenders from the region, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, who are based in Thailand, are not necessarily safe in Thailand.
“They may be arrested and detained because they do not have [valid documents], or because their visa has expired or their passport has expired and their government refused to renew their passport. When that happens, Thailand should, under international law, consider what the specific circumstances of those individuals and a human rights approach will dictate that they be released and maybe even granted a status which will protect them. Sadly, we’ve had many cases where the opposite has happened.
“Possibly under pressure from regional governments, the Thai authorities have expelled those individuals back to their countries of origin where they are at risk of torture and forced disappearance, arbitrary detentions. Who are we talking about here? We’re talking recently of 40 Uyghur men who were forcibly repatriated to China after 10 years in detention. You imagine.
“There are currently five Uyghur men and we really hope that on this occasion the Thai government is going to do the right thing. In addition to them, there is also a Chinese journalist called Bai Xiaodong and a Vietnamese anti-corruption activist called Le Chi Tan. Both of them are also detained currently, again for the same reasons. Their passports have expired or their visas expired and the possibility of them being
forcibly repatriated, sent back, is a scary one.
“They will face absolute, awful treatment. I particularly know about the Vietnamese Le Chi Tan who has been really badly tortured when he was in Vietnam before he fled to Thailand. So this is a big issue.
“What do we call for? We call for the Thai government to really fulfil its obligation under
international law, not to fall for pressure and so on, and to protect those individuals. We’re not talking about millions here, just a few. They need protection.
“They found it in Thailand. Let’s call on the government to ensure that they remain safe. The other thing that’s happening on the Thai territory is the fact that sometimes these people are not detained, they disappear. They disappear, they are probably kidnapped, sent back to their countries, or kidnapped and killed. That is also a big concern and there is no investigation into those situations, but clearly people are implicated. And then the third issue is the fact that some Thai activists living abroad, because they fear something in Thailand, they too may be the victim of some weird crimes.
“They may disappear and we don’t know what happened to them. So what we are calling for is for the Thai government to actually investigate what happened to the Thai activists who were based abroad and who have seemingly disappeared. So this is another big priority for us and we call that transnational repression.
“It is not something that is solely a Thai issue. It’s happening in many parts of the world, and it should be a priority of the international community.”
Khaosod English: Just to follow up on the cases of the Uyghurs and the five of them remaining, would you be raising the issue with the representative of the Thai government?
“Absolutely.”
Khaosod English: Is that tomorrow [30 October 2026], the meeting?
“Absolutely. We are raising them. We are writing about them. It doesn’t mean we want to make it a big issue.
Khaosod English: Just to let you know that the Chinese ambassador to Thailand has just met with a representative of the National Security Council who will have the from what I understand, and I cannot quote the source, who probably will be given the right to decide upon the fate of the five Uyghurs.
The ambassador, let me just show you, and it’s not even a secret here, have met and the National Security Council of Thailand have posted on their Facebook page yesterday saying, on October 27, when is that? That’s two days ago. So that was Tuesday. The ambassador have met with the, or paid a courtesy call to the Secretary General of the National Security Council of Thailand on the occasion of him assuming his post.
…that’s on their Facebook page, that the topics discussed include, including law enforcement cooperation, and I assume that’s why it falls between Thailand and China cooperating in combating online crimes, among others, and ways in which both sides can cooperate to further, to better prevent Chinese tourists from falling into the
victims of online scams. But I think the key word here in lieu of the Uyghur cases, as well as the Chinese journalist, Mr. Bai, is the law enforcement cooperation.
“Look, as long as the National Security Council’s mindset is dominating the handling of those cases, it’s going to be very hard. It is not a national security issue. It is not a violation of borders or migration status.
“It is at heart a question of human rights obligation for the Thai government. These individuals are victims of heavy human rights violations, including torture, in their country of origin. The fight against torture is a customary fight.
“What do I mean? It doesn’t matter what you signed, what you ratified, what you reserved. If there is torture involved, you need to follow an international agreement, which is we do not send people back to places where they may be tortured. That’s simple, not very complicated.
“And that’s it. That’s it. And I’m sorry, I do not believe that this would constitute a national security issue. I think, frankly, it’s becoming more like a habit. We don’t stand up or we don’t resist China when China raises issues.
“Well, you don’t need to resist. You just need to say, look, those individuals, we don’t know where they are. I mean, if you don’t want to say we’re protecting them, just say we don’t know where they are. And that’s it.
“And by the way, you know, you know about our international obligations and they do matter at a time when other countries are seeking to undermine the international system. Some of us need to stand by it. But look, if you don’t want to resist and stand up, just say ‘we don’t know where they
are’ and let them be.
“Let them be. Let them be. But please do not send them back to a country where they could be tortured.”
On Burmese refugees along the Thai-Myanmar border
“Can I just add one thing about the priorities [on Thailand]? Because it may not yet be one, but it will become one for us. It’s a treatment of Burmese refugees…I just want to say that on that particular issue, these refugees have been on the Thailand territory for 40 years?
“More than 40 years. Which I don’t think is very helpful, but never mind. The question here is what is the vision here? What is the long-term view? We were really positively surprised and really we welcomed the fact that the government proposed and delivered a right to work a year ago.
“It was a new policy giving them the right to work and linked to that some freedom of movement. According to the work that my colleagues have done, it has made a huge difference, particularly at a time where, as I have mentioned, the international funding has been cut down. The only way those people could survive was through the right to work.
“But so far, only 6,000 people have been able to benefit from that. And we were in the camps over the last two days and everywhere people have told us, I want to do my share. I don’t want to be dependent on international or national support. I don’t want charity. I can work. So the policy is good, but it’s not big enough.
“It is excluding too many people. So what we would want to recommend to the government is expand that right to work policy. It will benefit everyone, Thai employers, the refugee
communities, the individual refugees.
“The other thing we’ve been told too, and we’ve met with some gorgeous children in the camp, and those children said to us, I’m Thai. I feel Thai. I mean, I may be Karen ethnically, but I speak Thai.
“I want to go to Thai schools. I want to contribute to the country that has welcomed my parents. So we would want to recommend for the government to really stop with the charade and really look at a community that can make a real good contribution to Thai society.
“Amnesty recommends Thailand to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention. Again, at a time when Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu are attacking the international legal system, it is really incumbent upon other governments to say, actually we believe in that. And part of that belief should be to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention.”