Iranian General Acknowledges over 300 Dead in Unrest

Monday, 28 November, 2022

An Iranian general on Monday acknowledged that more than 300 people have been killed in the unrest surrounding nationwide protests, giving the first official word on casualties in two months.

That estimate is considerably lower than the toll reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a US-based group that has been closely tracking the protests since they erupted after the Sept. 16 death of a young woman being held by the country’s morality police.

The activist group says 451 protesters and 60 security forces have been killed since the start of the unrest and that more than 18,000 people have been detained.

The nationwide protests were sparked by the woman’s death but rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the theocracy that has governed Iran since its 1979 revolution.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the aerospace division of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, was quoted by a website close to the Guard as saying that more than 300 people have been killed, including “martyrs,” an apparent reference to security forces. He also suggested that many of those killed were ordinary Iranians not involved in the protests.

He did not provide an exact figure or say where his estimate came from.

Hajizadeh reiterated the official claim that the protests have been fomented by Iran’s enemies, including Western countries, without providing evidence. The protesters say they are fed up after decades of social and political repression, and deny having any foreign agenda.

The protests have spread across the country and drawn support from artists, athletes and other public figures.

The niece of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently called on people to pressure their governments to cut ties with Tehran over its violent suppression of the demonstrations.

In a video posted online by her France-based brother, Farideh Moradkhani urged “conscientious people of the world” to support Iranian protesters. The video was shared online this week after Moradkhani’s reported arrest on Nov. 23, according to the activist group.

Moradkhani is a long-time activist whose late father was an opposition figure married to Khamenei’s sister and is the closest member of the supreme leader’s family to be arrested. The branch of the family has opposed Khamenei for decades and Moradkhani has been imprisoned on previous occasions for her activism.

“I ask the conscientious people of the world to stand by us and ask their governments not to react with empty words and slogans but with real action and stop any dealings with this regime,” she said in her video statement.

The protests, now in their third month, have faced a brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces using live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas to suppress demonstrations.

Despite the crackdown, demonstrations are ongoing and scattered across cities.

The unrest was sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran for violating the country’s strict dress code. It has quickly morphed into one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s establishment in more than four decades.

Iran refuses to cooperate with a fact-finding mission that the UN Human Rights Council recently voted to establish.

“Iran will not engage in any cooperation, whatsoever, with the political committee,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4013306/iranian-general-acknowledges-over-300-dead-unrest.

Australia Imposes Sanctions on Iran, Russia over Protests Crackdown

Saturday, 10 December, 2022

Australia’s foreign minister said on Saturday the government would place targeted sanctions on Russia and Iran in response to what it called “egregious” human rights violations.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement Australia was imposing sanctions on 13 individuals and two entities, including Iran’s Morality Police and Basij Resistance Force, and six Iranians involved in the crackdown on protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody in September.

Seven Russians involved in what the foreign minister said was the attempted assassination of former opposition leader Alexei Navalny would also have human rights sanctions imposed on them, Wong said in her statement.

In addition to human rights sanctions, Wong said Australia was placing further targeted financial sanctions on three Iranians and one Iranian business for supplying drones to Russia for use against Ukraine. Australia’s foreign minister said on Saturday the government would place targeted sanctions on Russia and Iran in response to what it called “egregious” human rights violations.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4035596/australia-imposes-sanctions-iran-russia-over-protests-crackdown.

Iran Says It Has Proof that Western States Were Involved in Protests

Monday, 28 November, 2022

Iran has proof that Western nations were involved in protests that have swept the country, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

The protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini after her arrest for “inappropriate attire”, pose one of the strongest challenges to the country’s clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Reuters reported.

“We have specific information proving that the US, Western countries and some of the American allies have had a role in the protests,” ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani added.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4012361/iran-says-it-has-proof-western-states-were-involved-protests.

Activists: Iranian Forces Unleash Heavy Fire on Protesters

Monday, 21 November, 2022

Iranian security forces used heavy gunfire against protesters in a Kurdish town in the country’s west on Monday, killing at least five during an anti-government protest that erupted at the funeral of two people killed the day before, activists said.

Videos circulating online show dozens of protesters taking shelter in alleyways as heavy gunfire echoes through the streets. Some show individuals lying motionless and bloodied in the streets, while others show residents gathering at a local hospital to donate blood.

Iran has been convulsed by anti-government protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in the custody of the country’s morality police in the capital, Tehran. The protests, which were initially concentrated in the western, Kurdish region of Iran where Amini was from, have spread across the country and escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerics.

Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights group, said Iranian security forces unleashed heavy gunfire on protesters in the town of Javanrud, where a funeral was held for two protesters killed the day before. It cited witnesses as saying that Iranian forces used heavy machine guns.

Hengaw said seven people were killed on Monday, while another group, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, put the toll at five. The latter group said many of the wounded were being treated in homes because of fears they could be arrested from hospitals, making it difficult to confirm the toll. It said several were shot in the head or chest.

Iranian authorities heavily restrict media coverage of the protests and have periodically shut off internet access, making it difficult to confirm details of the unrest.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported protests in Javanrud on Sunday night, saying security forces were fired upon with live ammunition. It said two people were killed and four wounded. There were no immediate reports in state-linked media about the violence on Monday.

Funerals have often been the scene of renewed protests in recent weeks, as they were during the 1979 revolution that brought the clerics to power. The latest demonstrations mark the biggest challenge to the theocracy in over a decade.

At least 426 people have been killed and more than 17,400 arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group monitoring the unrest. It says at least 55 members of the security forces have been killed.

Jalal Mahmoudzadeh, a lawmaker representing the Kurdish city of Mahabad, told the Etemad daily that 11 people have been killed during protests in the city since late October, many of them in recent days. He said some members of the security forces fired upon homes and businesses on Saturday, and he called on authorities to adopt a softer touch.

The unrest cast a shadow over the World Cup on Monday, where the Iranian national team faced off against England. Iran’s players did not sing along to their national anthem, and some fans chanted Amini’s name at the 22nd minute of the match.

The violence has also spilled across the border into neighboring Iraq’s northern Kurdish region. Iran has blamed the unrest at home in part on Kurdish groups based in Iraq, and has targeted them with missile and drone attacks.

Iran said Monday that its latest strikes were necessary to protect the country’s borders, while Kurdish officials condemned the attacks as unprovoked aggression. Iraq’s central government, which is dominated by parties close to Iran, also condemned the strikes.

A strike late Sunday killed a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, said Mohammed Nazif Qaderi, a senior official in the Kurdish Iranian group living in exile in Iraq.

The group said Iranian surface-to-surface missiles and drones hit its bases and adjacent refugee camps in Koya and Jejnikan. The group also asserted that the strikes had hit a hospital in Koya.

The Iranian strikes come in the wake of a visit to Baghdad last week by Esmail Ghaani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

Some Kurdish groups have been engaged in a low-intensity conflict with Tehran since the 1979 revolution. Iran accuses them of inciting protests in Iran and smuggling weapons into the country, allegations the Kurdish groups have denied. Iran has not provided evidence to back up the claims.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters that Iran had acted to “protect its borders and security of its citizens based on its legal rights.” He alleged that the government in Baghdad and the Erbil-based administration of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region had failed to implement purported commitments to prevent threats against Iran from Iraqi areas.

The government of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq condemned the strikes as a “gross infringement of international law and neighborly relations.”

Qaderi told The Associated Press the Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq support the protests in Iran, which he described as a reaction to “the policies of this regime” he said oppresses its people. He denied that his group has sent fighters or weapons to Iran.

He said that his group had moved fighters away from the border to avoid giving Iran an “excuse” for further attacks. He called on the international community to prevent further aggression by Iran.

The United States condemned the latest Iranian strikes. “Such indiscriminate and illegal attacks place civilians at risk, violate Iraqi sovereignty, and jeopardize the hard-fought security and stability of Iraq and the Middle East,” Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, who heads US Central Command, said in a statement.

Sunday’s Iranian strikes in northern Iraq come a day after Türkiye launched deadly airstrikes over northern regions of Syria and Iraq, targeting Kurdish groups that Ankara holds responsible for last week’s bomb attack in Istanbul.

On Monday, Turkish officials said suspected Kurdish militants in Syria fired rockets into the border town of Karkamis in Türkiye, killing two people, including a teacher and a 5-year-old boy.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4000011/activists-iranian-forces-unleash-heavy-fire-protesters%C2%A0.

Iran says average age of arrested protesters is 15

October 5, 2022

According to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the latest protests in Iran are being attended by some of the youngest age groups ever to attend protests in the country.

Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of the IRGC, said today that the average age of the arrests from the protests is 15. He claimed these youths are being encouraged by social media and foreign media to “sacrifice themselves” in the protests. Fadavi did not go into details, but the number is not necessarily shocking. Looking at images of protests in Iran, especially at schools, one can see a predominance of young girls — many not even college-age. 

Among the young women to take part in the protests was 17-year-old Nika Shakarami. She protested against the mandatory hijab and went missing on Sept. 20. According to various opposition sources, she was later buried in a city outside of her hometown. According to social media users, Shakarami was being chased by the police before her death.

According to Iranian media, Shakarami was found lifeless in someone’s front yard. The cause of death was falling from a rooftop, according to official reports. Iranian media said that eight men have been detained for questioning over her death, but there are no further details at this time. 

Iran’s leadership continues to paint these protests as a foreign plot. President Ebrahim Raisi expressed support for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s first comments on the protests, placing the blame on the United States and Israel. Raisi said, “During his speech, the leader presented a complete analysis of the latest events and seditions against the country and the revolution, which were understandable for everyone.” Khamenei said that the United States and Israel are provoking and instigating the protests due to Iran’s progress, and they are unrelated to the mandatory hijab issue.

The protests started over two weeks ago when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was detained by the country’s morality police for violating hijab laws. Amini later fell into a coma at the detention center and died shortly thereafter. Her death caused outrage not only because of the loss of a young life, but because it was during the enforcement of a very unpopular law at the hands of a notorious police unit that is equally unpopular in Iran. 

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei spoke today about Amini’s death. He said that all the events that took place occurred within one hour. After Amini was transferred to the detention center, the video shows her walking back and forth and talking to other individuals. Then she suddenly collapsed and was transferred to a hospital. Iranian authorities have released video, but regardless of the details, the anger stems from the fact that she was detained to begin with.

Source: al-Monitor.

Link: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/10/iran-says-average-age-arrested-protesters-15.

Thailand’s pro-democracy protesters warn of possible coup

November 28, 2020

BANGKOK (AP) — Pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand, undeterred by arrest warrants and the possibility of violent attacks, held another rally on Friday, poking fun at their critics and warning of the possibility of a military coup.

The potential for violence was illustrated after their last rally on Wednesday, when two men were reportedly shot and critically wounded. Although the incident remains murky and its connection to the rally unclear, it was a reminder that the student protesters are vulnerable, especially because of the passions they inspire among some of their opponents.

The protest movement’s core demands are for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his government to step down, the constitution to be amended to be more democratic, and the monarchy reformed to make it more accountable.

Their issue concerning the monarchy is the most controversial because the royal institution by law and tradition is virtually untouchable, and regarded by many as the bedrock of national identity. The military has declared defense of the monarchy to be among its foremost duties.

The protest leaders believe that King Maha Vajiralongkorn holds more power than is appropriate under a constitutional monarchy, and have made that the centerpiece of their campaigning in recent weeks. Although any criticism of the monarchy used to be taboo, speeches at the rallies — as well as signs and chants __ include caustic words about the king and the palace.

In response, Thai authorities this past week escalated their legal battle against protest leaders, charging 12 of them with violating a harsh law against defaming the monarchy. The lese majeste law carries a penalty of three to 15 years’ imprisonment, but has not been used for the past three years.

Historically, defending the monarchy has been abused for political reasons. It has also triggered violence, most notably in 1976, when it led to the killings of dozens of students at a university protest against the return from exile of an ousted military dictator. That event was the trigger for a coup, and since then Thailand has had successful coups in 1977, 1991, 2006 and 2014.

There is concern that if the government feels it cannot control the protests, which show little sign of abating, it may impose martial law or be ousted by the army in a coup. Some speakers on Friday evening urged the crowd to take measures to resist any coup that might be launched.

Panupong “Mike Rayong” Jadnok urged both symbolic and actual resistance in case the military tried a takeover. “If a coup is staged, please tie a white ribbon in front of your house. If they take it away, we will just tie one back on again,” he said.

He said people should also abandon their cars in the road, declaring that “A coup cannot be achieved again as long as we come out and seize every intersection across the country.” Resisting any coup attempt was the nominal theme of the rally, which began in a festival-like atmosphere that has marked many of the protest events. Oversized inflatable yellow rubber ducks that became icons of the movement after they were used as shields against police water cannons were joined by balloons in the image of silvery space aliens. The balloons are displayed to mock accusations that foreigners — “aliens” — fund and direct the protest movement.

Earlier Friday, in another sign that the government was stiffening its crackdown, a television commentator who has been covering the protests said he had been summoned by police to face a charge of violating an emergency decree banning the rallies that was temporarily in force in October. The decree was ignored by protesters, with little attempt at enforcement.

Sirote Klampaiboon works with Voice TV, a digital TV and web station that is sympathetic to the protest movement. It has livesteamed all of the major rallies, and the government sought to shut it down but was told by a court that it improperly tried to do so.

Sirote said he was being bullied. “I don’t know what I did wrong. I am not a protester. I went to the protest as a reporter. In my life, I’ve never done anything illegal,” he said on his TV talk show.

Associated Press writer Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul contributed to this report.

Thai police revive royal defamation law ahead of protest

November 25, 2020

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities have escalated their legal battle against the students leading pro-democracy protests, charging 12 of them with violating a harsh law against defaming the monarchy. News of the charges comes as the Thai capital Bangkok girded for another rally Wednesday as the students push their demands that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his government step down, the constitution be amended to make it more democratic, and the monarchy be reformed to be made more accountable.

Police on Tuesday issued summonses for 12 protest leaders to answer charges of lese majeste, defaming or insulting key members of the royal family. The offense is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment.

The law is controversial, because anyone — not just royals or authorities — can lodge a complaint, so it had in the past been used as a weapon in political vendettas. But it has not been employed for the past three years, after King Maha Vajiralongkorn informed the government that he did not wish to see its use. The king has not publicly commented on the law since then.

According to the legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the 12 suspects include top protest leaders known for their public criticism of the monarchy. Many in the student-led protest movement believe the monarchy holds too much power for a constitutional monarchy. But their challenge is fiercely opposed by royalists, who consider the royal institution an untouchable bedrock of national identity.

One of the 12 protest leaders, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, posted his response to the summons on Twitter on Tuesday, saying: “I am not afraid anymore. The ceiling (of our demands) is destroyed. Nobody can stop us now.”

The protest movement late Tuesday night announced a change of venue for their latest rally, which was to put a focus on the monarchy. It had earlier announced that it would be held outside the offices of the Crown Property Bureau, which manages the vast fortune controlled by the king.

The target was switched to the head office of the Siam Commercial Bank, a publicly-held company in which the king is the biggest shareholder. The bank’s headquarters are in a different area of Bangkok, far from the district hosting the Crown Property Bureau and other royal and government offices.

The protest movement announced the change of venue was to avoid a confrontation with police and royalist counter demonstrators, which they said they feared could trigger a declaration of martial law or a coup by the military.

Barbed wire had already been installed around the Crown Property Bureau offices and the government had declared an exclusion zone of 150 meters (500 feet) around the property into which it would be illegal for protesters to enter. The bank, as a commercial enterprise rather than a royal office, apparently would not fall into the legal category of areas where an exclusion zone could be declared.

A protest rally on Nov. 17 turned chaotic, as police employed water cannons and tear gas to block the protesters from entering the Parliament grounds. At least 55 people were hurt, including six reported to have had gunshot wounds, incurred in circumstances that remain unclear. Police denied firing live rounds or rubber bullets.

The next day, several thousand demonstrators gathered outside the national headquarters of the police in central Bangkok to protest the use of force. The rally at police headquarters was nonviolent but fueled royalist outrage at the protest movement, as demonstrators defaced the Royal Thai Police sign and scrawled graffiti and chanted slogans that could be considered derogatory to the king.

Prayuth reacted by declaring that the protesters had gone too far and could now expect to be prosecuted for their illegal actions. While protest leaders have faced dozens of charges over the past few months, they have generally been freed on bail, and none have yet come to trial.

A statement issued Wednesday by Free Youth, a driving force in a coalition of protest groups, called Thailand a failed state whose people “are ruled by capitalists, military, and feudalists.” “And under this state, the ruling class oppress the people who are the true founders and heirs of this country,” said the statement, the most strident issued so far in the name of the group.

Many of their rallies have had a light-hearted element, with clever slogans and songs. But the statement declared that “This is not a frivolous fad, it is a fearless fight to light up the future in our generation.”

Thai lawmakers debate demands for constitutional changes

November 17, 2020

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s political battleground shifted Tuesday from the streets to the country’s Parliament, where lawmakers are considering proposals to amend the constitution, one of the core demands of the nation’s student-led pro-democracy movement.

Seven draft constitutional amendments are scheduled to be voted on in a two-day joint session of the House and Senate. Constitutional changes require a joint vote of those two bodies. Any that are passed will have to go through second and third readings at least a month after this week’s vote.

Thailand has had 20 constitutions since abolishing the absolute monarchy in 1932 in favor of a constitutional monarchy. It is not expected that Parliament at this point will agree on specific changes for inclusion in a new charter, though the protesters back a draft that would roll back aspects of the current 2017 constitution — enacted during military rule — that granted extra powers to unelected branches of government.

Instead, Parliament is likely to establish a constitution drafting committee to write a new charter. This would allow the government to say it is willing to meet the protesters’ demands at least halfway, while buying time with a process that could extend over many months.

Consensus could also be reached on a draft that would allow all points in the constitution to be amended, with the significant exception of articles concerning the monarchy. Reform of the monarchy is another key demand of the protest movement, which believes the royal institution is too powerful and lacking accountability.

But any consideration of sections concerning the monarchy is fiercely opposed by the government and its supporters, who consider the institution untouchable. The sole draft that calls for considering amending all parts of the constitution is almost certain to be rejected.

The pro-democracy movement, which supports substantial changes to the constitution, says it plans to have its followers surround the Parliament building in a show of strength. The movement has been staging mass rallies of thousands of people around the country for months.

A contending group of a couple of hundred royalists who oppose changes gathered outside of Parliament on Tuesday morning as the session opened and departed ahead of the expected afternoon arrival of the pro-democracy group.

The Parliamentary session is an effort by the government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to take the initiative away from the pro-democracy movement, which in addition to seeking constitutional changes and reforms to the monarchy wants Prayuth and his government to step down.

The protesters allege that Prayuth, who as army chief in 2014 led a coup that ousted an elected government, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s election because laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. The protesters also say the constitution, written and enacted under military rule, is undemocratic.

It is their unprecedented demand for reforms to the monarchy that has caused the most stir. The issue touches a raw nerve in Thailand, where reverence for the royal institution is inculcated from birth and protected by a law that makes defaming the monarch and his immediate family punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The most controversial amendment is the one proposed by a progressive civic association, the Internet Law Reform Dialogue, which collected about 100,000 signatures to put it on the parliamentary agenda. It seeks many specific changes to the 2017 charter, but its biggest sticking point is that it would allow changes to be made in articles in the constitution covering the monarchy.

Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed to this report.

Thai Parliament meets to debate political protest tensions

October 26, 2020

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament began a special session Monday that was called to address tensions as pro-democracy protests draw students and other demonstrators into the streets almost daily demanding the prime minister’s resignation and other reforms.

As Speaker of the House Chuan Leekpai began the session, only 450 of the total of 731 members of both houses had signed in for the meeting. The demonstrations by student-led groups in the Bangkok and other cities have three main demands: that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha step down, the constitution be amended to make it more democratic and reforms be made to the monarchy to make it more accountable.

Chuan cautioned that the Parliament session was not to discuss the monarchy’s role. Public criticism of the monarchy is unprecedented in a country where the royal institution has been considered sacrosanct and royalists have denounced the protesters for raising the issue.

The protesters allege Prayuth, who led a coup in 2014 as the army chief, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s election because laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. The protesters also say the constitution, written and enacted under military rule, is undemocratic.

In his opening speech Monday, Prayuth said he and his government are aware that this is an era of change, pushed by technology. “But we have to admit that in Thailand, millions, tens of millions, of people do not want to see change though chaos,” he said, referring to different points of view over the protesters and their demands. “Everyone has their own beliefs.”

He called for Parliament to “creatively find a balance” between competing views. Opposition leader Sompong Amornvivat of the Pheu Thai party criticized Prayuth for his handling of the crisis. He called on the government to listen to all the protesters’ demands, to amend the constitution, and to ease tensions by measures such as releasing arrested students and backing off from threats to censor the media.

He ended his remarks with a call for Prayuth’s resignation, charging that he was part of the problem. The non-voting session of Parliament is expected to last two days. The protesters have little confidence in the parliamentary path, declaring the government’s efforts insincere.

They noted the points of discussion submitted by Prayuth’s government for debate dealt not with the protesters’ concerns but were thinly disguised criticisms of the protests themselves. They concern instead the risk of the coronavirus spreading at rallies, the alleged interference with a royal motorcade by a small crowd earlier this month, and illegal gatherings and the destruction of images of the royal family. Prayuth in his opening remarks referred to these as the reasons for holding the session.

Instead of confronting lawmakers and counter-protesters on Monday, the pro-democracy protest organizers have called for an afternoon march to the German Embassy, apparently to bring attention to the time King Maha Vajiralongkorn spends in Germany.

Vajiralongkorn has for years spent significant time in Germany, but it only became an issue after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in 2016. Bhumibol was king for seven decades, and though he traveled extensively on state visits in the early years of his reign — including being welcomed with a ticker tape parade in New York City — he only left the country once after the 1960s and that was an overnight stay in neighboring Laos.

Vajiralongkorn’s ability to spend time abroad has been made easier by changes his office sought and received to the current constitution that no longer require him to appoint a regent when away from the kingdom.

Germany’s foreign minister, recently questioned in Parliament by a member of the Green Party, expressed concern over any political activities the king might be conducting on the country’s soil. The king in recent weeks has been in Thailand with a busy schedule of ceremonial events.

Protesters’ criticism of the royal institution has roiled conservative Thais. Self-proclaimed “defenders of the monarchy” mobilized last week online and in rallies in several cities, in many cases led by local civil servants.

Thailand’s Parliament in September was scheduled to vote on six proposed constitutional amendments but instead set up a committee to further consider such proposals, and then recessed. Constitutional changes require a joint vote of the House and the Senate, but the proposals lack support in the Senate, whose members are not elected and are generally very conservative and hostile to the protesters.

Thai protesters carry on demonstrations despite warnings

October 18, 2020

BANGKOK (AP) — Pro-democracy activists in Thailand launched their fifth straight days of protests on Sunday, scheduling demonstrations not just in the capital but also at several other locations around the country.

The demonstrators received a new warning from police that they are violating the law. On Saturday, however, few people were arrested as peaceful rallies were held at several points around Bangkok, the capital, with several thousand people taking part.

The protest movement — which is calling for the prime minister’s resignation, a more democratic constitution and a reformed monarchy — began in March at universities around the country. After a lull due to the coronavirus crisis, it was revived in late July, building up strength, particularly in Bangkok.

On Sunday, rallies were called in at least a dozen provinces, including Chiang Mai, a popular tourist destination in northern Thailand. The authorities in Bangkok tried in vain to keep people from gathering by selectively shutting down stations on Bangkok’s elevated and underground mass transit lines. On Saturday, after protest organizers urged followers to meet at the city’s Skytrain stations, they ordered all stations to be closed, to little avail.

The current cycle of confrontations began before dawn Thursday, when police broke up an overnight rally outside Government House, which hosts the offices of Prime Minister Prayuth Chaon-ocha. It led Prayuth to declare a state of emergency, banning gatherings of more than five people and allowing the government extra powers to keep the peace.

Protesters ignored the emergency decree and gathered Thursday night in large numbers at a major intersection in Bangkok’s central shopping district. overcoming half-hearted resistance by thin lines of police.

A Friday night rally at a nearby intersection was crushed by a large forced of riot police backed by a truck-mounted water cannon. The use of force was condemned by rights organizations. Police made no efforts to break up Saturday’s gatherings, which ended peacefully at 8 p.m., as scheduled by organizers.

A statement issued late Saturday night by Prayuth’s office said the government had acted within the law in seeking to stop the rallies, and did not intend to deny people their rights. “The situation is very dynamic at the moment,” police deputy spokesperson Kissana Phatanacharoen said at a Sunday morning news conference. “There is no formula as to what we do or what we don’t do.”

He said that if people failed to obey the law, police would be compelled to enforce it. The protesters charge that Prayuth, who as army commander led a 2014 coup that toppled an elected government, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election because laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. The protesters say a constitution promulgated under military rule and passed in a referendum in which campaigning against it was illegal is undemocratic.

The protest movement became particularly controversial when it adopted reform of the monarchy as a demand. The protesters want it to act within the checks and balances of democracy. The monarchy has long been considered sacrosanct in Thailand, and is protected by a law that makes defaming the royal institution punishable by three to 15 years imprisonment. The issue has angered Thailand’s conservative establishment, especially the army, which considers protecting the monarchy to be one of its main duties.