Rights Watchdog Says Thai Police Used Excessive Force To Disperse Riots Against APEC

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2022) A prominent international human rights organization said on Tuesday that the Thai police used excessive force, including firing rubber bullets, to disperse a protest against the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok on November 18.

The 29th APEC Summit took place in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 18-19. Human Rights Watch (HRW) gathered information by interviewing demonstrators and witnesses, as well as by reviewing photos and videos from reporters on police response to protests.

HRW has learned that 200 demonstrators from the Citizens Stop Apec 2022 coalition tried to storm the venue of the summit. The police blocked the rally about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away from the site and eventually used batons to beat the demonstrators that were trying to push through the blockade.

"The Thai government's use of force against demonstrators tarnished its hosting of the APEC summit and spotlighted its intolerance of dissenting voices," Asia director at HRW, Elaine Pearson, said.

In addition, the Thai riot police continued to use force against marchers in custody; officers kicked and punched people, as well as fired rubber bullets from close range, according to the rights watchdog.

According to Thai media reports on the day of protests, the riot was directed not so much against the APEC forum as against its holding by Thailand "in the conditions of the complete collapse of the country's economy by the dictatorship." The protesters first staged a "dictatorship guillotine ceremony" by constructing a mock guillotine and decapitating an effigy resembling Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who came to power in 2014 as the head of a military coup and then was elected prime minister in 2019.