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| Southeast Asia |
| Monk wants Human Rights Watch booted out of Thailand |
| 2015-10-02 |
| [AA.TR] A Thai Buddhist monk and around 100 followers have marched on the United States Embassy in Bangkok to demand Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... be removed from the country. Activist Monk Buddha Issara -- renowned for his protests against Yingluck Shinawatra's democratically elected government ousted in last year's coup -- called on the Embassy on Thursday to either remove the organization from Thailand or stop it from "interfering in local affairs." Issara's group is unhappy with the U.S.-based NGO for calling for a review of section 112 of Penal Code 9 (the country's lese majeste law) and for advocating for those found guilty under the law. Issara was allowed access inside the Embassy where he submitted a letter to new U.S. Ambassador Glyn T Davies. "The actions of Human Rights Watch are not neutral and are biased on one side of the political spectrum," it claimed. The lese majeste laws prosecute those seen to defame the reigning monarch, his family, and the heir apparent and his family. Critics, including Human Rights Watch, argue that the law is being unfairly abused for political purposes. While the governing body of monks, or the Sangha, generally avoid politics and discourages involvement in politics by individual monks, there have been instances of monks becoming involved in political issues. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Damn, now that's some serious inside baseball! Thanks! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-10-02 20:42 |
| #1 "The lese majeste laws [of Thailand] prosecute those seen to defame the reigning monarch, his family, and the heir apparent and his family. A remembrance of things past: A similar case of lese majeste that occurred during the Carter administration led State Department factotums Pat Derian and Richard Holbrooke to attmept to end AUD assistance. This was countered by superdiplomat Philip Habib who at a meeting of principals ripped the two twits in a way rarely seen in Foggy Bottom. Habib reminded the twits that Thailand had been a close friend for more than one-hundred years and no misguided use of human rights would alter that friendship. |
| Posted by: Beldar Sloque3832 2015-10-02 10:35 |