Journal of Human Rights and Peace Studies

Examining the Impact of SLAPPs on Income Inequality: An In-depth Case Study from Thailand

2023-10-27T21:42:14+07:00

In recent decades, Thailand’s impressive economic growth and substantial poverty reduction have been overshadowed by the persistent challenge of income inequality, hindering the nation’s progress. This paper explores the correlation between income inequality and a surge in strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) in Thailand. Drawing on diverse data sources, this study identifies sustained income inequality as a driving force behind the rise in SLAPPs, and vice versa, thus disproportionately affecting economically disadvantaged groups and exacerbating socio-economic disparities. To counteract these trends, the paper advocates reinforcing Thailand’s anti-SLAPP legislation, adopting relevant business initiatives, and fostering active stakeholder engagement to promote a supportive ecosystem for activists and poor, low-income SLAPP victims. These measures are crucial for preserving democratic values, addressing the multifaceted challenges of SLAPPs, and creating a more equitable and participatory societal landscape.

State versus Human Security: Critical Focus on Pakistan

2023-12-04T14:17:21+07:00

Balancing state and human security poses a formidable challenge for developing states like Pakistan. In 2023, Pakistan allocated 3 percent of its GDP for traditional security and ranked as the 8th largest global arms importer. Despite allocating substantial resources to counter traditional security threats, Pakistan has a conspicuous oversight in addressing human security, depriving its people of empowerment and development. This study examines the intricate relationship between state and human security in Pakistan, evaluating the deleterious impact of prioritizing state security over human security. This study contends that such an approach diminishes people's security. With a desk research method, the analysis discloses a disconcerting human insecurity situation in Pakistan. These are high poverty rates (37 percent), substantial illiteracy (40 percent), 1.1 million children living on the streets, 19 million child brides, and gender inequality (ranked 161 out of 191 countries). The study demonstrates that relying solely on prioritizing traditional state security proves inadequate and leaves limited development resources for people's security, particularly in the realms of socioeconomic and educational insecurity. The human security concept, emphasizing people-centered security and freedom from fear and want, underscores the imperative of a more balanced approach. Therefore, investing in human security, specifically socio-economic and educational security, empowers individuals and communities and helps provide freedom from the fear of poverty and educational insecurity. In conclusion, addressing both state and human security concerns through balanced policies utilizing a human security approach is indispensable.

Human Trafficking in the European Football Industry

2023-11-24T10:57:12+07:00

Young football players in developing or least developed countries may benefit from a wide range of rights when moving to European countries to take up employment to provide a service in the European football industries. The European countries have been influential in the EU in developing these rights, and the European Union (EU) policy builds on key principles for tackling the trafficking of young football players. It sets out a coherent policy framework of child protection across a spectrum of safeguarding young football players and the integrity of European football. The EU and its member states, work to ensure that young football players and their families are aware of their human rights and what to do when they can be trafficked and/or exploited within and across borders for labor exploitation. This paper had some impact on the evolution of EU laws, policies, and practices relevant to the safeguarding of young players and the integrity of European football. It, therefore, is divided into six parts. The first two parts offer an overview of fraudulent recruitment practices of fake football agents in trafficking into Europe. The third part overviews key differences between counterfeit and real football agents. The fourth and fifth parts deal with elimination of fake football agents in terms of the FIFA global football ruling and relevant aspects of European football ruling in the UEFA regulatory system. The sixth part examines the EU law as a tool to combat and overcome human trafficking in the European sports industry.

Sacred Values, Independence Movements, and Violence

2023-11-01T17:23:04+07:00

Sacred values are values that a community attaches importance to beyond any price. They are values that cannot be compared or exchanged with worldly values (secular values). Sacred values include life, love, nature, health, justice, dignity, etc. The worldly values are values such as money, comfort, position, etc. Exchanging sacred values for secular values is regarded as forbidden. Suppose conflicting groups have different sacred values, such as the Catalans and the Spaniards, Israelis and Palestinians, the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts in Thailand, and the Patani people and the Thai state. In that case, the solution without conflict and the path to peace face great hindrances. A backfire effect can lead to new or renewed violence if not carefully attempted. The reason for the independence movement’s position is mainly about the preservation of sacred values. If violence is the only means by which these sacred values can be preserved, then violence will continue. But if one can find another way to protect sacred values without violence, that approach could be a peaceful solution.

Development of Environmental Human Rights in Thai Constitutions 1932 – 2017

2023-10-23T22:44:31+07:00

This study explores the emergence and development of environmental human rights in the Thai constitutions between 1932 and 2017 through documentary research and text analysis of the 20 constitutions Thailand has had since 1932. For this study, environmental human rights do not include rights of the environment but include both substantive and procedural forms of human rights related to environmental protection. The study's result shows that before the 1974 Constitution, environmental human rights existed incidentally as part of other rights afforded to the citizens of Thailand. Texts related directly to environmental protection first appeared in the 1974 Constitution. The most extensive development of the procedural environmental rights occurred in the 1997 Constitution. Afterwards, no substantive rights have been included. The study points out that Thailand has no constitution that unambiguously recognizes substantive environmental human rights. It should be noted that the scope of this study does not include the implementation of constitutional text and, therefore, does not preclude the possibility that substantive rights could be interpreted from the text in actual legal practices.

The Precarity at the Sea: The Experience of the Domestic Fishery Vessel Workers in Indonesia

2023-11-03T11:26:28+07:00

Compared to the land-based sector, research on the domestic fishery vessel worker is scarce, causing academic, practitioner, and policymaker difficulty to describe their nature and current situation. Therefore, the research inquires what is the situation of fishery vessel workers in Indonesia. The purpose of this article is to describe the working conditions of fishery vessel workers in Indonesia in accordance with the International Labour Organization Convention 188 and Indonesia Fishery Human Rights. Drawn from a mixed method approach with surveys in Jakarta, North Sulawesi, Bali, and Maluku with a total of 318 respondents, our findings suggested the nature of fishery vessel workers is precariat work which lacks job, income and social security. Their precariousness could be indicated by the irregularity of their work, unclear employment law, no fixed income, and their vulnerable social background. As a result of precariousness, rights violations exist in the fishing industry, especially as the Indonesian government has yet to ratify the ILO Convention 188. The study will provide an implication for the study of precariat work in Indonesia as well as the scholarly discussions on rights violations in the seafood industry.

Digital rights in the post-coup Myanmar: Enabling factors for digital authoritarianism

2023-10-09T10:16:28+07:00

This paper examines emerging characteristics of digital authoritarianism in Myanmar that negatively affect citizen’s freedom of expression. Analyzing the enabling factors of digital authoritarianism that come together with the digital development agenda of its reform years, this paper argues that the recent digital development has been fostered in three facets: (1) self-initiative of successive Myanmar governments under a new digital policy framework, (2) priorities driven by development projects between Myanmar and its development partners, and (3) rapid expansion of the digital market driven by private-public partnership model. In recent years, multi-dimensional reform has offered the current military regime and previous governments the opportunity to acquire higher digital capability for governing. Parts of the digital technology inherited from the reform period are double-edged swords that now serve the interest of the coup leaders. This paper argues that access to digital technology that came under the gown of advancing democracy and economic liberalization had aided the military’s effective control of freedom of expression in offline and online public spheres. The paper concludes that the regime’s practice of limited liberalism is a reality to be blamed for as it willingly embraces economic liberalization but still opposes liberal values deemed not fitting the ruling ideologies and interests of the power elites. Friends of Myanmar who encouraged the expansion of e-governance and commerce in the reform era eventually had to deal with the coup maker’s drastic authoritarian curve when Myanmar found itself better equipped with a newly devised sophisticated digital surveillance and censorship system.

Editorial Note

2024-04-22T13:34:44+07:00