Attitude Adjustment: National Council for Peace and Order’s Tool for Freedom of Expression Limitation

Abstract

Since the 2014 coup by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), many individuals who express their political view and journalists who investigate of the government have been summoned for talks and detained. Such treatment has been called “attitude adjustment” session which is authorized by the martial law and the Head of NCPO Order Number 3/2015 and 13/2016, granting the NCPO authority to detain people for up to 7 days. This article focuses on studying the process of the NCPO’s attitude adjustment and its impacts through in-depth Interviews of legal experts, journalists and those who underwent the session, and also collects media interviews of those whose went through the session. After an initial study into the process of the NCPO’s attitude adjustment session, from summoning to releasing, the researcher has found at least 8 patterns which are summoning, travelling, Physical examination/basic information, staying at a military camp, eating, talks/investigation, releasing and after releasing. On the impacts of the NCPO’s attitude adjustment session, the researcher has found three significant impacts -- the human rights violation of those who underwent the session, the suppression of freedom of political expression and the effects on the justice system.