We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, express deep concern over Thailand’s sentencing of activist and conscientious objector Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal to six months in prison, suspended for one year, for refusing to participate in compulsory military conscription. The ruling marks a concerning development for freedom of thought and conscience in the country. We commit our continuous support and advocacy for Netiwit as he faces this unjust sentencing.
On Monday, July 20, 2026, the Samut Prakan District Court found Netiwit guilty of violating the Military Service Act (1954), noting that the law does not provide an exemption from military conscription on the basis of religious belief or conscience. The ruling follows the Thai Constitutional Court’s May 2026 decision, which upheld the constitutionality of Thailand’s compulsory military conscription law and allowed the criminal case against him to proceed. The government previously charged Netiwit for refusing to participate in the 2024 mandatory conscription process as an act of peaceful civil disobedience grounded in his religious and moral beliefs.
Although my prison sentence has been suspended, this struggle is not finished. Thailand’s government and courts still refuse to recognize conscientious objection as a fundamental right. But this ruling has also opened an important moment: many young people are now questioning compulsory military service and considering conscientious objection themselves, said Netiwit. With sustained solidarity and international pressure, this case can help transform an individual act of refusal into a broader movement for freedom of conscience, human dignity, and meaningful reform.
Netiwit, a Thai human rights activist and practitioner of non-violence, firmly opposes bearing arms and taking part in actions that could harm or take the lives of others. Following the 2014 military coup, he declared that he would refuse Thailand’s mandatory conscription. He participated in the Human Rights Foundation (HRF)’s first Freedom Fellowship cohort in 2019, a program that supports nonviolence advocates around the world.
His case is widely regarded as the first of a conscientious objector in Thailand.
We stand in firm solidarity with Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and urgently call on Thailand to respect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
Signed,
- Jhanisse Vaca Daza, Freedom Fellowship Director at the Human Rights Foundation
- The Human Rights Foundation’s Freedom Fellowship Alumni
- Raphael Adebayo, Nigerian activist and author
- William Leslie Amanzuru, Ugandan environmental human rights defender
- Shely Andriamihaja, Malagasy transparency activist
- David Aragort, Venezuelan digital rights advocate and technologist
- Carolina Ballivián Fernández, Bolivian environmental rights activist
- Fred Bauma, Congolese pro-democracy activist
- Malcolm Bidali, Kenyan migrant workers’ rights activist
- INTREPID South Sudan (ISS), South Sudanese civil society organization, and its civic movement Sout Al Shaab
- Farida Bemba Nabourema, Togolese human rights activist and writer
- Marina Dubina, Belarusian environmental rights defender
- Edipcia Dubón, Nicaraguan human rights activist
- Jonathan Duarte, Nicaraguan-American political consultant and electoral campaign strategist
- Md Saiful Islam, Bangladeshi human rights activist
- Carmen Lau, Hong Kong activist and former elected district councillor
- Ríos de Pie (“Standing Rivers”), Bolivian nonviolent movement
- Yunier Suarez Rodriguez, Cuban human rights defender and artist
- Alejandra Serrate, Bolivian attorney and human rights activist
- Joey Siu, Hong Kong activist
- Alexa Zamora, Nicaraguan human rights and political activist
