article_snippet.sent: Prayuth -- head of the National Council for Peace and Order
article_snippet.sent: Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the new security order would allow Prayuth "to issue orders without administrative, legislative, or judicial oversight or accountability."
article_snippet.sent: Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher on Thailand, told CNN the move would see Prayuth "become a strongman with ultimate power in the junta leader hands to wield as the junta leader wishes."
article_snippet.sent: Rupert Abbott, deputy director for Asia Pacific at Amnesty International, called in a statement for the NCPO to "reinstate the rule of law and constitutional protections for human rights which the 2014 coup steamrolled over.
article_snippet.sent: Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed alarm at the news.
article_snippet.sent: This clearly leaves the door wide open to serious violations of fundamental human rights.
article_snippet.sent: Amnesty International says that since May, hundreds of people have been arbitrarily held and dozens brought before military courts for engaging in peaceful political gatherings or expression.
article_snippet.sent: A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said it was important that Thai citizens were allowed "to freely exercise Thai citizens fundamental rights, including the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.