Veterans For Peace

Veteran Daniel Bernier at Delaney Hall ICE detention center.
The prison is a hellhole, insufficient and poor-quality food, systematic medical neglect, verbally and physically aggressive guards, extreme cold in the winter, and lack of basic supplies like toilet paper.
People detained at Delaney Hall and facilities across the country are being pressured into signing documents waiving their rights to pursue their legal case and agreeing to be deported.
Delaney Hall is operated by the GEO Group, a for-profit prison corporation. GEO Group and CoreCivic together run most of the nation’s detention centers. Detained immigrants are forced to perform facility work—including cooking, cleaning, shoveling, and laundry—for little to no pay.
These companies have profited enormously from the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda. GEO Group’s profits surged from $32 million in 2024 to more than $254 million in 2025 as the administration vastly expanded ICE contracts.

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We are deeply disappointed by the decision of the Samut Prakan District Court to find conscientious objector Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal guilty for refusing military conscription. In its decision of 20 July, the court imposed a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year. The conviction represents a serious violation of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, protected under Article 18 of the ICCPR to which Thailand is a party.

Netiwit Ntw's case is the first criminal prosecution in Thailand centred on conscientious objection to military service. For more than a decade, he has consistently and publicly maintained his refusal to participate in military service on grounds of conscience. Rather than recognising and protecting this right, the Thai authorities have chosen to criminalise its peaceful exercise.

This judgment is a missed opportunity for Thailand to bring its laws into line with international human rights standards. Conscientious objection to military service is a human right inherent in the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. No one should face criminal sanctions for refusing to participate in military service because of their deeply held beliefs.

We stand in solidarity with Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and all those who refuse participation in war and military service. We reiterate our call on the Thai authorities to recognise the right to conscientious objection in law and practice, to end the criminalisation of conscientious objectors, and to ensure that no one is punished for the peaceful exercise of their conscience.



https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2026/statement-conviction-thai-conscientious-objector-netiwit-chotiphatphaisal