UN blasts Thai junta for detentions over 'Hunger Games' salute

The United Nations criticized Thailand's ruling junta on Friday for detaining people who made a three-fingered protest salute inspired by "The Hunger Games" books and movies, as the Thai prime minister warned that demonstrators using the defiant gesture could "jeopardize their future."

The salute has become an unofficial symbol of resistance against the Thai army's May coup, with scores detained for using it, including six students this week.

The gesture features in the Hollywood blockbuster franchise, where it is used by rebels battling a dictatorial regime. The heroine, Katniss Everdeen, has become an inspiration for many women and girls as she takes on the government in a fictional, dystopian future, where people live in poverty to serve the extreme capitalist system of their leaders.

"I'm not concerned by the three-finger protest," Thailand’s junta chief and Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters Friday. But he added: "I don't know whether it is illegal or not but it could jeopardize their futures."

His comments came as the U.N. Human Rights Office for South-East Asia (OHCHR) criticized Thai authorities for a recent spate of incidents in which people were led away for questioning after making the salute.

"This case is the latest illustration of a worrying pattern of human rights violations, which has the effect of suppressing critical and independent voices," local OHCHR representative Matilda Bogner told Agence France-Presse.

Ongoing martial law makes any public demonstration illegal, and the military regime said Friday it has no plans to lift the restrictions any time soon.

"It will stay until the country has peace and order," junta spokesman Col. Werachon Sukondhapatipak told AFP.

On Thursday officers detained a female university student outside an upmarket Bangkok mall for flashing the “Hunger Games” salute in front of a large publicity poster for the film.

A day earlier the military briefly held five students for flashing the three-finger sign during a speech by Prayut in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen.

All have since been released.

"I don't want to punish them [the students] so they were merely reprimanded, released and told not to do it again because it's of no benefit to anyone," Prayut said.

Some cinemas in Thailand have cancelled screenings of the film following the protest. But Prayut denied ordering cinemas to stop showing the film.

"I am not involved in that," he said, adding he had seen the latest “Hunger Games” installment.

The military took power in May following months of political turmoil and street protests in the capital. A modicum of calm has since returned to the streets, but human rights groups say the country’s freedom of expression has been severely curtailed.

Separately, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) said 15 of the 20 individuals currently behind bars on charges of insulting Thailand's monarchy have been either detained or imprisoned since the May coup. It accused the junta Friday of using Thailand's draconian lese majeste laws to launch a "witch hunt."

"Under the pretext of protecting the monarchy, the junta has embarked on a witch hunt that has significantly eroded fundamental human rights," FIDH President Karim Lahidji said.

Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse