Press Statement:    As a state party to the UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) which has become effective to the country since 1 November 2007 and a signatory  to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance since 9 January 2012, Thailand is obliged to promulgate domestic law to implement the Conventions. Previously, the Ministry of Justice’ by the Rights and Liberties Protection Department had been making an effort for the enactment of the law. And on 27 December 2016, the Draft Act for the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances B.E….was approved by the cabinet and was submitted to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for legislation. However, surprisingly, on 21 February 2017, the NLA’s Ad Hoc Vetting Committee has decided to send back the draft law to the cabinet for another review. We, the undersigned, human rights organizations monitoring situations of torture and enforced disappearance in Thailand,  express  our concerns as follow;  

1. According to human rights organizations monitoring situation in the Deep South and the rest of the country which is ruled by the coup-driven military junta, none of the complaints of the acts of torture and enforced disappearance allegedly committed by the government officials have been effectively investigated and no one has been brought to justice as a result of such illegal acts.

There have been a few cases that the victims have to seek judicial recourse by themselves and have eventually been awarded some compensation. Criminal liability has, however, not been realized due to legal and practical obstacles including a lack of specific law to criminalize both the acts of torture and enforced disappearance, a lack of impartiality of the authorities which have the powers to carry out the investigation or inquiry into the alleged offences committed by influential officials or committed at the instructions or acquiescence of the commanding officials. This has also become a hindrance to access to incriminating evidence and in certain cases, relatives or family members of the victims of enforced disappearance have been deprived of the legal standing and unable to bring the case to the court against the perpetrators including the criminal cases against the        accused who are military officials. They have also been barred from becoming co-plaintiffs in such criminal suits or in the cases tried in the Military Court. There have been reports that either intimidation or judicial harassment has been made by the alleged officials against the complainants. This failure of Thai state has happened in cases including the alleged torture against Imam Yapha Kaseng, the enforced disappearance of Somchai Neelapaijit and Pholachi Rakchongcharoen (aka ‘Billy’) as a result of which none of the perpetrators in these cases have been brought to justice.

2. In particular, after the 22 May 2014 coup, the military have been bestowed with power to hold in custody a person without charges for seven days without disclosing their whereabouts, with non-communicado by denying their access to lawyers or the visit and communication with relatives. Such power is made possible by invoking Martial Law and the Head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Orders No. 3/2558 and 13/2559 issued by the virtue of Section 44 of the military made Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014). Such legal frameworks have subject people to vulnerabilities including the risk of torture and enforced disappearance. Worse, Section 44 justifies the acts of the officials by providing that their acts shall be recognized as lawful, constitutional, not subject to the judicial review and final and it has given rise to impunity.

 

3. The undersigned human rights organizations are, therefore, gravely concerned about the violations of the obligations under  the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which provides that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Apart from not having domestic laws in place to effectively ensure the victims and their families access to the remedies, now there have been increasing legal actions taken against those who dare to complain about the alleged torture and the ongoing impunity of the perpetrators as a result of a lack of domestic laws to enable the provisions of both the Conventions and how the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014) continues to justify such acts of human rights violation.

The undersigned human rights organizations demand that the Thai government endeavor to expedite the effort to promptly ensure effective investigation of complaints about the acts of torture or enforced disappearance, effective protection of those complaining about the acts of torture or enforced disappearance and the promulgation of domestic laws to implement the  of the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)’s Article 7 to which Thailand is a state party. With respect in people’s rights and liberties Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) Community Resources Centre Foundation (CRC) Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF)