Enforcement delay raises rights fears
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed its disappointment after the cabinet decided to postpone enforcing some key provisions of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act.
The act was written years after the country joined the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) in 2007 and, later, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) in 2012.
It was published in the Royal Gazette on Oct 25 of last year and is set to take effect on Feb 22 — after more than 14 years of campaigning to make it a reality.
However, on Tuesday, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek announced the postponement of Sections 22-25 from the previous plan to Oct 1, citing a lack of budget to buy equipment, especially police body cameras, and a shortage of skills as reasons for the delay.
According to the act, those sections require officers and authorities to record detainees’ information, including photos and video recordings, while maintaining as much privacy as possible.
Following the announcement, NHRC Commissioner Wasan Paileeklee expressed concern about the country’s reliance on human rights management and violations, adding that the longer the law is delayed, the worse the consequences could be in terms of people’s rights.
Noting the Royal Thai Police’s (RTP) submission about postponing enforcement of the law due to their lack of equipment, the NHRC agreed there is a way to resolve this issue.
“While the act is on hold, the government should urgently prepare itself for the law’s enforcement to prevent another delay in the future,” said Mr Wasan. He also asked the Constitutional Court to rule on whether the delay is necessary for national stability under the 2017 charter.
Meanwhile, some human rights advocates and experts expressed their own misgivings about the act’s delayed enforcement.
Chawalit Wichayasut, a member of the Thai Sang Thai Party’s strategy committee, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the House committee on justice and human rights, said it would affect the reliability of the justice system.
Mr Chawalit said the government should be pleased the act can provide people with standardised legal protection, particularly government officers with a strong sense of ethics.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, a former human rights commissioner, also called on the government to stand by its political commitment to making any enforced disappearances more transparent.
She said in her post on Wednesday the government’s refusal to directly acknowledge that the victims had been forcibly disappeared is one of the challenges victims’ families have had to endure.