Recommendations to the UN Human Rights Committee regarding Thailand

The Asian Legal Resource Centre urges the Human Rights Committee to raise with the State party that it

1. Undertake a thorough review of implementation of article 2 of the Covenant with reference to the respective roles of the Royal Thai Police, Office of the Attorney General, Forensic Science Institute, Department of Rights and Liberties Protection, and court-appointed attorneys.

2. Investigate the incidence of torture in Thailand and

a. Ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

b. Introduce a domestic law to criminalise torture in accordance with article 7 of the Covenant and the provisions of the Convention against Torture.

c. Suspend alleged torturers from duty, at once and without pay, pending full investigations.

d. Remove from duty at once all state officials who publicly endorse the use of torture.

e. Establish a specialised agency to receive complaints of torture, quickly investigate them and initiate legal proceedings against the accused where a prima facie case exists.

f. Provide sufficient resources for the said agency to function effectively and in accordance with its mandate.

g. Publicise the said law and agency widely through the broadcast and print media and educational programmes.

h. Amend judicial procedures and conduct the necessary training programmes so judicial officers can quickly intervene where detainees brought before them during the investigation stage allege torture or show signs of possible torture. In particular, a procedure must be established so that the victims are given thorough independent medical treatment and examinations without delay.

i. Undertake training on international law and jurisprudence on torture at all levels of the judiciary and among lawyers.

3. Investigate the incidence of forced disappearance in Thailand and

a. Introduce a domestic law to criminalise forced disappearance in accordance with the principles established in the draft International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Forced Disappearance.

b. Establish a specialised agency to receive complaints of forced disappearance, quickly investigate them and initiate legal proceedings against the accused where a prima facie case exists.

c. Provide sufficient resources for the said agency to function effectively and in accordance with its mandate.

d. Publicise the said law and agency widely through the broadcast and print media and educational programmes.

e. Review existing arrangements for the bringing of the equivalent of habeas corpus writs to the courts under Thailand’s civil code in order that these be lodged more quickly and expediently.

f. Undertake training on international law and jurisprudence on forced disappearance at all levels of the judiciary and among lawyers.

4. Make available the superior right to petition directly to the Supreme Court on human rights violations, by way of an enabling law, as a measure of implementation of the Covenant and in accordance with the principle established under section 28(2) of the Constitution. Where compensation is to be paid in such cases it should be paid by the government, for breach of its constitutional duties to protect the rights enshrined therein. This avenue has already been made available in other jurisdictions worldwide, including some in Asia, with good effect for the enforcement of rights under the Covenant. In addition to the remedies afforded the complainant directly, courts in some jurisdictions are now taking it upon themselves to give instructions to the government for institutional and procedural changes.

5. Ratify the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant to allow persons to bring complaints of violations directly to the Committee in the event that all domestic remedies have been exhausted.

6. Create a specialised agency to receive and investigate complaints of serious rights violations against the police including, but not limited to, complaints of extrajudicial killings. Provide sufficient resources for the said agency to function effectively and in accordance with its mandate. Publicise the said agency widely through the broadcast and print media and educational programmes.

7. Remove the exclusive power of the police over ordinary criminal investigations. Extend the proposed joint power of the Attorney General over select investigations to all criminal cases. Review current institutional arrangements in order that public prosecutors act independently of the police.

8. Review the practice of forensic medicine in Thailand and

a. Provide the Forensic Science Institute with all the necessary material and institutional support and publicly defend it from attacks by other government agencies, particularly the Royal Thai Police.

b. Where credible allegations exist that bodies or other material evidence have been destroyed or ‘lost’ due to the acts or omissions of state officers, investigate the accused and where a prima facie case exists, hold them criminally liable and suspend them without pay at once subject to further proceedings.

c. Review the remunerations of doctors required to undertake autopsies and site investigations where forensic scientists are not available, and to establish the means to ensure that they are not subjected to police intimidation.

9. Enhance the victim compensation scheme and

a. Provide the Office of Public Compensation for Criminal Cases with all necessary resources to fulfil its mandate.

b. Ensure that compensation is timely and adequate and the process to obtain compensation not an undue burden on the victim.

c. Review arrangements for emergency treatment of victims of torture and other gross rights abuses without affecting the right of the alleged perpetrators to a fair trial.

d. In every case take both physical and mental rehabilitation into account when assessing the amount and nature of compensation required.

g. Publicise the scheme widely through the broadcast and print media and educational programmes.

10. Enhance the witness protection scheme and provide the Office of Witness Protection with all necessary resources to fulfil its mandate. Publicise the scheme widely through the broadcast and print media and educational programmes.

11. Ensure that there are full and proper judicial inquiries into all cases of murder or extrajudicial killings. Specifically, establish independent judicial commissions of inquiry into the killings of February to May 2003 during the so-called ‘war on drugs’, and also the recent killings in the south, including but not limited to the large-scale killings of April and October 2004. A special independent judicial inquiry should be established with reference to the 78 persons who died in army custody on 25 October 2004. Admit a role for the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in publicly addressing these killings.

12. Review the current arrangements for statutory detention of up to 84 days in certain criminal cases, with a view to reducing the statutory periods of detention and affording better oversight to judicial officers, registered doctors, and lawyers. Reduce the initial period of custody from 48 to 24 hours. Investigate the incidence of rearrest of the detainees by police officers upon the expiry of the statutory period with a view to preventing the practice.

13. Review the role of the court-appointed lawyers with a view to reforming and improving the system to ensure that defendants obtain satisfactory service.

14. Review the functioning of the National Counter Corruption Commission with reference to the continued widely reported and deeply entrenched corruption among the police.

15. Permit the National Human Rights Commission to undertake its mandate free from intimidation, and with sufficient resources allocated for the purpose, as provided by the Constitution. Periodically review the role and progress of the Commission in protecting human rights in Thailand and if necessary further enhance its mandate and provide additional resources.

16. Review the application of martial law provisions and other onerous restrictions on the people of the south of Thailand, such as the proposed ‘zoning’ system, and

a. Permit free access to the region by independent agencies seeking to undertake investigations, including judicial bodies, parliamentary bodies and the National Human Rights Commission.

b. Guarantee judicial officers stationed in the south, particularly judges, that they will be fully protected and able to undertake their duties as normal.

c. Ensure that any application of martial law provisions anywhere in Thailand does not breach the rights established under the Covenant from which no derogation is permitted.

17. Review practices in relation to stateless persons with a view to granting full citizenship rights to affected persons at the nearest possible date.

18. Review practices in relation to migrant workers and

a. Ratify the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and bring domestic law into line with the Convention.

b. Establish a specialised agency to receive complaints from migrant workers, and monitor progress in securing their rights.

c. Encourage the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand to establish permanent and effective channels for the reporting of abuses against migrant workers, and propose means for redress.

d. Permit human rights defenders working with migrant workers to operate openly and legally.

e. Review the role of the Office of Labour Protection and provide it with sufficient resources to fulfil its mandate.

19. Abolish criminal defamation and review the existing civil defamation law to bring it into line with international standards, in particular, in claims for compensation proportionate to the harm done.

20. Review the present composition of the proposed members of the incipient broadcast media regulatory body and procedure for their appointment in order to ensure that it not be subjected to external influence.