The Bangkok Post on August 23 reported a spokesperson of the deputy prime minister of Thailand as saying that the government of Argentina understands the human rights situation in Thailand. According to the news report, an aide of the deputy prime minister, Surakiart Sathirathai, said that “Argentina has no problem with Dr Surakiart’s qualifications” to be the next UN Secretary General. The remarks came in response to a letter by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the foreign minister of Argentina, requesting that he take up the issue of forced disappearances in Thailand with the deputy prime minister during his visit.
Why did the AHRC write to the foreign minister of Argentina in particular? The reason is that like Thailand, Argentina has had a long and terrible history of forced disappearances, killing, torture and other gross abuses of human rights, of which the foreign minister was himself a victim. But unlike Thailand, Argentina has passed through the period of worst abuses and is now working to give redress to the victims and belatedly prosecute alleged perpetrators. While there is still much for the country to do, when compared to anywhere in Asia it is far advanced in addressing and accounting for human rights violations.
So the deputy prime minister of Thailand had a good opportunity when he went to Buenos Aires. He could have learnt about how Argentina has documented and publicly reported on human rights abuses, how it has sought to obtain some redress for the victims, and how it is now taking the legal steps necessary to pursue criminal cases against former police and military officers. But apparently he did not do that.
While it is unfortunate that the deputy prime minister instead chose to be defensive rather than open to new ideas and lessons from people with more practical experience, it is perhaps not surprising. The AHRC in issuing its open letter of July 24 asking him to identify his qualifications by implication pointed to a number of areas for work by his government, including: ratifying of the UN Convention against Torture; implementing of the recommendations on Thailand of the UN Human Rights Committee; and, cooperating with UN human rights experts, especially the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions. We had hoped in raising these points that the candidate for secretary general might, rather than bury his head in the sand, do something about them. He could, for instance, have moved the government of Thailand to set a date by which it will sign the torture treaty. He could, for instance, have started with one or two of the suggestions by the rights committee for institutional changes in Thailand. He could, for instance, have arranged a date for a visit by the rapporteur on executions, which has been sought for almost two years. But he has not done any of these things either.
Human rights begin at home. Anybody holding a high government office that has done nothing to address rampant injustices and abuses in his own country cannot seriously be expected to do the same for anyone else. Anybody holding a high government office who responds to legitimate and studied criticism with evasion and denial cannot seriously be expected to consider and address the causes for that criticism. The Asian Human Rights Commission is sad to say that the deputy prime minister of Thailand has still done nothing to answer the question, “What are your qualifications to be UN secretary general?”
