In 2004, Somchai Neelapaijit, a lawyer and human rights activist, disappeared. He was last seen being dragged out of his car by four men. His whereabouts are unknown to this day. Last year, Jiraphong Thanapat, a drug suspect, died after being tortured at Muang Nakhon Sawan police station. Video evidence showed police suffocating the man with plastic bags until he collapsed and stopped breathing.
The cases of Somchai and Jiraphong are not uncommon in Thailand. There have been several cases of enforced disappearances and torture. Many of these cases remain unresolved to this day and perpetrators have not been held accountable.
A draft law, the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, is now being deliberated by the authorities. Because this legislation will criminalise torture and enforced disappearance, Amnesty International has been following its development.
The draft in its current form provides that statements or information obtained by torture -- defined as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (CIDT/P) -- as well as enforced disappearance cannot be used as evidence unless such statement or information is for the purpose of prosecution of perpetrators of these crimes.
The draft also recognises that enforced disappearance is a continuous crime, which means that it starts from the moment a victim is deprived of liberty and continues until the person's whereabouts is known, even if that does not become known until many years later.
It is commendable that the drafting committee, which comprises civil society along with parties and academics, is making an effort to put an end to disappearance and torture. Yet as things stand now, Thailand is a long way from truly protecting everyone from such egregious human rights violations. The committee's efforts are further hampered by uncertainty whether the Ministry of Justice and the Council of State will implement changes produced by the drafting process.
One element of the draft law requires that officials who are in charge of holding persons in custody must immediately record when they receive a person in a place of detention. The law also stipulates punishment if an official delays, fails to record, inaccurately records or refuses to record the receiving of a person in a place of detention, or otherwise obstructs the legal rights and remedies of a person being detained.
The draft law further says that only in exceptional circumstances and subject to very strict conditions may a public official or the court refuse to reveal information regarding a detained person.
Included in the draft are safeguards that already exist in Thai law regarding torture, CIDT/P and enforced disappearance, for instance, those in the Criminal Procedure Code. Among the safeguards are providing detainees access to legal counsel as soon as possible at a time no later than 24 hours from the moment of arrest, and giving notification to relatives of a detainee's arrest and place of detainment. It is important to reiterate these safeguards in the draft law so that it encompasses the entire array of protections against torture, CIDT/P and enforced disappearance.
The committee studying the draft law is set to announce its version today. The committee will then submit its draft to the House of Representatives for the second and third readings.
Recommendations endorsed by Amnesty International may or may not be integrated in the version the committee will submit to the House of Representatives. If the changes are accepted and the draft law is passed, and are consistent with Thailand's obligations under international human rights law, the resulting act would bring hope to those whose rights have been violated.
These include those who endured yet were fortunate enough to survive torture, and to the families of victims of enforced disappearance whose whereabouts remain unknown. A similarly important component of the draft is that existing statutes of limitation will be removed allowing victims and families to pursue justice.
All told, the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act will provide significant protection to all in Thailand, as it contains clear guidelines for authorities -- police, military and judicial -- to follow. The ultimate aim is to ensure that authorities' conduct is transparent and that all involved are held accountable for their actions so that tragedies such as Somchai and Jiraphong don't happen again.
Piyanut Kotsan, Director of Amnesty International Thailand.
