Amnesty International Thailand, a group of activists and families of victims have urged the Justice Ministry to enforce every regulation of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, which takes effect today after the cabinet recently announced it would postpone enforcing some key provisions till Oct 1.
They submitted their petition to the ministry on Tuesday and reasoned that the delay in the enforcement of certain articles would create a huge barrier for people to receive justice.
The move came in a response to the cabinet's postponement of Sections 22-25, citing a lack of budget to buy equipment, especially police body cameras, and a shortage of skills. 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.
Piyanut Kotsan, director of Amnesty International Thailand, said Amnesty was disappointed with the government's decision, which begged the question of whether the government was sincere in its promise to help victims and their families.
"The postponement of the law has prevented people from accessing their right to justice and sent a signal to the authorities that they can violate people's rights with no punishment," she said. "We and the victims' families have affirmed our commitment to fight for proclaiming whole articles under the law."
She said the delay threatened the country's credibility vis-a-vis its international commitments to prevent enforced disappearance and torture while the detainee is under investigation. She also cited data collected by Amnesty International Thailand showing that in 2014-2015 some 74 cases were related to physical violence and torture, but only 92 cases had been reported to the United Nations from 1980-2019.
Meanwhile, ex-election commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn posted on his Facebook page that regulations can only be postponed for reasons of national security.
Pol Col Wirut Sirisawatdibutr, who is involved with drafting the law, said it can deter police from taking bribes or extorting people. He said the Royal Thai Police's claim that it needs to spend 3.5 billion baht to buy 170,000 sets of body cameras was exaggerated, adding only an extra 30,000 sets were needed.
