Statement of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
No. 2/2562
Concerning the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018
Of the US Department of State
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          The United States Department of State has issued Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018, which include a report on the human rights situation in Thailand in 2018.
          The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) has examined the report and found that it contains incorrect or unfair descriptions about the human rights situation in Thailand.  The NHRCT has deemed it appropriate to provide correct facts about the situation and disseminate them to the public in accordance with its mandate and responsibilities provided for in Section 247 (4) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560 (2017) and Section 26 (4) together with Section 44 of the Organic Act on the National Human Rights Commission B.E. 2560 (2017). Having reviewed the report which is presented in 7 separate sections, the NHRCT wishes to provide explanation on the following points which it found incorrect or unfair as follows:
          1. Section 2: Respect for Civil Liberties
          A claim that the 2017 Constitution grants the freedom to assemble peacefully, subject to restrictions enacted to “protect the public interest, peace, and order, or good morals, or to protect the rights and liberties of others.”  Nonetheless, NCPO orders, invoked under the authority of Article 44 of the interim constitution and extended under the Constitution, continued to prohibit political gatherings of five or more persons and penalize persons supporting any political gatherings.
          Upon examination of the claim, the NHRCT found that on 11 December 2018 Head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) who concurrently was Prime Minister issued Order no. 22/2018 on the engagement of people and political parties in political activities. The Order had nullified many orders previously issued by the NCPO Head, including decriminalizing any political assembly or demonstration of 5 or more persons as in Section 12 of the Order no. 3/2015. This has allowed people and political parties to engage in political activities from 11 December 2018 onward. Following the revocation of Order 22/2018, there were reports that the Court of Justice and the Military Court had dismissed and disposed of a certain number of cases related to the political assembly or demonstration of 5 or more persons.
          2. Section 5: Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
          A claim that the independent national human rights institution (NHRCT) has a mission to protect human rights and to produce an annual country report. The commission received 225 cases from October 2017 through September 2018. Of these complaints, 36 related to alleged abuses by police. Human rights groups continued to criticize the commission for not filing lawsuits against human rights violators on its own behalf or on behalf of complainants.
          The NHRCT wishes to provide information that the Commission received 232 complaints from 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018, 9 of which related to alleged abuses by police. The Commission had completed the examination of 5 cases and issued reports on its findings of such cases. The remaining 4 cases are being in the process of examination.
          On the point of the Commission’s not filing lawsuits against human rights violators on its own behalf or on behalf of complainants, the NHRCT wishes to clarify that the Organic Act on the National Human Rights Commission B.E. 2560 (2017) does not provide for the NHRCT to file lawsuits against human rights violators on behalf of the complainants. Nevertheless, the NHRCT may report a human rights violation on behalf of the injured person in accordance with Article 37 of the Organic Act, which states that, “In the case where an act of human rights violation constitutes a criminal offence and the injured person is not in a position to submit a petition or report such violation on his or her own, the Commission or the person assigned by the Commission shall have the power to submit the petition or report such violation as the injured person in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.”  To give effect to such provisions, the Commission adopted the Guideline on the Submitting of petition on behalf of the Injured Person in Criminal Case on 6 November 2018.

 

06/12/2019