House urged to back torture, rights bill

Twelve civil society groups yesterday petitioned the House committee on law, justice and human rights to support their bill on the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances.

Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, Future Forward Party (FFP) MP and chair of the committee, received the petition and pledged to push the bill forward.

Surapong Kongjantuk, chairman of the Cross Cultural Foundation, said Thailand had signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2012 but had yet to ratify the agreement and enforce it as law.

The government’s version of the bill was not in line with international standards, he added.

“State officials are suspected of perpetrating many cases of enforced disappearance and torture in Thailand. Such gross human rights violations can end if [our] bill is mandated,” he said.

The United Nations has documented 80 cases of suspected enforced disappearance and torture in Thailand over the past 15 years.

The bill treats enforced disappearance and torture as human rights violations and provides legal frameworks for law enforcement and preventive measures.

For instance, it imposes severe penalties on officials implicated in enforced disappearances and even punishes their bosses if they turn a blind eye to the crime.

Meanwhile, a network of Karen people yesterday petitioned the House committee providing solutions to human rights violations, asking it to investigate the state attorney’s decision to drop murder charges against former park chief Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn and three others in connection with the killing of Karen activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen in Phetchaburi’s Kaeng Krachan National Park.