Suspects, kids’ rights still at risk: report

Crime victims, suspected insurgents and marginalised groups are still suffering human rights abuses despite government efforts to stamp them out, according to the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida).

While poor farmers, stateless people and ethnic minorities are considered among the most vulnerable to such abuse, it is increasingly common to see children having their right to justice trampled on, said Pitikan Sithidej. Ms Pitikan, who works for the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, unveiled the Nida’s 2017 report yesterday.

The prevalence of abuse does not mean the government is ignoring the problem, she said, reminding those in attendance the regime has made protecting human rights a key policy. Yet the report suggests more action is needed to turn the situation around, she said. Many complaints which the government receives revolve around some people having no or little access to the justice system, she added.

For example, when a case is being prosecuted, authorities are legally obliged to provide temporary care for any underage victims. However, Ms Pitikan said many are still left unattended to while court hearings take place.

Legal action against those believed to be involved in anti-government attacks in the restive South is also often riddled with problems, she said.

“The accused received no legal advice and were denied family visits,” she said, referring to past cases. “Those who were not able to speak Thai were not provided with interpreters,” she said, adding the prisons they usually wind up in are usually overcrowded and have inadequate medical facilities. But officials are aware of these shortfalls and will work to fix them under the government’s new National Human Rights plan, Ms Pitikan said.

This plan, the third of its kind, will wrap up this year. The first one was launched in 2014 and the latest will pave the way for plan No.4, which will guide state efforts to resolve human rights issues until 2023.

To pave the way for the fourth plan, “we have to lay stronger foundations to better cope with rights violations”, she said.

One focus will be on moves to tighten measures to allow officials to better look out for human right abuses and take immediate action against wrongdoing, she said. The goal is not only to grant people equal access to basic rights but also to solve the related issue of human trafficking.

Thailand is still stuck at Tier 2 on a US human trafficking watchlist despite government efforts to clean up unregulated fishing and better document migrant workers, among other issues.

The country was upgraded in 2016 from Tier 3, the lowest grade.