Human Rights In Thailand Under Scrutiny

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Human rights in Thailand under scrutiny

By The Nation

With UN credentials to live up to, the country will be under greater pressure to maintain its good record on rights

BANGKOK; -- Thailand asked for it and got it. From now on, the human rights situation in this country will be constantly under the international microscope as never before. If the country shirks its responsibility and does not adhere or live up to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the members of the UN Human Rights Council will certainly alert the world. The country will be shamed, and it will be the best way to tarnish our own reputation.

Kudos must go to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who did not budge when they were urged by international and Thai human rights groups to withdraw from bidding for a seat at the Human Rights Council.

The result was telling. Thailand came in second with 182 votes after the Maldives (185), despite the political crisis that was brewing on the streets of Bangkok. The result indicates the country's diplomatic and human rights credentials. Indeed, it is even better, as Thailand's human rights performance must now be even more transparent and accountable. Subsequently, UN Permanent Representative Srihasak Puangketkoew was elected as the council's president. He is the fifth president of the 47-member panel, which examines human rights worldwide.

The desire to promote human rights is very pertinent. Some Human Rights Council members have to defend their countries' appalling human rights records at the international level. The current government does not have to do that. Why? With dozens of powerful local and international human rights advocacy groups monitoring the country, Thailand is under 24-hour human rights surveillance anyway. Failure, which often means insufficient progress, will draw attention, criticism and protest. Any group or individual to first take up a particular case will get credit. And the Abhisit government tolerates it.

This is in line with Abhisit's own governance ideal. Throughout his premiership, he has committed to international standards and norms. It is his mantra. Now, he has to make sure that this international inspiration is translated to local standards and practices regarding cases of alleged human rights abuses and violations, either during peacetime or political conflict.

At the moment, all eyes are focused on alleged human rights violations that occurred during the recent political violence. Thus, the government must come clean. But it will take time. Within the Asean region, no other country has Abhisit's courage in sticking out his neck on human rights. And in the end, if his word proves hollow, this man of integrity will not be able to stay in his job.

Regardless of the UN portfolio, Thailand cannot escape scrutiny on human rights, as it is currently preparing for its first universal peer review at the UN. Several Asean countries with debatable human rights records have gone through this procedure and come away unscathed. In the review, the Thai government and authorities concerned must report on the conditions and answer basic questions pertaining to action or follow-up action on cases of alleged abuse. Any question can be raised and Thailand must provide the answer.

This country has nothing to hide on its human rights record. But in this age of globalisation, we have to be ready for any onslaught by ill-intentioned elements when allegations of human rights abuses are raised at the international level.

-- The Nation 2010-06-26

[brent]

Ill be watching this not as test for Thailand but a test on the credibility of the UN.

[kissdani]

Cuba, Vice President of the HRC

By Raquel Maria Garcia Alvarez (PL)| Tuesday, 22 June 2010

Cuba was elected on Monday as Vice President of the Human Rights Council, the main UN body specialized in promoting and protecting human rights.

During an annual organizational session, the members of the HRC decided by acclaim the election of Cuban Ambassador to Geneva Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez to the post, in what is considered as recognition of the Island's work in the field.

The election of Cuba to this important post is in recognition of the exemplary work of the Cuban Revolution in favour of the human rights of its people and the world, according to a statement of the Cuban Embassy in Geneva.

It is also an obvious confirmation of respect to our country's committed, active effort, as a founding member of the Human Rights Council, in defense of truth and justice and of respect to its leadership in defending the noblest causes.

"This election constitutes a categorical response of the international community to the brutal anti-Cuban media campaign, stepped up by international reactionary circles in the last few months," adds the text.

Reyes, who will be at the helm of the vice presidency of the Latin America and Caribbean Group (GRULAC), will fulfill his term as member of the Executive Board of the HRC until June, 2011.

Ambassador of Thailand to Geneva Sihasak Phuangketkeow was elected to preside over the HRC in the same period.

According to practice, members of the board should conduct the process of revision of the HRC in the next 12 months.

Cuba is expected to contribute substantially to this work, based on its experience as member of the HRC and of the late Commission on Human Rights, the statement concludes.

http://www.invasor.cu/index.php/en/cuba/4891-cuba-vice-president-of-the-hrc-

[Thai at Heart]

Its hardly as though being head of the council is good way to stay under the radar.

I wonder if anyone does dare to cough the word "Rohingya" under their breath as the new head of the council walks through the corridor.

[difos57]

Perhaps the Tak Bai massacre and the so called war on drugs under the Taksin reign should be reviewed.

[johnnort]

--------And the poor Laos minorities (Hmong) forced back into their country to continued persecution a couple of months ago!!!!!!!!!!!<br>

[animatic]

Certainly this doesn't allow keeping ones head burried in the sand.

[DNPBC0]

"This country has nothing to hide on its human rights record."

Like this, for example?

http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2009/AHRC-SPR-010-2009-Thailand-HRReport2009.pdf

[TallForeigner]

...But in this age of globalisation, we have to be ready for any onslaught by ill-intentioned elements when allegations of human rights abuses are raised at the international level....

Are there some people who want to imply that anyone who dares to criticize Thailand for its human rights abuses is "ill-intentioned"?

A lot of pressure is already coming from Asia. The "onslaught" is starting; have a look at what the Asian NGO's joint press statement on the new President of UN Human Rights is saying about Thailand:

We, the undersigned 55 national and regional human rights organizations across Asia, urge Ambassador Sihasak Phuangketkeow....

...the government of Thailand too must play an exemplary role in upholding the highest human rights standards and fully cooperating with the Council and other UN human rights mechanisms. The public image and credibility of the Council will be seriously undermined if it is chaired by a representative of the State that continues to impose unduly prolonged state of emergency in the country. We urge the government of Thailand to lift the Emergency Decree without any further delay and ensure full transparency and accountability for those human rights violations committed during the recent unrest in its capital.

As a way of setting an example as the Council President, Thailand should issue a standing invitation to all Special Procedures mandate-holders for official country visits, giving priority to the Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Executions, Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Migrants as well as the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. We call upon the government of Thailand to remain seized of the persistent human rights trends such as the rights of migrant workers, the right to freedom of expression and the human rights situation in southern Thailand, with the view that these should not be neglected during the national reconciliation process. In addition, the National Human Rights Commission and the judiciary must be further strengthened to ensure their independence and effectiveness.

Do some people just want to claim that all these are organizations are ill-intentioned?

Edited June 26, 2010 by TallForeigner

[Thai at Heart]

...But in this age of globalisation, we have to be ready for any onslaught by ill-intentioned elements when allegations of human rights abuses are raised at the international level....

Are there some people who want to imply that anyone who dares to criticize Thailand for its human rights abuses is "ill-intentioned"?

A lot of pressure is already coming from Asia. The "onslaught" is starting; have a look at what the Asian NGO's joint press statement on the new President of UN Human Rights is saying about Thailand:

We, the undersigned 55 national and regional human rights organizations across Asia, urge Ambassador Sihasak Phuangketkeow....

...the government of Thailand too must play an exemplary role in upholding the highest human rights standards and fully cooperating with the Council and other UN human rights mechanisms. The public image and credibility of the Council will be seriously undermined if it is chaired by a representative of the State that continues to impose unduly prolonged state of emergency in the country. We urge the government of Thailand to lift the Emergency Decree without any further delay and ensure full transparency and accountability for those human rights violations committed during the recent unrest in its capital.

As a way of setting an example as the Council President, Thailand should issue a standing invitation to all Special Procedures mandate-holders for official country visits, giving priority to the Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Executions, Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Migrants as well as the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. We call upon the government of Thailand to remain seized of the persistent human rights trends such as the rights of migrant workers, the right to freedom of expression and the human rights situation in southern Thailand, with the view that these should not be neglected during the national reconciliation process. In addition, the National Human Rights Commission and the judiciary must be further strengthened to ensure their independence and effectiveness.

Do some people just want to claim that all these are organizations are ill-intentioned?

Such a wonderfully Thai spin on criticism. You must have ill intentions to point out Thailand's failings.

Does this apply to traffic jams, sewers, prostitution, corruption ........... Pointing out Thailand's failings makes Thailand feel bad so you must have ill-intent towards Thailand.

The tautology of the idea of not pointing out problems because it makes you feel bad is at the essence of the problems in Thailand today. Keep smiling everyone, you've never had it so good.

What a crock of s**t.

[chainarong]

what a load of croc Sh!!!!!!t

[asiawatcher]

Yup - el torro poo poo..... heaps of it!

[philw]

"This country has nothing to hide on its human rights record."

Like this, for example?

http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2009/AHRC-SPR-010-2009-Thailand-HRReport2009.pdf

Thank you for posting that.

Appreciated and it's very damming

phil

[SomTumTiger]

If Thailand improves its record in the treatment of ethnic minorities, stateless people, and illegal immigrants, as a result of this appointment, we can all be grateful.

[warni]

Thailand is far away being a civilized country.If you are in jail you have no rights,you are nothing,not even shit. You are on disposal.They torture,beat or/and rape you, and I mean not the inmates.You get forced with drugs you have to take being willingness.

I have an example: A girl get sick and has to spend all her money for a therapy ( Chemo).But she can not pay back all her finances to a bank.The bank brings her to a court and the judge gives her 1 month payback, if not threaten with jail.Does she have any chance? I do not think so.

[mca]

This country has nothing to hide on its human rights record

They certainly haven't. Abuses of said rights are met with a resounding "So f*cking what" by those responsible. All out in the open.

Are there some people who want to imply that anyone who dares to criticize Thailand for its human rights abuses is "ill-intentioned"?

Sadly that's the way so often here isn't it. Parties pointing out some obvious facts are "ill-intentioned", "unpatriotic" etc. Partly the reason I fear LOS will paddle around in circles forever. Let's not fix what's broken. Let's attack the person who pointed the fault out.

A small aside. My neighbour ( a Danish guy ) has a daughter studying Matayom 4 level here. He was checking her English homework and found mistakes that had been ticked as "correct" by the teacher. He wrote a note to the teacher to point out these errors. Result? Despite being M.4 and being allowed to wear longer hair later in the week the same teacher decided his daughter's hair was too long and did a hatchet job on in. Snide comments in the class about "dek farang" this and "dek farang" that. Finding fault in everything his daughter did. Poor kid was coming home in tears.

She's at another school now after he received short shrift upon complaining.

Maybe he shouldn't have been so "ill-intentioned"

Edited June 26, 2010 by mca

[thaifrelst]

I am happy to see that Thailand is taken care of the human rights now. To morrow you can start with your neighbour Burma.

Maybe it will be illegal for thai people to sell children to paedophiles also.

Next time I come to Thailand I want the go go bars to be gone.

I dont want to see one more time go go guards and "mother of chicken" dragging children against their will to a fat ugly old buyer.

[jeb]

If Thailand improves its record in the treatment of ethnic minorities, stateless people, and illegal immigrants, as a result of this appointment, we can all be grateful.

tag line:

Deny, lie, deny, lie, cast blame elsewhere, falsely accuse others, deny and lie some more. That has always been Thaksin's modus operandi...Expect more of the same, ad nauseum. - Brahmburgers

I notice no concern for improvement in the treatment of those who deludedly think democracy has something to do with majority rule rather than dual-track justice, coups, censorship and other tactics mentioned in the 2009 AHRC report. Here's the link: http://material.ahrc...RReport2009.pdf

You might want to refresh your memory, assuming you looked at it in the first place.

Based on the context of the thread, perhaps you should clarify your tag. Are you saying that with Thaksin gone, the Thai government, regarding governance and the populace, needs only to concern itself with improvement in "the treatment of ethnic minorities, stateless people, and illegal immigrants?" Or are you saying that you "[e]xpect more of the same[Deny, lie, deny, lie, cast blame elsewhere, falsely accuse others, deny and lie some more.], ad nauseam[,]" from governments following Thaksin?

If not the latter perhaps you should make a disclaimer to that effect to avoid any appearance of ill-intent. Thaivisa.com is owned by The Nation and this thread is based on an editorial in The Nation that ends:

"This country has nothing to hide on its human rights record. But in this age of globalisation, we have to be ready for any onslaught by ill-intentioned elements when allegations of human rights abuses are raised at the international level."

There are those tasked to respond to local evidence of ill-intent as well. I assume you would want to avoid misunderstandings even though you seem to have no problems with current government approaches. That is, other than its treatment of ethnic minorities, stateless people, and illegal immigrants.

[wester]

And, Oh gods, who shall arbitrate attachment of the qualitative adjective "ill" to any noun that manifests itself within the world?

"Does anyone bathe in a mighty little time? Don't say that he does it ill, but in a mighty little time. Does anyone drink a great quantity of wine? Don't say that he does ill, but that he drinks a great quantity. For, unless you perfectly understand the principle from which anyone acts, how should you know if he acts ill? Thus you will not run the hazard of assenting to any appearances but such as you fully comprehend. " - Epictetus, The Enchiridion

`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master -- that's all.'

_________________________

and in case you missed it:

Thai government can't hang; withdraws signature from the critical parts of the Declaration of Human Rights..."the Royal Thai Government has exercised its right to derogation...specifically in relation to its obligations under Articles 12 (right to liberty of movement), 19(freedom of expression and freedom of the press) and 21 (right of peaceful assembly) for the duration of the emergency situation"

http://treaties.un.o...〈=en#EndDec

Edited June 27, 2010 by wester

[Deeral]

" the country will be under greater pressure to maintain its good record on rights"

Human rights/civil rights + CRES?? = "good"?

[eggomaniac]

On top of the educational quality of following Post, I find it, also, salient it was written a decade ago. There are literally dozens of organizations that have been warning, for decades, of the overall harm that lax human rights and freedoms can create for 'real' democracies. [whether they are BLOCKED, or not, in Thailand is related issue.]

The writer is presently the Director of The Institute of Religion,Culture and Peace Payap University...

THAILAND: Sakdina System and Promotion of Human Rights and DemocracyMark Tamthai

(Ed. note: Mark Tamthai is a professor with the Centre for Philosophy and Public Policy of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.)

The Sakdina system in Thailand was a system of social hierarchy in place officially until this century, with remnants still existing in different parts of contemporary Thai society. In contrast to some social systems found elsewhere, the Sakdina system was part of the legal system which King Rama I codified under the 3-seal Code (a legal code of more than 1,200 articles) a little over 200 years ago. This code gathered together laws that had been in existence for hundreds of years. In this sense the Sakdina system became institutionalised through the legal system. The essence of the Sakdina system is that different members of society have different social ranks (measured by the unit "Na") depending on their position or nature of work, how people are to behave towards one another as well as how much society considers their "worth" which depends on their Na. Consider the following examples from the 3-seal Code:

How much weight is given to a witness' testimony in a trial depends on the witness' Na. Higher Na means that person is more believable.

When a person with lower Na accuses someone of much higher Na, if the case is concluded in favor of the person of lower Na, then a moderate fine is levied against the accused. But if the case is against the accuser, then the punishment is much greater for having brought a case against someone of higher Na.

In the majority of crimes, the punishment depends greatly on the Na of the perpetrator and the Na of the victim.

Women, who are the first, second or later wives, have different Na, relative to each other and depending on the Na of the husband.

In some cases a person with higher Na must accept greater punishment than that of someone with lower Na for the same crime (as if more is expected of that person).

The fact that members of Thai society could have a change in their Na (either increase or decrease), as well as cases like example 5, shows that the Sakdina system was not just a simple system of the powerful in society exploiting the less powerful but rather an intricate and sophisticated system which evolved into an institutionalised inequality through law, establishing what was believed to be a desirable and harmonious society.

Understanding this system is relevant to the promotion of human rights in Thailand today because the promotion of human rights and democracy is about the idea that all members of society are equally deserving of respect and dignity, and that all members of society have equal ability in making political choices. To promote human rights and democracy in Thai society, then means to put in place a major social transformation - from 700 years of a view where different parts of society have their proper "places," almost everyone is both a patron to someone and at the same time having someone else as a patron, to a view where participation by all members of society - is seen as truly being of positive value.

Posted on 2001-08-21

[SomTumTiger]

If Thailand improves its record in the treatment of ethnic minorities, stateless people, and illegal immigrants, as a result of this appointment, we can all be grateful.

tag line:

Deny, lie, deny, lie, cast blame elsewhere, falsely accuse others, deny and lie some more. That has always been Thaksin's modus operandi...Expect more of the same, ad nauseum. - Brahmburgers

I notice no concern for improvement in the treatment of those who deludedly think democracy has something to do with majority rule rather than dual-track justice, coups, censorship and other tactics mentioned in the 2009 AHRC report. Here's the link: http://material.ahrc...RReport2009.pdf

You might want to refresh your memory, assuming you looked at it in the first place.

Based on the context of the thread, perhaps you should clarify your tag. Are you saying that with Thaksin gone, the Thai government, regarding governance and the populace, needs only to concern itself with improvement in "the treatment of ethnic minorities, stateless people, and illegal immigrants?" Or are you saying that you "[e]xpect more of the same[Deny, lie, deny, lie, cast blame elsewhere, falsely accuse others, deny and lie some more.], ad nauseam[,]" from governments following Thaksin?

If not the latter perhaps you should make a disclaimer to that effect to avoid any appearance of ill-intent. Thaivisa.com is owned by The Nation and this thread is based on an editorial in The Nation that ends:

"This country has nothing to hide on its human rights record. But in this age of globalisation, we have to be ready for any onslaught by ill-intentioned elements when allegations of human rights abuses are raised at the international level."

There are those tasked to respond to local evidence of ill-intent as well. I assume you would want to avoid misunderstandings even though you seem to have no problems with current government approaches. That is, other than its treatment of ethnic minorities, stateless people, and illegal immigrants.

Who pissed in your corn flakes this morning? lol

[SomTumTiger]

" the country will be under greater pressure to maintain its good record on rights"

Human rights/civil rights + CRES?? = "good"?

Red Shirts - CRES = "bad'

That is the equation most topical.