“Constitutional Court Reaffirms no-delay” of the full enforcement of the act on prevention

Constitutional Court Reaffirms No-Delay of the Full Enforcement of the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance

On 18 May 2023, the Constitutional Court of Thailand with 8 out of 9 voted and ruled that the decree issued by former Prayuth Government to postpone the enforcement of article 22-25 of the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance was unconstitutional.

Full articles of the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance 2022 shall come into force since 22 February 2023. The law is enacted pursuant to Thailand’s obligations toward the UNCAT and the ICPPED.

The Act’s key provisions will not only bring about the prevention and suppression of torture and enforced disappearance by a public official but also contribute to the betterment of the Thai criminal justice. Article 22, it requires that throughout the arrest, the responsible state official has to be equipped with a body camera to prevent an act of torture or further abuse of power. An official is also required to immediately notify other agencies about the arrest, including the administrative agencies and the public prosecutor. Moreover, Article 23 states the duty to prepare a detailed report of the arrest and detention. This is highly beneficial not only for the safeguards of the arrestee but also for the officer themselves in case of misconduct allegations. In addition, Article 24-25 allows that the report shall be made available to the family and lawyer of the arrestee to prevent any act of torture or enforced disappearance, if not the court shall issue an order requring the official to disclose the information. In term of jurisdiction, the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases is designated as the court of jurisdiction, enhancing impartiality and independence of a case process.

Civil Society Organizations including the Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF), the Union for Civil Liberties (UCL) the Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) and the Network of Survivors of Torture, Enforced Disappearance and extra-judicial killing are congratulated the constitutional court’s guarantee of the full enforcement of The Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance.

On 12 April 2023, with the request from the Network of Survivors of Torture, Enforced Disappearance and extra-judicial killing, the Legal aid unit of Thammasat University sent an amicus brief to the constitutional court with opinions that the Decree to postpone article 22-25 is unconstitutional.

The delay of the enactment of article 22-25 was proposed by the Royal Thai Police and continued by Former Prayuth Government to issue the Decree due to the lack of fundings and skills to record the arrest procedures according to the ACT. CrCF is in favor of the constitutional court’s ruling and we find that the excuses made by the Royal Thai Police and the former government unfounded and unreasonable given the Royal Thai Police has had time to prepare its personnel and equipment since 2021. In addition, the RTP has already issued the Order no. 178/2564 on audio and visual recording protocol during the search, arrest and interrogation in criminal cases. Also, the enforcement of the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture will inadvertently lead to more budget being funneled to make possible the effective execution of duties pursuant to the internal command of the RTP. It is obvious that the excuses made by the Royal Thai Police are far from urgent to justify the deferment of the enforcement of the Act since they are not at all inevitably urgent and do not constitute any ground commensurate to Section 172 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560 (2017).

We demand that the new government urges concerned agencies to expeditiously willing for the enforcement of the Act effectively according to its procedure and ensure they receive sufficient funding, trainings of the official and an attempt should be made to raise the public awareness about the Act to protect their rights and freedoms and to assure the public and the international community that the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance B.E. 2565 (2022) certainly came into force on 22 February 2023.

#tortureact#torturefreethailand