Just Earth News 01 Mar 2017, 05:52 pm Print
UN Multimedia
The announcement follows news last week that National Legislative Assembly – the military-appointed parliament – decided not to enact a bill that would have done just that.
“The Assembly’s decision to reject the bill is very concerning given the continued allegations of torture and disappearances in Thailand, and it is deeply worrying that such actions may now continue without any legal redress,” Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva.
Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), characterized the decision to not enact the bill as “a devastating blow” to the families of those who have disappeared.
Since 1980, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Voluntary Disappearances recorded 82 cases of enforced disappearances in the country.
Those include the disappearances of respected lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit in 2004 and Karen human rights activist Pholachi “Billy" Rakchongcharoen in 2014.
Speaking to the press, Shamdasani also raised concern about the increasing number of criminal cases brought against human rights defenders in Thailand for reporting allegations of torture and ill-treatment.
- ‘Extraordinary, deep anxiety’ in Gaza amid rising fear over Rafah attack
- Protesters raise Palestine flag in Harvard campus
- Burkina Faso: UN rights office deeply alarmed over report of killing of 220 villagers
- Gaza: Heatwave brings new misery and disease risk to Rafah
- Gender therapy review reveals devastating impacts on teens