A public hearing on a bill to outlaw torture and enforced disappearances has raised hopes the legislation will be passed within the lifetime of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).
"I expect the legislative process for this bill will be finished before the end of the NLA," Pol Col Narach Sawetanant, director-general of the Justice Ministry's Rights and Liberties Protection Department, said yesterday.
He was speaking following a public hearing held at the NLA. It was attended by government officials, activists as well as victims and relatives of people who had allegedly been tortured or disappeared after falling foul of the state.
They included Pinnapa Prueksaphan, wife of missing Karen activist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen.
"This bill is on the Justice Ministry's priority list. So the NLA should put it high on its agenda for scrutiny," Pol Col Narach said.
His department hopes to submit the final version of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance of People Bill to the cabinet this month.
If it receives cabinet approval, the bill will go to the Council of State, the government's legal advisory body, and then to the NLA for deliberation.
If passed, it would be the country's first law specifically dealing with acts of torture and the enforced disappearance of people, especially in cases where government officials are suspects.
Officials would not be able to cite martial law to legitimise torture and enforced disappearance under the law.
According to a Justice for Peace Foundation survey, 59 people were subjected to enforced disappearances between 2001 and 2011, including 30 cases in the South. Law enforcement officials were suspected of involvement in the disappearances.
The military has imposed martial law for decades in the restive South and critics say this has resulted in many cases of rights violations, torture and enforced disappearances. Activists in other parts of the country have also disappeared.
Concerns were raised at yesterday's hearing that the NLA might reject the bill since more than half its members are from the military. Others believe a law would improve the military-installed government's image by showing its sincerity in addressing human rights concerns.
Narong Jaiharn, dean of Thammasat University's law faculty, said the bill forces officials to record details of their detainees, including their capture, release dates and their health.
"So we'll know where detainees are and which agency is responsible for them," he said.