The United Nations and other international and local human rights agencies have called on the government to act upon its promises to criminalise enforced disappearances.
They also called for a renewed probe into the case of Muslim human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit’s disappearance.
The request was made on Friday to mark the 12th anniversary of Mr Somchai’s disappearance.
Current judicial procedures have proved futile in delivering justice for the past 12 years, Mr Somchai’s wife Angkhana Neelapaijit said on Friday at a forum to mark the anniversary of her husband going missing.
“There’s a need for Thai society to rectify the flaws by pushing for swift ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance which was signed in 2012, amending domestic laws and getting the Department of Special Investigation to work on this case that they acknowledged in 2005,” added Ms Angkhana who is also a commissioner on the National Human Rights Commission.
There are 82 disappearance cases from Thailand awaiting clarification, archiving or discontinuation, according to the UN five-member Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances report from Aug 10, 2015, Ms Angkhana added.
Of these, some 30 cases involve the Black May massacre in 1992.
All of these cases, which have been brought to the attention of the UN Human Rights Council, have also been forwarded to the Foreign Ministry, according to UN documents.
“Thailand needs to take urgent action to live up to the promises pledged before the world by all sides of the political spectrum by ratifying the enforced disappearance covenant,” said Sam Zarifi, International Commission of Jurists [ICJ] regional director for Asia and the Pacific Programme.
The lack of a legal framework has affected investigations into other disappearance cases, including that of Karen land rights activist Poralee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen and has tainted Thailand’s image, said Mr Zarifi.
ICJ legal adviser Kingsley Abbott urged the amendment of the penal code to criminalise enforced disappearances without having to wait for bodily evidence.
“Police investigators have demonstrated they can speed up investigations if they wish to do so, such as in the cases of the Koh Tao rape and murders and the Erawan shrine bomb blast. So we hope the probe into Mr Somchai’s case will be reopened,” said Mr Abbott.
On Dec 29 last year, the Supreme Court acquitted five police officers accused of involvement in Mr Somchai’s abduction and disappearance.
Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, echoed the request.
“Thai authorities must not provide blank-faced and heartless statements that they will bring culprits to the fore without starting to take concrete steps that have been repeatedly suggested,” he said.
Documents regarding Mr Somchai have already been comprehensively compiled and the authorities only need to label it as an enforced disappearance crime, said Mr Sunai.
Laurent Meillan, acting representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioners for Human Rights for Southeast Asia, said there have been some positive signs including a draft law on enforced disappearances currently under consideration by the cabinet.
“We have urged the government on several occasions to enact this new law. It would be a crucial first step in solving disappearance cases in Thailand,” said Mr Meillan.
Meanwhile, Somchai Komgrit, the Justice Ministry’s director of the Rights and Liberties Promotion Division, cited encouraging aspects of the draft law such as heftier sentences and fines for perpetrators, a clear separation of torture and enforced disappearance to allow stronger penalties, and clear penalties for supervisors and higher-ups in the line of command involved in the crimes.
However, Ms Angkhana rapped what she said was a flawed investigation in the Somchai case.
“I call on the government to act upon the recommendations including allowing a visit by the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearance to work on the unresolved case of Somchai,” Ms Angkhana said.