Forum decries prison overcrowding

With the rise in prison overcrowding, the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) has proposed that the justice system should improve its treatment of criminals. TIJ executive director Kittipong Kittayarak questioned the parts of the justice system that focus on cracking down on criminals.

"[The current] justice system aims to suppress criminals. It authorises the state and police to arrest and investigate. Thailand's system is like this. Do we believe that a process of fact-finding which lacks external checks and protection of human rights will bring about the truth? The protection of basic human rights [of criminals] is necessary because it will make everybody believe that the court punishes the right offender," he said.

The 8th TIJ Public Forum was held today on the theme of the rule of law and sustainable development at the Arnoma Grand Bangkok Hotel. Prof Kittipong suggests that punishment should be meted out to criminals for restorative rather than retributive justice.

"Justice systems around the world hold the view that incarceration will give them [offenders] unforgettable lessons. However, Thailand's rate of recidivism [after imprisonment] is more than 30%," he said.

Overcrowded prisons

Surasak Likasitwatanakul, the chairman of the board of TIJ, criticised the current justice system for objectifying criminals.

"We don't know anything about an offender except a three-page paper that shows only his basic profile and an eight-line legal charge. For example, an offender murdered and raped a six-year-old girl [in 2013] because he was raped at the age of seven and was not healed from such trauma.

"I call for individualising criminals to understand their motives, or else we run the risk of industrialising the justice system," he said.

Unlike Japan's efficient justice system that handles 57,000 cases annually, Prof Surasak said Thailand's courts receive almost 2 million cases.

"The lower court is now managing around 700,000 cases. The civil court is now coping with 1.2 million cases. At the end of the conveyor belt, prisons will bear all the burden," he said.

Prof Surasak said the number of prisoners now exceeds the 100,000-person capacity of the prison system.

"The latest statistics show that the number of offenders has now risen to 380,000," he said.

Reuniting with victims

Thicha Nanakorn, the director of Ban Kanchanapisek Youth Training and Observation Centre, urged the mainstream justice system to take a more humane approach.

"Our children have already faced tough penalties, but we cannot treat them like that. Accordingly, we established our own [restorative justice] system," she said.

Ms Thicha said the centre has given juvenile delinquents opportunities to reunite with their victims, citing the case of a pair called Lek and Yai.

"In 2005, Lek killed two adults and was sent to our centre. Then we received another group of young offenders. We identified Yai in the group and learned that he intended to take revenge on Lek for killing his father.

"For two weeks, we heard rumours that the two would kill each other. Finally, on Peace Day on Aug. 16, I held an event where the father of Lek and the grandmother of Yai attended.

"The grandmother of Yai came here to forgive Lek who killed her son. The father of Lek also made a sincere apology to the victim's family. "Yai told me that it was the happiest moment he had had since the loss of his father," she said.

Justice vs equality

Wuttichai Phumsanguan, a provincial prosecutor attached to the Office of the Attorney-General, said the forum failed to take into account the dimension of lawmakers.

"The forum gave many subjective accounts, such as the case of Lek and Yai. However, lawmakers have to design rules and ensure that they can apply to everybody," he said.

"People believe that justice means the same practice for all. But it's not like that. Everybody must share equal principles, but justice is up to the individual."