The Corrections Department is in the process of drawing up standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all correctional facilities nationwide to follow and the work is expected to be finished by mid-April, department deputy director-general Tawatchai Chaiwat said on Tuesday.
He said the SOPs, when in force, will serve as a central guideline for officials to follow. As a result, the officials will rely less on their own judgements and will mainly follow the SOPs.
Changes will be made to orders, announcements and regulations which may be no longer suitable for changing social conditions, he added.
Mr Tawatchai said opinions are being taken from operating officials and orders and regulations issued earlier are being reviewed in the SOPs drafting process.
His comment came after the Criminal Court on Monday issued an order for warders to fully protect the rights of protest leaders currently being held at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
The order was in response to claims by pro-democracy leaders Arnon Nampa, Jatupat "Pai Dao Din" Boonpattararaksa and Panupong "Mike" Jadnok that they had been mistreated by warders on March 15-16.
After hearing from both sides, the court ruled that the warders had not appropriately handled the situation and impinged on the detainees' rights. It ordered them to be more careful in the execution of their duties to ensure the detainees' rights are properly protected.
Concerning this matter, Mr Tawatchai said the warders only wanted to screen the detainees for Covid-19 and keep them at another place with no intention to harm them. However, the warders might have treated them inappropriately without thinking about their rights.
The detainees complained that four attempts had been made to take them out of their cell to be tested for Covid-19 late on March 15 to 2am the next day even though they had told them they would cooperate in the morning. Finding it suspicious, they feared for their safety and asked the court to look into the matter.