Thailand will ratify the International Convention for the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), a core human rights treaty, by June 13, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
"On 14 May 2024, Thailand deposited an Instrument of Ratification to the [ICPPED], which will come into effect on the thirtieth day after the date of the deposit of the instrument," it said on Friday.
Thailand is reaffirming its commitment to protect people from enforced disappearances, it said. The ratification documents were submitted to the United Nations headquarters in New York by Vathayudh Vichankaiyakij, Chargé d'affaires of Thailand to the UN.
According to a ministry source, Thailand is party to seven international human rights treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The ICPPED will be the eighth out of nine core human rights treaties that Thailand has ratified.
Thailand is yet to deposit an Instrument of Ratification to the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrants Workers and Members of their Families, the ninth treaty.
The ICPPED ratification was signed by former foreign minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara on April 26, two days before his resignation.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the ICPPED was adopted under a UN General Assembly Resolution in December 2006 and came into force on Dec 23, 2010.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said that between 1980 and August last year, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances recorded 93 cases of alleged enforced disappearance to Thailand, with 77 remaining unresolved.
The ICJ also welcomes Thailand's ratification of the ICPPED. "The convention is an essential instrument which obligates states to take important measures to prevent the heinous crime of enforced disappearance, hold perpetrators accountable and provide redress to victims and their families," said Melissa Upreti, ICJ's Asia-Pacific Regional Director.