Page 64 - รายงานการปฏิบัติตามอนุสัญญาต่อต้านการทรมานและการประติบัติ หรือการลงโทษที่โหดร้ายไร้มนุษยธรรม หรือที่ย่ำยีศักดิ์ศรี

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16. Recommendation: Despite confirmation from concerned agencies that

they have performed their duties in accordance with the laws and human

rights principles, the number of complaints regarding alleged assaults on

arrested persons by public officials received by the NHRCT does not seem

to decrease in a significant way. Such agencies should, therefore,

strengthen supervisory measures to ensure that their staff members

perform duties strictly in accordance with the laws. They should also

review the rules and regulations relating to search, arrest, detention as well

as the questioning techniques currently in use to ensure that they respect

the rights of the detainees and can prevent torture in an effective manner.

An oversight system for places of detention should be extended to those

places under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense and the Southern

Border Provinces Police Operation Centre. Thailand should consider

acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture so

that an independent national mechanism can be established to monitor

places of detention on a regular basis. This will be a significant step in its

efforts towards preventing torture.

17. Apart from the complaints received by the NHRCT, civil society

organizations have also received many complaints about torture. There are

cases in which concerned agencies conducted an investigation and officers

found guilty of the wrong doing were punished, but they are quite small in

number. Generally, when there is a complaint requesting an investigation

into an alleged torture, concerned government agencies tend not to pay

attention to the torture victim and do not allow the relevant Sub-

committee of the NHRCT to visit the victim, citing various rules and

regulations to prevent immediate visit by the NHRCT Sub-committee and