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(2) Assessment of Human Rights Situation

relating to Civil and Political Rights

Major issues of concern in this section are: people’s access to justice, overcrowded
prisons, situation regarding torture and enforced disappearance, protection of human rights
defenders, situation in the southern border provinces, capital punishment, the right to

freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

In 2020, the government continued to promote and support the people’s access
to justice as in previous years, in terms of assisting the increasing number of injured and
accused persons in criminal cases according to the Reparation for the Injured Person and
Compensation and Expenses for the Accused in Criminal Case Act, B.E. 2544 (2001), and
through the Justice Fund, mostly regarding provisional release and expenses in litigation.
Meanwhile, the Court of Justice issued a number of decrees with an aim to raise the

standard of rights and liberty protection both for the victim and the accused or defendant.
One major step seen is the provisional release of the accused or defendant during trials.
With regard to efforts to address prison overcrowdedness, apart from allocating budget
to expand prison areas, the NHRCT suggests that other methods be introduced to reduce
the number of inmates in prisons, e.g., resort to provisional release, use of electronic

monitoring devices, and verdicts of community service time for petty crimes.
As for the prevention and suppression of torture and enforced disappearance,

the government approved the Protection and Suppression of Torture and Enforced
Disappearance Act B.E. …. and prepared to submit it to the House of Representatives for
further consideration. However, the NHRCT is still concerned about reports claiming torture
treatment by state officers, evidenced by complaints received, even though the number
of cases has reduced. Furthermore, tendency shows that the incidents of casualties or

injuries during arrest, detention, and training by state officers were on the rise compared to
the previous year. The NHRCT suggests that there should be human rights awareness raising
programme for law enforcement officers, and that investigation on cases of casualties
during detention by state officers or during training be duly made. Measures should also be
introduced to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.

With regard to the protection of human rights defenders, despite the amendment
of the Criminal Procedure Code, Section 161/1 and Section 165/2, granting the Court power

to dismiss a case filed in bad faith to cause undue trouble to the other party, there is
an observation by the civil society that such amendment is applied only to cases where
both parties are private entities, while cases filed against human rights defenders usually
involve government agencies as the other party. Additionally, there were a number of cases
where human rights defenders had been intimidated and threatened, some of which the
NHRCT has rendered assistance to, e.g. the cases of community forest conservation group of

Khao Lao Yai-Pha Chandai and of Southern Agricultural Cooperatives group, etc. บทสรุปผู้บริหาร

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