Use of security laws comes under attack at seminarUse of security laws comes under attack at seminar

Category: Network

Published on October 12, 2010

Thai society should question the continued use of special security laws like the emergency decree imposed in Bangkok and nearby areas and not mistake the suspension of certain fundamental rights as part of the rule of law, according to top law professor Vitit Muntabhorn of Chulalongkorn University.
“The exceptions are now the rule. That exceptionalism is not the rule of law. We have to question that,” he said.

Vitit spoke at a seminar on special security laws organised by the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Cross Cultural Foundation at Chulalongkorn yesterday.

Vitit said the geographic spread in the use of security laws and their cumulative effects opened doors to many excesses that were not in line with respect for human rights.

These included preventive detention for 30 days without charge under the emergency decree in Bangkok and beyond and the additional seven-day preventive detention allowed under martial law imposed in the far South.

“The people arrested can be taken to court right away, instead of waiting 30 days,” Vitit said.

National Human Rights commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara said the use of these special security laws was like applying a strong dose of medicine, or chemotherapy, that could end up killing the patient.

“The patient may die,” he said referring to Thai society.

“It will expand the alliance of those who dislike [the government],” he warned, adding that the law enabled the government to operate above the Constitution.

The detention of red-shirt demonstrators was the jailing of “people who think differently from the government”, Niran said. Asked later by The Nation if any of the hundred or more detained red shirts should be regarded as “political prisoners” or not, Niran said yes.

“Whether we accept it or not, [some red shirts] think they have been politically detained,” he said, adding that this applied only to those who had assembled peacefully but ended up being detained.

Niran proposed that the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) be dissolved immediately to pave the way for a reliable and trustworthy inquiry into the death of 91 people in April and May and the recent spate of bomb blasts.

“As long as CRES exists to oversee the situation, it can be construed that an attempt to hide information continues,” Niran said.

Vitit, meanwhile, said the issue of whether red shirts were political prisoners should be open for consideration.

“It is an open discussion whether there are political prisoners in Thailand today,” Vitit said, stressing that this should only be applied to red shirts who were non-violent but detained by the authorities under the emergency decree.

“We have to test it,” Vitit said, adding that the government claimed there were no more than 200 red shirts held in jail, but other sources suggested there could be 300 or more.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said at the same seminar there were 184 red shirts currently being detained in normal prisons, with 25 reported as missing, but no political prisoners.

“It’s interesting you use the term ‘political prisoner’. I don’t find any country using that term in regard to people who are held in Thailand … There are no secret cells, as reported by the media. We found no one held in secret jails. We found no one held without charges,” he said, adding that those reported as missing could be “normal” missing people.

“Every day, there are people missing in Thailand.”
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/10/12/politics/Use-of-security-laws-comes-under-attack-at-seminar-30139872.html
Published on October 12, 2010

Thai society should question the continued use of special security laws like the emergency decree imposed in Bangkok and nearby areas and not mistake the suspension of certain fundamental rights as part of the rule of law, according to top law professor Vitit Muntabhorn of Chulalongkorn University.
“The exceptions are now the rule. That exceptionalism is not the rule of law. We have to question that,” he said.

Vitit spoke at a seminar on special security laws organised by the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Cross Cultural Foundation at Chulalongkorn yesterday.

Vitit said the geographic spread in the use of security laws and their cumulative effects opened doors to many excesses that were not in line with respect for human rights.

These included preventive detention for 30 days without charge under the emergency decree in Bangkok and beyond and the additional seven-day preventive detention allowed under martial law imposed in the far South.

“The people arrested can be taken to court right away, instead of waiting 30 days,” Vitit said.

National Human Rights commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara said the use of these special security laws was like applying a strong dose of medicine, or chemotherapy, that could end up killing the patient.

“The patient may die,” he said referring to Thai society.

“It will expand the alliance of those who dislike [the government],” he warned, adding that the law enabled the government to operate above the Constitution.

The detention of red-shirt demonstrators was the jailing of “people who think differently from the government”, Niran said. Asked later by The Nation if any of the hundred or more detained red shirts should be regarded as “political prisoners” or not, Niran said yes.

“Whether we accept it or not, [some red shirts] think they have been politically detained,” he said, adding that this applied only to those who had assembled peacefully but ended up being detained.

Niran proposed that the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) be dissolved immediately to pave the way for a reliable and trustworthy inquiry into the death of 91 people in April and May and the recent spate of bomb blasts.

“As long as CRES exists to oversee the situation, it can be construed that an attempt to hide information continues,” Niran said.

Vitit, meanwhile, said the issue of whether red shirts were political prisoners should be open for consideration.

“It is an open discussion whether there are political prisoners in Thailand today,” Vitit said, stressing that this should only be applied to red shirts who were non-violent but detained by the authorities under the emergency decree.

“We have to test it,” Vitit said, adding that the government claimed there were no more than 200 red shirts held in jail, but other sources suggested there could be 300 or more.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said at the same seminar there were 184 red shirts currently being detained in normal prisons, with 25 reported as missing, but no political prisoners.

“It’s interesting you use the term ‘political prisoner’. I don’t find any country using that term in regard to people who are held in Thailand … There are no secret cells, as reported by the media. We found no one held in secret jails. We found no one held without charges,” he said, adding that those reported as missing could be “normal” missing people.

“Every day, there are people missing in Thailand.”
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/10/12/politics/Use-of-security-laws-comes-under-attack-at-seminar-30139872.html