On 22 April 2016, His Royal Highness Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concerns on political and human rights in Thailand. 

 

The Royal Thai Government takes the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)’s concerns seriously. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand wrote a letter to provide clarifications on the matter and the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva has been in close contact with OHCHR to address the issues, as follows:

 

1. Thailand supports and highly values freedom of expression and believes it is a basis of a democratic society. However, this is not absolute in view of the need to uphold public order and prevent social divisiveness as the country is moving forward to achieve a more sustainable democracy and social harmony;

 

2. The Head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s Order No. 13/2559 on prevention and suppression of offenses which are detrimental to peace and order or undermining socio-economic system of the country is part of the government’s overall effort to crackdown on any influential figures involved in organized crimes which are a deep-rooted issue in Thai society. The Order is intended to ensure that citizens are exempted from fear of intimidation and extortion. The Order enables an authorization of military officers to act as crime suppression officers and to render their assistance to the police in an effort to suppress organized crimes. Defendants in such cases will go through normal judicial process, with police as the main investigator.  Their trial will be conducted in civilian courts, not military ones.  Moreover, this order does not deprive the right of the defendants to file complaints against military officers who have abused their power;

 

3. NCPO Order No. 14/2559 aims to promote a holistic approach to addressing the situation in the Southern Border Provinces as well as enhancing coordination among the agencies concerns. This is to help further improve the effectiveness of overall government measures to address the situation in the area;