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1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is a regional non-governmental organisation holding General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, having its registered office at Floor 19, Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China. It submits this document to the Human Rights Committee (the Committee) to coincide with the consideration of the initial report of the State party Thailand to the Committee in accordance with article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Covenant). The initial report (CCPR/C/THA/2004/1: 24 June 2004) was issued in accordance with the wish expressed by the Human Rights Committee at its 66th session in July 1999, after Thailand acceded to the Covenant in 1997.
2. Staff members of the Asian Legal Resource Centre have prepared this document in collaboration with colleagues in Thailand based upon their accumulated experience regarding the situation of human rights there. The ALRC has for many years been familiar with human rights concerns in Thailand. It has submitted numerous statements on a number of key human rights issues in the country to the annual sessions of the Commission on Human Rights (the Commission). More recently it has directed a considerable amount of work towards what it sees as a worsening human rights situation there. In June 2003 it released a special report, ‘Extrajudicial killings of alleged drug traffickers in Thailand’ (article 2, vol. 2, no. 3). It has also sought to become increasingly involved in specific cases of violations of civil and political rights, with a view to proposing legal and institutional changes in order to prevent further abuses, and ensure punishment for the perpetrators and redress for the victims. The ALRC and its sister organisation the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have both increasingly communicated their observations and concerns to the relevant domestic and international agencies. These include the Minister of Justice, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups, and on one occasion each, His Majesty the King of Thailand and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Many of these documents are cited and appear as appendices in this submission.
3. More broadly, the Asian Legal Resource Centre has 20 years of experience in human rights and rule of law issues throughout Asia upon which to make its observations. It has actively engaged with international human rights mechanisms throughout this time. Since obtaining General Consultative Status in 1998 it has annually made written statements to the annual sessions of the Commission on a huge range of issues from throughout Asia, and of relevance to the global human rights movement. It has submitted 40 written statements to the 61st session of the Commission. It has submitted a number of alternative reports to committees. These include comments on the report of Cambodia concerning the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (April 2003) and comments on the 16th periodic report of Nepal to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (December 2003). Together with the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) it submitted an alternative report on state-sponsored violence in Sri Lanka last September 2004 to the Human Rights Committee, and attended the hearings of the committee on the same. In 2004 it also submitted a proposal for a new agenda item under rule 5(4)(a)(ii) of the Guidelines for the Application by the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, with reference to the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in Sri Lanka (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2004/3, 7 June 2004). It has also initiated the bringing of a number of individual complaints to the Committee.
4. The Asian Legal Resource Centre has been unique among human rights organisations globally in bringing article 2 of the Covenant to the forefront of all its work. It is unique in having a bimonthly periodical, article 2, named after this integral section of the Covenant, which is dedicated to raising issues on effective implementation of human rights standards.
5. The Asian Legal Resource Centre is therefore well placed to comment on the situation of human rights in Thailand with a view to strengthening the Concluding Observations of the Committee in order to improve the application of the Covenant by the State party through constructive discussion with the delegation.
Posted on 2005-03-22
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