Consequently, condemnation has become ever louder over the slowness of the state to introduce a law criminalising torture and enforced disappearances after more than a decade of delay. This is not something that has gone unnoticed among the younger generation -- which is often the pool from which such daringly critical figures emerge. It was he, after all, who promised to sweep clean the dirty floor of Thai politics as part of the justification for the military coup of 2014. The prime minister could make a meaningful start by securing support in the coalition to pass the Prevention and Suppression of the Torture and Enforced Disappearances Bill, sponsored by 12 civil society groups and examined by a subcommittee on justice administration reform. The law must also maintain the fundamental principle that cases of enforced disappearances should have no statute of limitations.

Source: Bangkok Post August 29, 2020 23:15 UTC