“Human rights defenders also need defence,” said Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen, a lawyer at the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). “It is not just the responsibility of human rights lawyers or the victims, but everyone.”She was referring to the issue of torture and forced disappearance among human rights activists that occur constantly in Thailand. Rights defenders call for legislation to protect rights workers while opponents argue that it could be substituted by normal criminal law. And in the process, it |sometimes leads to crimes against the people who only have bare hands,” the human rights lawyer said. This year’s award was given to human rights lawyer Pawinee Chumsri, also from |the TLHR, in recognition of her outstand-|ing performance in |protecting the human rights.

Source: The Nation Bangkok March 11, 2017 18:02 UTC