First of all, I must congratulate Thailand on being chosen to chair the UN Human Rights Council for one year (2010-2011).  According to the 15th annual meeting of the Council on 22 June 2010, Thailand’s permanent ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Sihasak Phuangkatekaew will chair the Council.  Although the chairmanship lasts only one year, while the membership of the Council is for three years, this opens a window of opportunity for crisis-ridden Thailand.

This year, the chairmanship rotates to an Asian country, and Sihasak’s diplomatic credentials are acceptable to the international community.  Candidate countries were Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Thailand.  Bangladesh withdrew to make way for an ASEAN country.  The turbulence in Kyrgyzstan does not allow it to take the post, while the Maldives is a small country with no outstanding human rights record.

Thailand’s assumption of this important post does not mean that its human rights situation is acceptable.
I have to say that there is no country in this world which can claim perfect human rights.  Even the big superpowers still have questionable human rights records.  Human rights advocacy is an ongoing task in all countries, taking time and cooperation among all parties.

At this crucial moment when Thailand is about to play an important role in looking into global human rights problems, it has to prove itself in the eyes of the global community as to it direction in terms of human rights and democracy, in light of the turmoil in recent months.

As a minimal standard for Chairmanship of the UN Human Rights Council, Thailand should not impose the Emergency Decree, which is a serious violation against human rights.  This should be lifted as the situation has already eased.  As Chair, Thailand should be willing to allow investigations into the still unresolved allegations of human rights violations and the disclosure of the findings.  If the Thai government is confident in its activities in line with international standards, it should let the UN Special Rapporteurs to conduct investigations and make reports to the UN Human Rights Council, in order to uphold international human rights standards.