The junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on Thursday approved almost unanimously a controversial amendment to the Military Court bill.
The NLA performed its duty very efficiently by finishing the second and third readings of the bill within one day.
The most controversial element of the bill is that it allows high-ranking military officers to detain anyone without a court order or judicial review for up to 84 days in case of force majeure when the authorities cannot secure a military court order to detain the person.
The amended bill does not stipulate that the bill covers only military personnel. Rights groups have voiced their concerns that the bill will be also used against civilians.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently condemned the bill is not in line with international human rights standards.
“Detention without judicial review breaches the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Thailand is a state party. Under Article 9, a person detained on suspicion of a criminal offence is to be brought promptly before a judge. The Human Rights Committee that oversees the ICCPR has interpreted “promptly” to mean within a few days,” said the statement of the UN.
Admiral Wallop Kerdphol, the chair of the committee scrutinzing the bill, dismissed these concerns during the NLA’s Thursday meeting, saying that the spirit of the bill is to enforce this law upon people who are under the control of the military in case of emergency or upon civilians who commit crimes in military compounds.
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