The legal database for human rights advocacy iLaw will collect signatures from members of the public now that the new constitution has been promulgated, its programme manager Yingcheep Atchanont said yesterday.
Submitted by Eleven on Sun, 04/09/2017 – 22:20
BANGKOK (The Nation/ANN) – Advocacy group’s signature campaign targets orders deemed too restrictive for people’s rights.
A signature campaign is underway to propose a new law to revoke junta orders deemed to have affected people’s rights.
The legal database for human rights advocacy iLaw will collect signatures from members of the public now that the new constitution has been promulgated, its programme manager Yingcheep Atchanont said yesterday.
Yingcheep said a number of orders issued by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) that are regarded as laws that restrict people’s rights and liberties.
He noted that the new charter, which came into effect on Thursday, allows members of the public to propose new laws.
“Despite the guarantee of rights and freedom in the new charter, people still cannot enjoy them fully due to the existence of the junta’s orders,” he said.
Yincheep added that a number of clauses in the charter are too complicated for ordinary people to understand, and it is too much of a burden for them to pursue study the charter themselves.
The charter drafters, including Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) chairman Meechai Ruchupan, should explain to the public what the true intentions behind those clauses are, he said.
The government should also open more spaces for the public to discuss the charter content without being threatened with legal charges, he added.
Meanwhile, NCPO spokesper-son Colonel Piyapong Klinpan yesterday urged political parties to be patient waiting for the first four laws essential to the coming general election to be completed – then the NCPO, as well as the government, would possibly consider loosening their grip.
The NCPO has placed a ban on political parties to ensure peace and order, despite repeated calls from some political parties to lift the ban as the election becomes clearer following promulgation of the new charter.
Piyapong said there are still some movements aimed at instigating public unrest and the junta needs to maintain peace and order through enforcement of Article 44.
But as the country moves forward, following the government’s road map, and if the time is right, the junta and the government would possibly consider allowing political parties to hold such activities, he said.
In a related development, CDC spokesman Udom Ratamarit said that Article 77 of the new charter, which requires public hearings to be held before any law enactment, would not create any problems in implementing the new laws.
Udom said given the experience in preparing the new charter as well as its organic laws, he trusted that Thai society, with its diversity of views, could eventually find common ground to resolve their differences based on public interest.
