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They have asked the Senate scrutinising committee to review the selection process for the NHRC, although it is perhaps too late to change anything, since the process looks to have been run in accordance with the constitution. The charter itself has a problematic system for selecting this key independent body.

The new commissioners were the product of the 2007 Charter, which allowed the judiciary to have a major role in the selection process. It has been noted since the beginning when the current charter was drafted after the 2006 military coup that putting judicial officials in such positions of power would lead to misuse of authority.

Judicial officials should only work in the courts. The judiciary should not extend their duties or influence so that they are picking personnel for independent bodies set up under the constitution. The judiciary is a bureaucratic body that has no accountability to the people.

Selection of independent bodies should be in hands of the public or civil society groups.

According to the 2007 Constitution, members of the National Human Rights Commission must be picked by a selection panel. Article 243 of the constitution says the seven member selection panel should be comprised of the President of Supreme Court, President of Constitution Court, President of the Administrative Court, House Speaker, Opposition Leader, one person selected by the Supreme Court and one person selected by Administrative Court. This means five of seven members of the selection panel represent the judiciary.

Article 231 of the current constitution suggests that nominees for the selection panel picked by the Supreme Court and the Administrative Court should not be judges or people from the judiciary. But for the selection panel for the National Human Rights Commission, the courts look to have twisted the law by picking former judges for the panel.

Writers of the constitution acted as though the judiciary has no political bias and is free from conflict of interest. But then, drafters of the military-sponsored charter were biased against politicians. They believed that if politicians were allowed to have a hand in the selection of independent bodies, they would bring their people in.

However this perception was wrong. Under the 1997 Constitution, which allowed politicians a greater role in the selection process, qualified people were chosen to be National Human Rights Commissioners.

But bureaucrats often have narrow minds. They seem to prefer like-minded people. The outcome of the court-dominated panel was many former bureaucrats on the human rights body. They are: anti-alcohol campaigner Taeching Siripanich, former senator Niran Pitakwatchara, former charter drafter Prinya Sirisarakan, secretary-general of the Constitution Court Paiboon Varahapaitoon, Pol Gen Wanchai Srinualnat (a former assistant to the police chief), Human Security Ministry inspector Wisa Benjamano and Chulalongkorn academic Amara Phongsapich.

Article 256 of the charter says the commissioners should be picked up from candidates who appear to have experience in human rights work. But in the new set of commissioners only Niran and Amara could claim experience in human rights work. Dr Niran, a physician, fought for years for basic rights of villagers in Ubon Ratchathani, while Amara has run projects to take care of victims of violence in the deep South.

Anti-alcohol campaigner Taeching had nothing to do with human rights in his previous job. And the former charter drafter Prinya was a businessman and former vice president of Nakhon Ratchasima Province Industrial Federation. He has no solid record of human rights work. Paiboon and Wisa are former bureaucrats who may have had chance contact with people only by their duties, which had no element of human rights promotion or protection. And Pol General Wanchai is a former police officer. Police usually have a "different" perspective on human rights to activists or rights campaigners.

Of the 133 applicants who applied to be on the new human rights body, there were many human rights defenders with long experience in such a job but not one was selected to sit on the national body.