US mum on lese majeste law at UN rights hearing

The recommendation was made during the three-hour-long Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session in Geneva on Thursday night (Bangkok time). The four-yearly process organised by the United Nations Human Rights Council requires each UN member state to present a report on various human rights conditions and to hear questions and recommendations by representatives of other members.

Representatives from the United Kingdom, France and Slovenia shared the view that the lese majeste law affected freedom of expression and urged Thailand to consider this aspect of liberty. Hungary and Finland urged Thailand to invite the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression to visit Thailand.

The representative of Norway - also a kingdom - made the most concrete suggestion, pointing out that although Norway has a lese majeste law, a charge can only be brought with the personal approval of the king in order to "avoid abuses".

The United States joined China, Syria, Singapore and Burma in not expressing any concern about the lese majeste law, under which at least a dozen Thai citizens, including one Thai-US dual citizen, Joe Gordon, are currently incarcerated, books are banned, the mainstream media exercises self-censorship and tens of thousands of Internet pages are blocked.

One European diplomat who watched a live webcast of the event in Bangkok told The Nation that Washington's lack of comment on the issue put the US "in the same league" with dictatorial states.

Other states whose representatives urged Thailand to amend the law included Switzerland, Brazil, Spain, Sweden and New Zealand. Some of these, including the Canadian representative, also raised the issue of the Computer Crimes Act, which critics say is also being used by the Thai government to curb freedom of expression.

Defending the government's position, a male representative from the Justice Ministry told the council that the Thai government is "keen to prevent the misuse of the law" and that a police committee has been set up to ensure that all charges have legal merit.

"Many charges have been dropped for insubstantial evidence," said the official, adding that another committee is conducting a "comparative study of lese majeste law" with an aim to "improve" the law.

"There's an ongoing debate on lese majeste law" in Thailand, the official acknowledged, adding that this will provide useful information that can help improve the law.

Thai Ambassador to the UN Sihasak Phuangketkeow told the council that Thai media are "free" to report and comment on politics. "Those of you who have visited Thailand will know that media in Thailand are able to comment freely on politics."

Asked by The Nation in a phone call arranged by the Bangkok-based regional office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights after the session whether the Thai media is really free if it cannot critically discuss the role of the monarchy in the context of politics, Sihasak insisted the media are still free to discuss "politics".

On other issues, the United States urged the Thai government to provide "sufficient support" to the Truth for Reconciliation Commission and to guarantee the commission "full access" to officers involved in the crackdown in April-May 2010; New Zealand urged the government to investigate extra-judicial killings over the past 10 years; and Nicaragua recommended Thailand abolish the death penalty. Violence and impunity in the deep South; women rights; the rights of labourers and migrant labourers; child pornography; and prison conditions were also raised.