Rights commission reset improves international reputation: Meechai
Chief charter writer Meechai Ruchupan on Friday insisted the resetting of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seen in the organic law is necessary for improving the agency’s international reputation. Also, he believed that the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) would not petition against the controversial bill.
“We have to accept that the NHRC members must be removed and a new batch recruited to allow representatives from civil society to take part. This is to fix the issue where the agency was downgraded by international organisations,” he said.
The downgrade made the NHRC unable to vote at the international level, Meechai said. If the agency included more representatives from civil society, Meechai believed the increased expertise would improve the commission’s international reputation.
The remark came following the NLA’s vote on Thursday passing the organic law governing the agency. But the vote was not without controversy. Some NLA members disagreed with dismissing current NHRC members.
In addition to the NLA, the 2017 charter also allowed the CDC to petition the Constitutional Court if they believed the bill was unconstitutional.
Meechai, however, said he didn’t think the panel would do so. The drafters did not see any problems in the bill, the CDC chairman said.