Penalties to get tougher with new act

An early draft of a new Anti-Human Trafficking Act went to a public hearing yesterday (23 April 2003). A special committee working on improving legislation related to children, under the Office of Children, Youth, the Disadvantaged, Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons, assembled the bill, which updates a 1997 act. The panel comprises legal experts as well as child rights and women's rights advocates.

They said the 1997 act focussed narrowly on trafficking for sexual purposes, while other forms of trafficking such as child labour were excluded. The law contained inadequate mechanisms to combat trafficking in the form of transnational organised crime, and failed to provide effective tools to protect victims. ``Many victims of trafficking were charged with illegal entry or holding a fake passport instead of being protected by law,'' said Jarun Pakdithanakul, secretary-general to the Supreme Court President, a core supporter of the amendment.

The change would correct those flaws and bring legislation into line with the International Protocol to combat human trafficking, which Thailand was likely to ratify.

Wanchai Roujanawong, director-general of the Juvenile Observation and Protection Department, said the act was not tough enough on human traffickers. Law enforcers had to charge suspects with something else to make sure they were punished. ``After six years of implementation, we found a lack of unity in the act's enforcement. Authorities pay little attention. Some even do not know the law exists,'' he said.

The draft would better protect victims, and include a new article banning the publication or broadcasting of victims' pictures or personal details which could lead to them being identified. People who break the law could be jailed six months or fined up to 60,000 baht.

The draft also gives police more authority in combating traffickers, by allowing them to conduct snap inspections of any place where they suspect trafficking might have occurred. Only permission from their supervisors would be needed first.

Vitit Muntarbhorn, a human rights advocate at Chulalongkorn University's faculty of law, suggested the definition of ``human trafficking'' be kept simple, lest police get confused. ``Human trafficking can be simply defined as any form of human trade for exploitation no matter whether or not it has victims' consent,'' said Mr Vitit. He also urged the drafting panel to take into account the effectiveness of law enforcement before endorsing new legislation. ``Many countries in the world are facing a similar problem, of over-legislation and under-enforcement, because laws have failed to solve structural problems in the system,'' he said. It was hard to make police good law enforcers when they were paid so poorly, for example. The panel would gather suggestions made at the hearing.

Finalising the bill could take months, before the matter was finally sent to cabinet for a decision.

By Anjira Assavanonda
24 April 2003

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/24Apr2003_news24.html

home