CHRSD-Mahidol University

On Tuesday 23 November 2010, the Center for Human Rights Studies and Social Development, the Asia- Europe Foundation and the Department of Criminal Law at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University co-organised the Bangkok leg of the 34th Asia-Europe Lecture Tour.

The topic of the 2010 special public lecture, which will take place in three Southeast Asian capitals, namely Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Vientiane, is "Human Rights in Criminal Justice Systems". This year’s speaker is Professor Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment. 

Together with Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Lawyers and Judges, Professor Nowak recently co-authored a report on human rights in criminal justice systems in connection with the human rights workshop taking place under the aegis of the Asia-Europe Meetings (ASEM).

This ASEM report constitutes the basis for the 2010 lecture tour. In Bangkok, however, Professor Nowak shared not only the findings of the report, but also his own experiences gathered in the course of numerous fact-finding missions conducted during his tenure as UN Special Rapporteur. The lecture proved to be an illuminating and inspiring morning for the about 40 participants who joined the lecture, including academics and human rights students as well as practitioners from Thai and international human rights organizations.

After an introductory session on the theoretical background and various systems of criminal justice across the world, Professor Manfred proceeded with a series of case studies and examples of what he has witnessed while visiting detention centers and prisoners across the globe. One of Professor Nowak’s methods of work is photography in order to be able to illustrate for governments concerned what is taking place in their own facilities. The photos, however, are rarely publicized. In Bangkok, participants at the lecture were given a rare opportunity to visually witness prison conditions across almost all continents.

Following the lecture, Dr. Jade Donavanik, Dean of Faculty of Law, Siam University, moderated a question and answer session for participants to share opinions. Manfred Nowak generously shared of his time in a lively session with participants from different countries and backgrounds and a great variety of experiences and interests in the issue at hand. The situation in Thai prisons and the apparent lack of awareness of conditions by the wider Thai public was brought up by one Thai participant. The situation in Southern Thailand was also raised by several participants.

A recurrent theme of the lecture and the discussion was the need to generate the necessary political will to ensure the protection of the rights of those who have been deprived of their liberty – because the norms and standards already exist.

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