re: "Anti-torture bill overdue" (BP, Editorial, September 14, 2021)
Dear editor,
It's very nice that "This draft bill was written primarily to prevent rouge officials from torturing suspects or abducting people with critical views."
But consider: had it already been in force a month ago, or a year ago, or ten years ago, would anything have happened differently? Would less Thais who spoke out against abuses have been disappeared? Would activists in Cambodia and elsewhere not have been disappeared? Would officers of high repute of the Royal Thai Police not have tortured someone to death?
The Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act is a healthy start, but it can't solve the problems of an endemic culture of violence that is further entrenched every time some saviour, the fake banner they dress themselves in, uses violence or threats of violence to overthrow a popular, democratic government of the Thai people. Nor should it be forgot that throwing people into prison for the peaceful expression of an opinion is an act of violence, however blessed by unjust law. There seems, therefore, not much chance of any long overdue reform of corrupt Thai institutions while bad law is used to violently suppress free speech, which is a non-negotiable, foundational principle of democracy, one without which democracy is gutted like a tortured victim who dared to speak up as good people do.
Felix Qui
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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on September 16, 2021, under the title "Culture of violence" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2182643/torture-uncommon-
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