Protesting academics and students reject amnesty bill

The Thai government’s attempt to pass a blanket amnesty bill for ‘political’ offences, in an ill-judged bid to promote political reconciliation, has brought university lecturers, rectors and student groups out onto the streets in scenes of protest the likes of which the country has not witnessed in many years.

They joined tens of thousands of people from different sectors of Thai society publicly expressing opposition to the government’s plan.

They say the amnesty bill, passed on 1 November by the lower house of parliament after opposition Democratic Party members walked out in protest, goes too far in forgiving too many crimes, including corruption offences.

As the groundswell of protest mounted, Rangsit University and Bangkok’s Mahidol University earlier this week announced that they would allow all staff to take a day off to join university-organised rallies against the bill.

Chulalongkorn University held a 5 November rally in the centre of the capital to oppose the bill. It gathered over 5,000 lecturers, students and alumni.

“The bill will benefit the corrupt,” Chulalongkorn University President Pirom Kamamolratanakul was quoted by local media as saying. “Educational institutions have a responsibility to teach students to be ethical, but this bill will breach university principles of morality.”

The controversial amnesty bill proposed in August by Worachai Hema, an MP of the ruling Pheu Thai party, led to public uproar after an ad hoc parliamentary committee changed the scope from granting amnesty only to protestors accused of and guilty of politically motivated crimes from the 19 September 2006 military coup onwards – to include amnesty for state officials who may have been involved in the April-May 2010 political violence against protesters, which left over 90 people dead.

Controversially, the draft bill would also grant amnesty to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was found guilty of malfeasance by an Assets Examination Committee set up after the 2006 coup, which ousted him from office; and would extend to any politically motivated crimes committed after 2004.

The amendment has caused anger towards the government led by Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who is accused by the public of whitewashing her brother’s past corrupt activities.

Important role for universities

Universities have been important in providing non-parliamentary expert opinion.

The executive body of Chulalongkorn University issued an opinion last Monday saying the bill violated the rule of law and international standards, which state that amnesty should not be for self-interest and should not be unconditional.

A group of prominent lecturers at Thammasat’s law faculty, known as Nitirat – Enlightened Jurists – were among the first to issue a statement against the bill, calling it “unconstitutional”. They said it could result in lawsuits in the Constitutional Court against MPs.

Thammasat’s Worahet Pakeerut, an associate professor and member of Nitirat, said at a public meeting at the university that the blanket amnesty also contradicted the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as it would grant immunity to state officials who committed human rights violations.

The academics added that the legal process had been rushed and lacked transparency, despite the need for extensive public comment on such a far-reaching law, and criticised the legislation for covering all kinds of violations from corruption to political demonstrations.

Thailand has passed several amnesty laws in the past, including for students and civilians involved in an October 1973 student-led uprising. But the law, lecturers said, and some other political amnesties covered criminal acts committed within narrowly defined period of time.

Thammasat University Rector Somkid Lertpaitoon read out a statement from more than 700 academics, students and staff, calling on the senate – the upper house, which is due to consider the bill next week – to reject it.

Somkid, who is also chair of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand, or CUPT, convened a meeting of leading universities to petition the senate.

The 14 CUPT rectors said last Monday that the bill “could lead to wrong standards in Thai society, as people would believe corruption is not a serious issue as wrongdoers can eventually be absolved by an amnesty”, according to the rectors’ statement.

Student groups at Thammasat University also organised a petition to submit to the senate. By late Wednesday it had already garnered 10,000 signatures.

Dozens of other public statements from universities around the country have been issued against the bill.

But Salisa Yuktanan, a Thammasat University lecturer in sociology, said even though she opposed the blanket amnesty bill, she disagreed with her university’s statement because it focused too much on corruption while failing to condemn officials involved in the violent crackdown on 2010 pro-Thaksin Red Shirt protestors.

“The main issue opposed by the faculties was that an amnesty should not be granted for corrupt officials,” she said, referring to Thaksin Shinawatra. “However, it does not mention anything about an amnesty for those responsible for the crackdown and the authorities” who ordered it.

She said it was “unforgivable” that the university failed to mention the principles of justice and human rights. Thammasat student groups, by contrast, gave equal emphasis to an amnesty against corruption and tackling officials’ impunity.

Government backs down

After several days of major protests, the Pheu Thai party stated on Wednesday that it would back down on the bill, once the senate returns the draft to the lower house of parliament. This will take another 180 days, starting next week.

Earlier this week, senate said it would reject the problematic bill.