Actions did speak much louder than words last week. The government on Tuesday announced its new national human rights agenda for government agencies. It didn't generate any news buzz. Over the following days, the government's top brass publicly endorsed the military's culture of corporal punishment, which allegedly involves rights violations, in the wake of the death of a military cadet. Their endorsement generated national news.
Possibly, it tells us a lot about the country we are living in -- a suppressed society where our leaders urge others to respect human rights at the same time as excusing themselves from doing so, and where human rights violations are rampant and systematically practised while those who committed them enjoy a life of impunity.
When I first spotted a news report about the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration's human rights agenda, I thought it was fake news. But a few more reports confirmed it wasn't.
Surasak Glahan is Deputy Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.
It will likely be an agenda (or propaganda?) and not many people will really buy it. And no one can blame them for being cynical. Since the 2014 coup, rights suppression by the state seems to be something of a habit. Peaceful political gatherings, constitutional referendum campaigning and defending other people's rights are just a few examples of actions that have landed people in trouble. Many face pending legal cases, while a number of them have either been detained or jailed in the meantime.
So, should we be optimistic that this sad state of rights violations is going to be a thing of the past with the launch of this new national agenda?
According to government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the government has directed a variety of agencies to implement this agenda. It is unclear how the administration has instructed the agencies and in which areas, and whether those agencies include the military and the government itself.
If Gen Prayut wants us to believe this is the real deal, he should set an example by tackling rights abuses in the military and by the ruling government.
The death of cadet Pakapong Tanyakan raises suspicions of abuse at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School, in this case the corporal punishment administered by senior students.
Both Prime Minister Prayut and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who earlier shrugged off criticism and said they went through it too, have softened their stance and expressed their apologies to Pakapong's family.
The premier himself, according to Lt Gen Sansern, "pledged to continue with the investigation to get to the bottom of his death".
Lt Gen Sansern also said the prime minister has "instructed all military units to treat their personnel like family members and to avoid excessive punishment", and that anyone found guilty of a crime must be held responsible.
I'd like to be optimistic, but I can't help but wonder whether such an instruction will filter down through the ranks.
Gen Prayut needs to do more to pre-empt the abuse in military units that has seen young cadets tortured and killed by their own comrades, such as setting up an independent body to take complaints from victims and pursue justice on their behalf.
Over the past eight years, there have been at least eight reported deaths in the barracks.
Most of the victims were either privates or low-ranked officers subjected to inhumane punishment or beaten up by their fellow soldiers, according to online news agency Prachatai.
Political activists and critics have also fallen victim to the military regime's suppression. Until the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) changes its approach to governing, it will be hard for the regime to convince any state agencies of the value in adopting this human rights agenda.
Many of us can only hope the NCPO will soon lift the political gatherings ban. We also wish that many legal cases against activists and critics of the regime will be dropped as a way to adopt this new national agenda.
But don't let your hopes run wild. A day after announcing its human rights mission, the NCPO announced a new security "superboard" to be run by the International Security Operations Command.
Pessimists see it as a way to implement the military's "political mission" ahead of the general election next year.
The government's "national human rights agenda" seems to have already been shot down before it ever got off the ground.
