คณะกรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชนแห่งชาติ National Human Rights Commission of Thailand 20 Executive Summary This assessment report on the human rights situation in the country is prepared according to the duties and authorities provided in Section 247 (2) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560 and Section 26 (2) of the Organic Act on National Human Rights Commission B.E. 2560. In preparing the report, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) compiled data from human rights incidents that occurred in 2019, the private sector, civil society, the performances of government agencies, and the works of NHRC itself. The NHRC also organized consultations with various stakeholders and field visits for observation and documentation in some cases. The data was analyzed against the rights recognized in the constitution, national laws and treaties to which Thailand is a party and has obligations to comply, to assess the situation of rights in each area and to develop recommendations. The situation assessment was divided into 4 areas according to the scope of international human rights treaties and important human rights issues in the Thai context: 1) civil and political rights; 2) economic, social and cultural rights; 3) human rights of specific groups; and 4) human rights issues of concern, which can be summarized as follows: 1. The situation of civil and political rights Important issues include access to justice, torture and enforced disappearances, and freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. In 2019, the government continued to promote access to justice, in particular providing help to the accused or defendants who do not have sufficient securities to secure temporary release during the court proceedings. In addition, an amendment was made to Section 161/1 of the Criminal Procedure Code to provide protection to human rights defenders from lawsuits initiated in bad faith or with distorted facts. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s Announcement on cases to be tried by Military Court was revoked and pending cases are being transferred to the Court of Justice. Efforts were made to solve the problem of overcrowded prisons by establishing a committee to develop measures to reduce congestion of inmates. However, there were still reports of lawsuits against villagers and human rights activists. There were political activists repeatedly assaulted without adequate progress regarding the prosecution of perpetrators. And there were delays in transferring cases from the Military Court to the Court of Justice.