Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 8 “It is important that the government provide more incentives to attract qualified people to the justice system” Commentary Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn 42 Dignity and Justice for All of Us Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn, a leading human rights academic in Thailand, points out that the case of Mr. Somchai Neelapaijit has received a lot of interest from both domestic and international organizations because it concerns the violation of the rights of a human rights defender. He offers three points that could be drawn from this case. First, the quality of government officials is a crucial measure to prevent such misconduct. Therefore, it is important that the government provide more incentives to attract qualified people to the justice system. Second, Mr. Neelapaijit’s case points to a possible use of extrajudicial means, hence the violation of rights. Government officials must abide by the rule of law at all times. Third, once an act of violation has occurred, judicial responses at the national level may lead to various remedial measures, but these measures are still perceived as inadequate to provide justice where it is due. In cases where the government fails to give effective remediation to the victims, the United Nations mechanism(s) could be taken into consideration. Everyone has the right to approach the United Nations for help if the domestic-level remedies available to them are insufficient to protect their human rights. Mr. Neelapaijit’s case has been submitted for consideration by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, which is in the process of discussing the case with the Royal Thai Government. At present, Thai society is paying more attention to victims whose rights are violated by the State authorities, he says. Monetary compensation is the common method that the government uses, but justice is what the victims need. According to Professor Muntarbhorn, Thailand should become a party to the Convention of the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, an instrument which permits the United Nations to monitor such cases. Such membership would require that the government prepare periodic reports to be submitted to the United Nations regarding this problem. This could be a first step towards establishing a preventive mechanism against the violation of the rights of people, especially of human rights defenders.