Professor Amara Pongsapich, Thailand NHRC

“I enjoy learning about people from different backgrounds, how they live, what they believe and what is important to them,” says Professor Amara Pongsapich, the new Chairperson of Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

This passion for people has been nurtured through more than four decades working as an anthropologist, researcher and teacher.

However, the former Dean of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University says her years of experience have also helped her develop a strong understanding of the underlying causes of poverty and disadvantage.

“My work has exposed me to many of the issues facing indigenous peoples and minority groups – the hardship they experience, the lack of access to basic social services and, as a result, the many opportunities that are denied to them.”

It is an understanding that has also informed the way she has gone about her work.

“Back in the early 1970s we realised we couldn’t just go to the villages, talk with the people and do research for the sake of research. The question was: what will these people get from helping us in our research?” she says.

“So we adopted an action research model, which means that in the course of doing research we were also working with the communities to help identify solutions to the problems facing them.

“As a result we began to work very closely with local NGOs, as well as some governments agencies, to try to improve the situation facing women and children, in particular.”

New approach

It is this approach – analytical and collaborative – that Prof Pongsapich intends to bring to her six year term as head of the NHRC, which began in June this year.

She has begun by streamlining the way in which the NHRC assesses and handles complaints to focus on three core areas: civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; and the judicial system.

“If we cluster similar cases together and handle them through a similar process, then we can also look for systemic issues behind the complaints,” says Prof Pongsapich.

“It will also help us to identify the human rights issues that we need to prioritise and take action on,” she says, citing the rights of migrant workers, human trafficking and community rights as key areas where the NHRC will look to focus its efforts.

Collaboration

Prof Pongsapich says that working cooperatively with civil society and non-government organisations, as well as government agencies, is crucial for bringing about long-term, positive change.

“The NHRC has limited resources, both in our funding and our personnel, so we need to collaborate with others to find solutions to the human rights issues that we see,” she says.

“In cases of human trafficking and abuses against migrant workers, which we are issues of particular concern, this is we where we can work closely with NGOs. And if cases need to go to court, then we will do so to push forward these issues.”

Prof Pongsapich says the NHRC will establish a committee, comprised of representatives from a broad range of civil society organisations, to provide advice and feedback on the policies and direction of the Commission.

“We will also establish more focused sub-committees that can assist us with our work on specific issues, particularly in the area of economic, social and cultural rights. This is where we need to bring in civil society networks for women and children and labour to support us in our work.”

Criticism

When Prof Pongsapich and the six other members were nominated to the NHRC in May this year, civil society organisations expressed criticism that the selection process was not open to broader participation or comment.

“I don’t want to defend the process; it was a process established by the 2007 Constitution,” she says.

“I personally don’t like the process. I feel the seven-member search committee that was established to nominate members for the NHRC should be more broad-based.

“At present the search committee includes representatives from the three Supreme Courts, one from the head of Parliament, one from the opposition party and two other representatives that are nominated by members of two courts.

“I think we should seek to amend this by ensuring the representatives who fill these two extra positions are more broad-based.”

Similarly, Prof Pongsapich believes Thailand’s nominee to the new ASEAN human rights body should be representative of the broader society.

“The NHRC already has a door open to us, because of who we are, to engage with this body. So we think that it is better if we can bring in someone else, someone with broad-based human rights experience, to represent Thailand on this body.”