The House of Representatives made good progress in pushing for the long-awaited amnesty bill this month. The bill, which is now known as the “peace-building legislation”, was submitted early this month to the Lower House.
It aims to grant an amnesty to those who are charged or penalised for their political activities. The second and third readings are expected before the parliamentary session ends later this month. The scrutiny can also resume when the House reconvenes in early December. The bill has a chance to become law before the Lower House is dissolved early next year.
This bill is inclusive, as it incorporates proposals from various parties and civic groups. However, it still excludes offences related to the sensitive Section 112, also known as the lese majeste law.
Essentially, the bill seeks to erase offenders’ criminal records once they are granted an amnesty. This draft law also adjusts the time frame for politically motivated offences, such as political protest campaigns, to cover incidents that occurred from 2003 to July of this year, rather than the 2003-2022 duration.
This draft law also prevents state agencies and enterprises from seeking compensation resulting from the actions of offenders.
Interestingly, the bill aims to extend the list of offences to cover cases involving religious crimes, as well as breaches of laws governing parties and elections, including those involving members of parliament and senators. However, the amnesty will not cover those guilty of poll fraud, including lying about qualifications to make themselves eligible as election candidates, violating the Referendum Act, and a series of executive orders issued by juntas.
Under the legislation, a nine-member panel will be formed to review individual lawsuits. The panel’s decision will be considered final. With the prime minister as chairman, the panel will comprise various sectors and ministries, such as the justice minister, the secretary-general of the National Human Rights Commission, including human rights experts, and a civil society specialist in conflict resolution.
At a glance, several clauses of the bill offer hope that the dream of political reconciliation is approaching. Yet the elephant in the room is that Section 112 is excluded from amnesty.
Without an update, Section 112 — along with its loopholes and disproportionate sentences — will only widen the division and invite criticism against the monarchy that this law is meant to protect.
The People’s Party has been lobbying parliament to include lese majeste offenders under 18 years old charged under this legislation, but such prospects are quite dim, as not many parties, and above all, the Upper House, support the idea.
By overlooking this, parliament appears to fall short in its support for real and meaningful political reconciliation.
However, for the past 15 years, successive parliaments have attempted to pass an amnesty law. Now that the chance has finally arrived, lawmakers must seize the opportunity to make the amnesty law attain its noble and ambitious goal.