Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas has written to the Ministry of Justice, asking for a delay in the enforcement of the Anti-Torture Act, claiming that his officers are not ready to give up police torture.
The act was trailered in October last year, with the provision that it would come into force on February 22.
The letter dated January 6 was signed by top cop Damrongsak, the Royal Thai Police Chief. According to Prachatai English, in the letter, the chief lists the difficulties his officers will have in remaining within the law (i.e., not torturing anyone).
The law, Damrongsak says, requires the police to make audio or video recordings from the moment of arrest through to release. This will require over 170,000 more body and vehicle cameras and more within facilities, costing around 3.4 billion baht (US$100 million), not to mention the Cloud costs. This budget can be submitted for…
