On 20 January 2025, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) made a submission to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, ahead of her official visit to Thailand from 18 to 28 February 2025. This submission focuses on the right to health for individuals deprived of their liberty in Thailand.
20 January 2025. FIDH documentation shows that Thai authorities have consistently failed to respect, protect, and fulfil the right of prisoners and detainees to the "enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health", which is guaranteed by Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Thailand is a state party to the ICESCR.
In its General Comment No. 14 on Article 12 of the ICESCR, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) states that the right to health extends to the "underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition and housing."
The FIDH’s assessment is based on interviews with 48 former inmates (36 men and 12 women) who had been detained in 22 prisons between 2021 and 2023 and five former detainees (three men and two women) who had been detained in three Immigration Detention Centers (IDCs) in Bangkok and were released at various times between 2020 and 2023. It is likely that the information gathered through these interviews is reflective of similar trends and conditions that exist across the other prisons and IDCs in the country.
This submission also illustrates that the provision of healthcare for prisoners and detainees across the country fails to meet relevant international minimum standards, such as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.
Read the submission here.
