Rule of law must prevail

       For the second time in three weeks, the government faces the question of what to do about a planned rally by red shirt protesters.Unsurprisingly, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) has announced it intends to call on supporters to mark Saturday's third anniversary of the Sept 19,2006 military coup.
       The rhetoric will be excited, the crowd will probably be large, and there is a chance the rally can get out of hand. This sort of problem has posed a question for successive governments because there is no law on crowd control. This government needs to address such a huge gap in the law.
       When the red shirts gather on Saturday, there is a good chance that crowd control and surveillance will be handled once again by the military. The Internal Security Act, invoked needlessly three weeks ago, is likely to be brought into effect again this weekend. The ISA is a draconian action, putting all law enforcement in the hands of the Internal Security Operations Command - in effect, the army.
       In fact, the ISA was advertised by its sponsors in 2007 as a measure that might never be used, but one which should be available to the government in case of massive civil disorder. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is likely to invoke the ISA this weekend for a second time even though there is no actual threat of violence.One may disagree with the premier's decision, but in the face of a large, hostile and unpredictable crowd,the government can argue it has little choice.
       The root problem is that when a crowd goes wild,when a mob destroys property, when a speaker at a rally calls for an action that clearly violates public order, no law is broken. The police have no legal power to stop a rampaging mob from taking to the street and committing the sort of violence that Pattaya and then Bangkok witnessed during the Songkran holidays last April. Police absurdly have to try to prosecute such law-breakers under laws like the Traffic Management Act, or the Cleanliness Act, as if the worst act of violent mobs is to walk against a red light, or leave litter on the pathways.
       When the ISA is invoked, authorities gain the power to decide when a mob is getting out of hand, and to deal with leaders who are inciting the group, or with violent members who are destroying property or attacking other people. The problem is that the actual rule of law is suspended. Soldiers replace police, military officers take the part of judges, and lawyers are not allowed to attend to the civil and legal rights of anyone who is detained.
       Invoking the ISA brings heavy criticism, particularly from abroad. But pity the government, too, because it has the duty this coming weekend to protect the citizens of Bangkok from possible mob violence. The obvious answer is for the government to sponsor an actual crowd-control law, and for parliament to debate and pass it.
       It should be an interesting debate, perhaps with public hearings, on how the right to free speech and public rallies can balance the right of the public to travel and not be inconvenienced by mob action.
       Police then can assume their proper role of handling possible political turmoil under rule of law, and the ISA can be saved and used only, if ever, when violence is actually so far out of control that soldiers must be called in to quell large mobs.
       If Mr Abhisit and his government do their jobs properly, this should be the last time the ISA has to be used.