On 15 April 2020, Manushya Foundation and 10 other national and international human rights organisations sent a letter to the Thai Department of Corrections expressing their concern over the potentially disastrous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prison population and prison staff in Thailand.

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In the joint letter, the 11 undersigned organisations urge the Department of Corrections to take all the necessary steps to immediately release significant numbers of prisoners in order to reduce prison congestion and mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in correctional facilities and call for the release of the following categories of individuals, currently detained for non-serious and/or non-violent offenses:

 

• Prisoners over the age of 60.

• Sick prisoners, particularly those with underlying medical conditions (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer).

• Prisoners awaiting trial.

• Prisoners sentenced to terms of up to two years.

• Prisoners with one year or less left to serve.

• Prisoners detained for immigration offenses.

• Pregnant women.

• All others detained without sufficient legal basis.