A/HRC/41/43/Add.1 44. The Working Group views these examples as part of the wider systematic use of strategic lawsuits against public participation brought against human rights defenders, communities and individuals involved in highlighting human rights violations with the aim of silencing critical voices through direct abuse of the legal and judicial system. The Working Group calls upon the Government of Thailand to ensure that defamation cases are not used by businesses as a tool to undermine the legitimate rights and freedoms of the rights holders, civil society organizations and human rights defenders who are affected. 45. The Working Group encourages the Public Prosecutor and the Office of the Attorney General to use their discretion under section 21 of the 2010 Public Prosecutor Organ and Public Prosecutors Act more vigilantly to screen out criminal defamation cases that might be intended to harass human rights defenders, community leaders, environmentalists, academics, civil society organizations and all those involved in protecting and promoting human rights. 46. The Working Group notes that the amendments to sections 165/2 and 161/1 of the Criminal Procedure Code took effect on 20 February 2019 and 20 March 2019, respectively. It is to be hoped that the amendments will make it easier for courts to dismiss or prevent the refiling of cases by individuals or companies, which are found to have been submitted in bad faith to harass a defendant. The Working Group also notes that the Ministry of Justice has established a working group to develop protection measures for human rights defenders and that the Government is working on amendments to the Witness Protection Act (2003) to strengthen the protection of human rights defenders. Despite those measures, companies continue to file civil and criminal defamation cases against civil society organizations and human rights defenders. Additional measures should therefore be pursued by the Government to address legitimate concerns related to the shrinking of the civic space and the critical role of human rights defenders in helping to identify and prevent businessrelated human rights abuses. 47. The Working Group also welcomes the inclusion of human rights defenders as a new group for special treatment under the draft fourth national human rights plan (2019– 2023) and as one of the four priorities of the draft national action plan on business and human rights. VII. Trafficking and forced labour 48. During the visit, the Working Group learned about the efforts made by the Government to tackle human rights abuses related to trafficking and forced labour. In particular, cases of trafficking and forced labour in the fishing industry have attracted international attention. In June 2014, the annual Trafficking in Persons report issued by the United States of America State Department downgraded Thailand to tier 3 status; Thailand was given tier 2 “watch list” status in 2017 and tier 2 in 2018. That coincided with the European Union issuing a “yellow card” warning for Thailand, which opened the possibility of trade sanctions under European Union regulations on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. 49. Thailand is one of the world’s largest exporters of seafood, with annual seafood exports estimated at $5.9 billion. 7 The industry employs more than 600,000 workers, of whom around half are registered migrant workers, predominantly from Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar. The threat of a ban on exports and pressure from consumers and large supermarket chains spurred the quick enactment of new laws and measures to stamp out forced labour in the fishing and seafood-processing industry. 50. The Working Group welcomes the actions taken by the Government in introducing registration of all commercial fishing vessels, new systems of port-in and port-out controls, enhanced labour inspections and increased fines for non-compliance with labour laws. Action was also taken by industry associations, led by the Thai Tuna Industry Association, 7 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Globefish highlights: a quarterly update on world seafood markets” (April 2018). 11