Human rights group urges action on "disappearances" in Thailand

Mar 20, 2007, 5:07 GMT

New York - Human Righhts Watch on Tuesday called on the Thai government to put an end to the 'disappearances' of suspected Muslim militants in the deep South, where more than 2,000 people have fallen victim to an escalating insurgency since 2004.

In a 69-page report released Tuesday, the New York-based human rights group documented 22 cases of unresolved 'disappearances' in the deep South with the evidence strongly indicating that the Thai security forces were responsible.

'The Thai security forces are using 'disappearances' as a way to weaken the militants and instill fear in the Malay Muslim community,' said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. 'These 'disappearances' appear to be a matter of policy, not simply the work of rogue elements in the security services.'

HRW acknowleged that most of the disappearances occurred under the administrations of Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, known for his strong-arm tactics in suppressing the insurgents in the region, comprising Thailand's southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.

But Adams said the current government, installed after Thaksin was ousted by a military coup on September 19, last year, must do more to investigate the disappearances and prosecute those responsible.

'Thailand 's government needs to make a clear and public statement of policy against 'disappearances' and take action against those responsible for this crime,' Adams said.

According to the HRW report, disappearances of ethnic Malay Muslims suspected of participating in the insurgency began a few days after Thaksin pressured police and soldiers to quickly arrest those responsible for the attack on the army camp in Narathiwat province on January 4, 2004, in which 300 rifles were stolen.

The incident has been cited as the watermark for the rise in Muslim militancy in the region.

Disappearances and lack of justice for their families has been listed as one of the reasons for the increasing opposition to Bangkok by the majority Muslim population in the three provinces, that border Malaysia.

'While most 'disappearances' took place during Thaksin's rule, many of the senior military and police officials who carried out this policy remain on active duty,' said Adams. 'Thaksin acknowledged these abuses in 2005, yet nothing has been done to stop or punish those responsible.'

Although the current government under appointed Prime Ministger Surayud Chulanont has issued a public apology foir past atrocities and adopted a more conciliatory approach towards the rebels, little has been done to bring past abuses to justice, noted HRW.

'General Surayad vowed to make justice a priority, but his government still fails to hold officials accountable for these crimes,' said Adams.

The human rights group urged the Thai government to conduct prompt, independent and impartial investigations into allegations of enforced disappearances, and prosecute those found responsible.

The deep South was once an independent Islamic sultanate called Pattani, before the region was conquered by Bangkok in 1786. It was placed under direct rule of the Thai bureaucracy in 1902.

The south's separatist struggle has been fuelled by the local population's sense of religious and cultural alienation from the predominantly Buddhist Thai state.

More than 80 per cent of the 2 million people in the three-province region describe themselves as Muslims of ethnic Malay descent who have closer cultural affinities with neighbouring Malaysia than with the predominantly Buddhist Thai kingdom.