Officials Inflame Crisis In Deep South

[Mai Krap]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/04/18...on_30032082.php

EDITORIAL THE NATION

Officials inflame crisis in deep South



Militia units are compromising government's stated mission to reconcile matters in the restive region

The last few weeks have seen some worrying developments that are a cause for concern as they could drag the deep South further into turmoil. These incidents threaten to do away with whatever gains the state has made as far as reconciliation with the Malay-speaking South is concerned. Last Friday, a unit of 12 soldiers investigating arson attacks in Pattani's Ban Bana village shot and killed three unarmed teenagers who were playing tag near the weekly outdoor market.

At first, the official explanation was that the soldiers were returning fire in self-defence. The official explanation that these boys, aged 13-15, were in the line of fire quickly lost its credibility the following morning after police said they were treating the matter as manslaughter.

Hundreds of angry local residents merged on the street the following morning, shortly after burying the victims.

Security bigwigs - Pattani Governor Panu Uthairath, Colonel Wirawan Pathompark, deputy commander of the Internal Security Operation Command, and Pol Maj-General Korkiert Wongworachart, commander of the Pattani Provincial Police - quickly came together. They promised to carry out a thorough investigation and take appropriate measures if the conduct of the soldiers is deemed to have been negligent.

While the deal bought them more time with local residents, the same could not be said about the April 9 shooting death of four Muslim youths in Yala's Tambon Kern Banglang in Bannang Sata district. There, a heated exchange of words between a group of village defence volunteers and about 20 Muslim youths returning from a funeral turned bloody when the government-backed outfit responded with gunfire. Four young Muslim men died, and six were injured.

And instead of looking for ways to buy more time, Army spokesman Colonel Akara Thiproj concluded the next morning that the shooting of these young men was justifiable, because they were armed with rocks and sticks.

Besides questions of accountability and conduct, the official rules of engagement for these poorly trained government-backed village militia units have been brought under an unwanted spotlight.

About a month prior to the Kern Banglang incident, a group of rangers opened fire on and threw M79 grenades at a private Islamic boarding school in Yala's Ban Taseh. One student was killed and another injured while they were sleeping. At first, authorities denied the school had been attacked, saying instead that students who were practising making explosives had accidentally detonated a bomb. That official line quickly lost ground once it became clear that the government-backed militia group really had carried out the attack. A National Legislative Assembly committee was set up to investigate the incident, thus buying some breathing space for the authorities.

A similar promise was made after a group of rangers was accused of attacking another religious school in Songkhla's Saba Yoi district on March 17. Three students were killed and seven were injured.

Needless to say, these disturbing back-to-back incidents have raised questions about the decision to put these ill-trained outfits on the front line of this complicated conflict.

Victory will require much more than mere fire-power. As these recent incidents demonstrated, knee-jerk reactions by officials on the ground do not reflect the government's stated desire to move towards reconciliation with the Malay-speaking community through peaceful means. In order to maintain whatever gains the state has made in this struggle, the authorities will have to come clean about these disturbing and questionable incidents. This means conducting thorough investigations before mouthing off about whom to blame.

The incidents in Ban Taseh, Kern Banglang and Saba Yoi all have one thing in common: they lack official clarity and consistency. The more ambiguous the authority becomes, the more we are drifting back to the heavy-handedness of the previous government.

Needless to say, efforts at reconciliation will be doomed if the government is unable to convince the public that justice can prevail in these difficult circumstances. The current government came to power promising to make truth and justice its hallmarks. They will have to live up to this promise if peace and victory is to be achieved in this restive region.

[Mai Krap]

More of the same in the south, Government troops and militias murdering Muslim youth with impunity. The standard lie from Chang Mai to Malaysia every time a bomb goes off in or near a mosque, Muslims were practicing making bombs and blew themselves up. Then you have the hate mongers on Thai Visa who raise helll every time you hear of some non Muslim getting killed but silence when teenage boys are shot down like dogs by men in uniform. The fact that anyone killed in the south has their murder blamed on super secret agent jihadist never seems to bother the investigators even when there is little if any evidence to suggest who or even why some non Muslims and even Muslims are being killed. The people of the south are not fools no matter how uneducated they might be, at some point those sitting on the sidelines will take a stand and god help us then. I for one fear it is to late to resolve now without much violence, there was a window of opportunity after the coup but that window is quickly closing. Until this very day I never considered the separation from Thailand of the three southern states a option but it may indeed be the only answer for a peaceful future. For now I watch the daily violence with dread, when will it end if ever?