Security forces under the spotlight in deep South: Thai editorial

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Security forces under the spotlight in deep South
The Nation

Few locals believe the official version of the killings of the three boys in Narathiwat

BANGKOK: -- According to police, two paramilitary rangers, both Muslims, have admitted carrying out the February 3 attack in which three boys were killed in Narathiwat's Bacho district.

Maming Binhama, 21, and Sakuera Chesae, 25, both members of the 46th Ranger Regiment, were arrested a month after the incident.

They are accused of murdering Muyahed Maman, 11, and his brothers Bahari, nine, and Eleyas, six.

The boys' father, Jehmu Maman, 40, and their pregnant mother, Paleedah Mayu, 33, were wounded in the attack.

Authorities said the attacks had nothing to do with the ongoing insurgency in the three southernmost provinces and that the paramilitary rangers had acted on their own, motivated by revenge.

According to the security officials, Maming admitted he attacked the family to avenge the deaths of his elder brother Abdunlo and his wife Rokiyo Srarawo, who was four months pregnant when they were shot dead last August. They were also residents of Bacho.

Police said they are still seeking a third suspect in connection with the February 3 killings. A government source said the third suspect was also a ranger and that he was a Buddhist.

The killing of the three boys set off what appeared to be a series of revenge murders, with the shooting death of two women, whose bodies were set on fire, as well as a gun attack that killed a Buddhist monk and three others, including a young boy.

The attacks on these "soft targets" have jolted the region and sparked a state of high alert among both officials and civilians. Internal Security Operations Command spokesman Col Banpot Poonpian accused the separatists of using the February 3 murders as justification for their attacks on soft targets.

Officials were quick to dismiss suggestions that government security agencies had anything to do with the children's slayings. This denial follows a dubious pattern in the deep South: almost all violent attacks are automatically blamed on the insurgents.

Security officials in the restive region spend a great of deal of time and energy attempting to garner public sympathy. But the very people they are trying to win over - the Malay Muslims of southern Thailand - have yet to come over to their side.

Few local residents believe the authorities' version, saying the government has never been honest with them and that past wrongdoings by security officials have gone unpunished.

On the surface it seems that progress in the investigation into the February 3 killings has been made. Two suspects have been arrested and the third looks set to be named in the coming days.

There were reports suggesting that the death of the three boys was "an accident". However, footage of bullet holes in the concrete wall against which the boys were shot makes it obvious that these were not stray rounds.

The harder the authorities try to distance themselves from the incident, the less the local residents believe them. Authorities appear to be more concerned about their image than about getting to the bottom of the story.

Perhaps the commander of the rangers in custody did not give the green light for the killings. But that implies that his subordinates planned and carried out the attack on their own, which in turn reveals serious flaws not only in the chain of command but also in the kind of people being recruited by the security forces.

Either way, the superiors and supervisors of these men must take their share of the burden of blame. A serious and thorough investigation into this incident must take place.


-- The Nation 2014-03-07

[phuketsub]

The M16 used by Maming was reportedly issued to a Ranger who was killed in an attack, then "borrowed" by Maming even as it was still state evidence in the case.

Easy access to automatic weapons down there is another issue that is seldom ever addressed.

[OMGImInPattaya]

No justice no peace.

Remember Somchai Neejapajit!

[kikoman]

It seem like to many loose cannon in the national Thai security forces, true their commanding officers should be held accountable but many are not,

The recent announcement that the Navy Seal commander will lose his command of the seals, but in true Thai military hypocrisy will be given a promotion when he loses his command? Is that what being held responsible means in the Thai Military.

Cheers

[squarethecircle]

Seems like a typical pattern: counter-terrorist security forces killed a leading Taliban commander in a drone strike in Pakistan; mujihadeen responded by murdering 13 climbers. Chinese security forces killed 20+ separatist terrorists, Xinjiang terrorists responded by murdering 30 civilians in Kunming on Sunday. A Malay-Muslim (likely) terrorist gets involved in a bunch of s**t, has his kids murdered as apparent retribution, and the response is 5 more Thais brutally murdered. Of course those 5 were "unclean" so not really of any concern.

Seems like they're more concerned about the "rights" of criminals/terrorists and the like, than with innocent victims.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Seems like a typical pattern: counter-terrorist security forces killed a leading Taliban commander in a drone strike in Pakistan; mujihadeen responded by murdering 13 climbers. Chinese security forces killed 20+ separatist terrorists, Xinjiang terrorists responded by murdering 30 civilians in Kunming on Sunday. A Malay-Muslim (likely) terrorist gets involved in a bunch of s**t, has his kids murdered as apparent retribution, and the response is 5 more Thais brutally murdered. Of course those 5 were "unclean" so not really of any concern.

Seems like they're more concerned about the "rights" of criminals/terrorists and the like, than with innocent victims.

You know nothing of the history of this conflict nor of the Thai State's complicity in the murder of thousands of its own citizens. Edited March 7, 2014 by OMGImInPattaya

[OnTheRun]

Seems like a typical pattern: counter-terrorist security forces killed a leading Taliban commander in a drone strike in Pakistan; mujihadeen responded by murdering 13 climbers. Chinese security forces killed 20+ separatist terrorists, Xinjiang terrorists responded by murdering 30 civilians in Kunming on Sunday. A Malay-Muslim (likely) terrorist gets involved in a bunch of s**t, has his kids murdered as apparent retribution, and the response is 5 more Thais brutally murdered. Of course those 5 were "unclean" so not really of any concern.

Seems like they're more concerned about the "rights" of criminals/terrorists and the like, than with innocent victims.

You know nothing of the history of this conflict nor of the Thai State's complicity in the murder of thousands of its own citizens.

And you do? Care to give us a history lesson?

[OMGImInPattaya]

Seems like a typical pattern: counter-terrorist security forces killed a leading Taliban commander in a drone strike in Pakistan; mujihadeen responded by murdering 13 climbers. Chinese security forces killed 20+ separatist terrorists, Xinjiang terrorists responded by murdering 30 civilians in Kunming on Sunday. A Malay-Muslim (likely) terrorist gets involved in a bunch of s**t, has his kids murdered as apparent retribution, and the response is 5 more Thais brutally murdered. Of course those 5 were "unclean" so not really of any concern.

Seems like they're more concerned about the "rights" of criminals/terrorists and the like, than with innocent victims.

You know nothing of the history of this conflict nor of the Thai State's complicity in the murder of thousands of its own citizens.

And you do? Care to give us a history lesson?

Yes I do...the information is all there if one cares to educate oneself. Try first by googling Tak Bai massacre and Kru Se mosque massacre. One could then peruse some of the many reports on the South by the International Crisis Group. That would be a good start. One could also READ the op-ed in he Post of a couple days ago on the Thai State extra-judicial killing of the human rights lawyer Somchai Neejapajit.

EDUCATE YOURSELF!!!

[squarethecircle]

"Yes I do...the information is all there if one cares o educate oneself. Try first by googling Tak Bai massacre and Kru Se mosque massacre. One could then peruse some of the many reports on the South by the International Crisis Group. That would be a good start. One could also READ the op-ed in he Post of a couple days ago on the Thai State extra-judicial killing of the human rights lawyer Somchai Neejapajit. "

Already did, been in the region and checked it out myself, been to Tak Bai and Krue Se mosque. The former was a blundered military crackdown against a violent/terroristic insurrection, and in the latter militants attacked multiple police stations and army checkpoints before holing up in the mosque. That's why I compare it to the recent attacks in Pakistan and China: the stated cause is avenging the deaths of fellow murderous scum. I get the impression that earlier forms of the insurgency may have been more righteous, but murdering innocent Thais, blowing up some young draftees from up north...these people draw more sympathy than the scum who seem to be applying a backwards mentality to a 21st century problem.

[OMGImInPattaya]

"Yes I do...the information is all there if one cares o educate oneself. Try first by googling Tak Bai massacre and Kru Se mosque massacre. One could then peruse some of the many reports on the South by the International Crisis Group. That would be a good start. One could also READ the op-ed in he Post of a couple days ago on the Thai State extra-judicial killing of the human rights lawyer Somchai Neejapajit. "

Already did, been in the region and checked it out myself, been to Tak Bai and Krue Se mosque. The former was a blundered military crackdown against a violent/terroristic insurrection, and in the latter militants attacked multiple police stations and army checkpoints before holing up in the mosque. That's why I compare it to the recent attacks in Pakistan and China: the stated cause is avenging the deaths of fellow murderous scum. I get the impression that earlier forms of the insurgency may have been more righteous, but murdering innocent Thais, blowing up some young draftees from up north...these people draw more sympathy than the scum who seem to be applying a backwards mentality to a 21st century problem.

It's very unfortunate that incorrect readings of the situation in southern Thailand like yours are very common, especially among uneducated Thais, who are the ones being manipulated by the Bangkok elite in this matter. Many more on both sides will continue to die until the people of the south are no longer oppressed by the central Thai state headquartered in Bangkok.

Thailand itself is a bunch of linguistically and culturally different Buddhist kingdoms aglomerated together, along with an Islamic sultanate tacked on at the beginning of the last century. This collection of disparate peoples was always held together by force and as we can see today, such methods are becoming less effective with each passing decade.

[squarethecircle]

"It's very unfortunate that incorrect readings of the situation in southern Thailand like yours are very common, especially among uneducated Thais, who are the ones being manipulated by the Bangkok elite in this matter. Many more on both sides will continue to die until the people of the south are no longer oppressed by the central Thai state headquartered in Bangkok."

Well there are cases in most countries of "oppressed" groups; look at the Indians in Malaysia, who complain of being treated as second-hand citizens by the Malay-Muslim crooks running that country, but manage to respond with mass peaceful (yet mostly ineffectual) protests. That kind of response is worthy of sympathy, but IMHO once you turn down the route of murdering/blowing up innocents (and I'd include most of the Thai police/military who are killed as "innocent victims") you start to become the problem rather than the solution. I'd say more but don't want to end up going in circles.

[OMGImInPattaya]

"It's very unfortunate that incorrect readings of the situation in southern Thailand like yours are very common, especially among uneducated Thais, who are the ones being manipulated by the Bangkok elite in this matter. Many more on both sides will continue to die until the people of the south are no longer oppressed by the central Thai state headquartered in Bangkok."

Well there are cases in most countries of "oppressed" groups; look at the Indians in Malaysia, who complain of being treated as second-hand citizens by the Malay-Muslim crooks running that country, but manage to respond with mass peaceful (yet mostly ineffectual) protests. That kind of response is worthy of sympathy, but IMHO once you turn down the route of murdering/blowing up innocents (and I'd include most of the Thai police/military who are killed as "innocent victims") you start to become the problem rather than the solution. I'd say more but don't want to end up going in circles.

You don't know what your talking about but I don't have the time to get you up to speed.